CHAPTER XVIII 



SOME COMPLAINTS OF THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS 



The whole of the digestive apparatus in the horse is well 

 developed and, as the forage of this animal is Hable to 

 continual variation, we often find that it suffers from 

 various digestive disorders and also from disease in connec- 

 tion with the same. As a matter of fact, so far as com- 

 plaints are concerned, troubles arising from disordered 

 digestive functions are of an extremely common nature. 

 A great many digestive disorders are purely the outcome 

 of bad horsemastership, and when any particular stud of 

 horses is troubled with colic, one may accept it as a sign 

 that there is something radically wrong either with the 

 forage, the drinking water, or the manner in which these 

 are supplied to the animals. Quite a number of horse 

 owners seem to think that they can give a horse what they 

 call a good feed of oats and hay, water it and either drive 

 it or ride it immediately afterwards. This is simply 

 madness and the straight road to the ruination of the 

 animal. A large proportion of digestive troubles, as 

 previously stated, are due to bad management, therefore 

 preventable, but on the other hand, there are many which 

 are not preventable. Internal parasites or worms account 

 for a considerable percentage of deaths, both in colts and 

 adult animals. As a rule, the sources of parasitic infesta- 

 tion cannot be traced, so far as the horse is concerned. 

 Quite a number of internal lesions, which always terminate 

 fatally, such as twisted gut, rupture of the stomach, 

 rupture of the bowel, rupture of a blood-vessel, etc., would 

 appear to be due to over-exertion of a previously weakened 



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