124 THE HORSE 



usually be done under professional guidance. Many 

 horses have died from pneumonia brought on through 

 the careless administration of fluid medicine. The 

 simplest method of doing this comprises the application 

 of the twitch to the nostrils and supporting .. the head 

 sufficiently high to enable the medicine to gradually 

 trickle down through the back of the throat. The great 

 secret is to give the medicine slowly ; otherwise the 

 animal either suffers or else three parts of the draught are 

 wasted on the stable floor. It is surprising how very few 

 stable attendants know how to administer a draught 

 properly to a horse, and still fewer know how to give a 

 ball. There is an art in both and a degree of manipulative 

 dexterity necessary which is not possessed by every one. 

 Salts and other soluble substances can be dissolved in a 

 quart of water and given the animal to drink. Horses 

 will seldom refuse medicine given this way. In soluble 

 powders it may be mixed with the food provided that 

 they have no unpleasant odour. Some horses will eat 

 anything in this line, but others will refuse it. In cases of 

 pneumonia it is simply madness to try to drench a 

 horse. Veterinary surgeons now largely employ the 

 hypodermic method of medication, sometimes with and 

 sometimes without results. 



Blistering and Firing 



Both these methods of dealing with injuries in connec- 

 tion with the limbs, bones and joints are largely practised 

 by the veterinary profession and by many of the empirical 

 humbugs found wandering about the country. Judici- 

 ously used both blistering and firing have their virtues. It 

 is their abuse which has placed them so often in disrepute. 

 It is impossible to lay down any rule as to when either 

 shall or shall not be employed. The bHster pot has been 

 more used upon the horse than anything known. There 

 are very few stables without a box of blistering ointment, 



