44 Maiiagement and T^'eatment of the Horse. 



winded. It produces irritation in tlie air-cells 

 by the fungal growth of mould, and mow-burnt 

 hay is equally bad, as it acts powerfully upon the 

 kidneys, often causing that terrible complaint 

 diabetes. It is therefore necessary that every 

 groom should be careful about the quality of 

 food sent for the horses under his care. No 

 groom, however skilful he may be, can train 

 horses upon bad hay and fusty oats. It is a 

 great mistake to buy oats for hunters and car- 

 riage horses, and certainly for cab-horses, that 

 weigh less than 42 lbs. per bushel, for every 

 pound you gain in weight it is in meal ; the 

 heavier the oat the thinner the husk. Sometimes 

 horses are off their feed from debility after some 

 illness, and require the stomach toning down and 

 the nerves bracing : for such it is necessary to 

 give a powerful tonic to help nature to reassert 

 itself. For this purpose nothing is better than 

 Messrs. Day, Son and Hewitt's Tonic Balls. 



No horse gets less medicine than the horse of 

 a veterinary surgeon, and I believe with Shake- 

 speare, ^^ Throw physic to the dogs;" yet it is 

 necessary for every groom with horses under his 

 care to have a knowledge of the drugs commonly 

 used for the horse, and the effects it produces. 

 No man uses less drugs than the man who 

 thoroughly understands them. It is the abuse 

 of drugs, not the use of them, that has to be 

 deprecated. If a groom has a knowledge of 

 drugs, he is of great use to the veterinary sur- 

 geon, for he will watch minutely the effects of 

 medicine left to be given to the patient, and will 



