338 



" Bishoping " is rapidly becoming a custom of the 

 past. 



Horses are sometimes subject to toothache and 

 other diseases of the teeth. A very frequent ailment 

 with horses beyond twelve or fifteen years of age is 

 that their grinders become ragged and protrude both 

 outwards and inwards. This prevents them masticat- 

 ing their food properly, which is soon discovered by 

 chewed pieces being returned from their mouths, along 

 with a quantity of saliva. The services of a veterinary 

 surgeon should be obtained, and the projecting teeth 

 well filed down with a long file, and the aid of a gag to 

 keep the mouth open during the operation. Oc- 

 casionally, when colts are shedding their teeth, the 

 gums become inflamed and project beyond the teeth, 

 which prevents them feeding properly. A few pricks 

 with the point of a knife on the inflamed parts will 

 generally remedy the evil. 



DESTRUCTION OF HORSES. 



Having advocated kindness throughout in the 

 general management of horses, the author would like 

 before concluding this chapter to enjoin on readers the 

 necessity of practising kindness — even in death ! He 

 refers to horses that have served their time, and have 

 become unfit for work by the infirmity of old age. 

 Nothing is more pitiable, nothing more touching, 

 than to see a faithful old horse abused in the yoke, 

 driven forward by the sting of the whip, which in his 

 happy youth he would have proudly resented, when 



