g& THE CARE OF HORSES 



If things of such vital importance are lightly 

 treated, you may be sure that the floor also is filthy 

 and neglected. The accumulated manure, damp and 

 rotten, soon affects a horse's eyesight and wind ; 

 the stench and vapours sting the eyes and poison his 

 blood, and thus affect* his lungs, often causing chronic 

 cough and asthma. The legs swell — * get full,' as the 

 saying goes — and in many cases the poor beasts 

 get ' thrush ' in their feet. ' Thrush ' is caused by 

 dirty litter constantly left in the stable, the horse 

 standing alwavs on his own excrement. The feet 

 become very hot, destroying the substance of the 

 frog, which softens and becomes diseased. A dirty, 

 unhealthy discharge commences, giving off a most 

 offensive odour. This disease should not be 

 neglected. Keep the stable clean and the floor free 

 from all unnecessary manure ; see that the floor 

 slopes properly for drainage, and keep the horses' 

 feet clean. To cure this distressing complaint, 

 thoroughly cleanse the feet and apply a piece of 

 tow into the ' cleft ' saturated with Stockholm tar 

 and salt. 



Light. — The affection of the eyes, together with 

 the darkness and gloom of badly-lighted stables, 

 will produce shying horses more quickly than any- 

 thing else. You know yourself how ' owlish ' you 

 feel when you leave a darkened room and go sud- 

 denly into the light, blinking and winking, and 

 unable to see clearly how near or how far things 

 really are. You stumble over the first thing that 

 comes in your way. " Couldn't see it,' is your 

 instant remark. Well, as with you, so with the 

 horse, and yet when he blunders or shies because 

 he is afraid he is ' going into something again,' you 

 are the very first to punish him. You have the 

 chance of rubbing your eyes to get the ' cobwebs ' 

 off — for it feels like cobwebs or a gauze veil over 



