DISEASES OF THE BONES. 



765 



LiG. 662. — Feather-edge firing-iron. 

 Three-fourths size. 



Firing. , 



For firing, put the horse in stocks. It' this is not convenient, 

 the next best way is to bring a rope around the neck and fasten 

 to the well leg; 

 or still better, 

 buckle a soft 

 strap around 

 the fetlock, 

 and from a 

 ring- attached 

 to the strap, 

 pass a rope 

 around the 

 neck of the 

 horse and draw 

 short enough 



to raise the foot from the ground. Next put on a twitch, 

 with the stick part at least twenty inches long ; it should 

 be so arranged as not to hurt the horse until the instant 

 of touching with the iron, when the head should be 

 thrown up a little with a slight jerking motion, to divert 

 his attention from the pain of the firing. 



I give two illustrations of the firing part of the iron, 

 reduced in size about one-third. The larger the iron, the 

 longer it will retain the heat. The blade should be -of 

 steel (of the form given in the illustration), a little more 

 than a quarter of an inch thick at the back, and grad- 

 ually thinned dow:n to the edge, which should be about 

 one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness, and nicely rounded. 

 The handle may be nothing more than a straight round 

 bar of iron, from sixteen to seven-teen inches long and 

 turned back at the end. It is necessary to have at least 

 two irons, so that while one is being used, the other can 

 be heating. It should be heated to a dull red color, and 



when taken from the fire the edg-e quickly run over a „ 



Fig. 663. 



board or plank to make it smooth. When the edge 



is turned dark, draw perpendicular lines on the leg, as shown in 



Fig. 664, from top to bottom. They should be about two inches 



