30 ^ SICKNESS AND CASUALTIES. 



with the roller, the breast-girth passing over the points of the 

 shoulders causes it to tighten, and thus the withers are pinched. 

 With ordinary supervision this should be avoided : and it 

 may safely be said that a sore back is suggestive, if not a 

 proof, of inattention. 



But from whatever cause arising, the treatment is simple. 

 A fomentation with a little astringent lotion should be 

 applied to the injured part. This is the best, and, with 

 proper care, an effective remedy. But it is necessary to see 

 that, when at exercise, the saddle does not increase the 

 mischief by pressing on the place. The roller should be dis- 

 carded in every case of soreness ; and a rug alone used, 

 fastened under the fore-rib and before the shoulders to keep 

 it from shifting. 



It is very necessary, as I have remarked, to attend to the 

 feet. Neglect breeds thrush. But though this sometimes 

 lames the horse, it is neither a dangerous nor a malignant 

 disease, and readily succumbs to proper treatment. It will 

 be found that a little tow dipped in tar and applied three or 

 four times a week is the most simple and efficacious remedy. 

 The foot when hot may be so from disease, or from defective 

 shoeing in some way, and in either case ought at once to be 

 looked to ; for in a state of health the feet are cold. 



The legs, on the contrary, should be comfortably warm. 

 When they are not so, weak circulation may be suspected. 

 On the other hand, unnatural warmth is a sure indication of 

 local injury, the precise seat of which may generally be deter- 

 mined by the exhibition of tenderness on pressure. In such 

 cases, bathing with cold water may be used two or three 

 times a day for an hour or more at a time, with cold flannel 

 bandages ; but if the suspensory ligament has given way, 

 then consider the first loss the least, and the sooner the 



