146 ' DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 



especially if he has been ridden at all hard. In this case, he 

 often refuses his food for some time ; and if any cold water is 

 given him is attacked with shivering, and sometimes with 

 looseness and colic. Delicacy, or weakness of ap})etite, is often 

 constitutional, and the effect of being kept hard when a colt, or 

 of being kept in cold wet situations ; it may be also hereditary. 

 Sometimes it is brought on by too early and immoderate work, 

 and inattention in reg-ard to feedinsr. In all these cases, the 

 horse's work, especially with regard to the pace he is ridden at, 

 the quality of his food, the temperature of his water, and all those 

 attentions which constitute good grooming, must be constantly 

 observed. When such a horse happens to be worked harder 

 than usual, the extra laboiu' must be compensated for by extra 

 attention : his water should have the chill taken off; and if a 

 handful of fine wheat flour were stirred into it, it would be still 

 better, especially if the bowels are rather loose. A cordial ball 

 may be useful on such occasions, or a moderate dose of warm ale. 

 Young horses, however, seldom derive that benefit from cordials 

 and ale that older horses do, and particularly those which are 

 accustomed to such treatment. The most effectual, and the most 

 innocent restorative, is rest ; for which, in summer, a field is the 

 best situation : but if, during the time of rest, the horse be kept 

 in a stable, his diet must be carefully attended to. This should 

 be rather opening, and such as the horse appears to relish : 

 vetches, or other green food, are perhaps the best. Good sweet 

 bran is an excellent thing to keep the bowels cool and open, 

 and may be rendered nutritious in almost any degree by the 

 addition of good fresh bruised oats, or malt. A small quantity of 

 good sweet and clean oats, thrown into the manger now and then, 

 will often induce a horse to feed when there is want of appetite ; 

 and a very small quantity of the sweetest hay, given occasionally, 

 is generally eaten with great i-elish. 



Young horses often ftiU off in their appetites during the time 

 of cutting teeth. At this pei'iod there is often a soreness of the 

 mouth, in which the mucous membrane of the stomach and 

 bowels seems to participate. In such cases the want of appetite 

 is generally attributed to the lampas, or a swelling or fulness in 

 the roof of the mouth, adjoining the front teeth ; because the 

 horse is sometimes observed to mangle his hay, as it is termed, 

 that is, he pulls it out of the rack, and after chewing it a little 

 while throws it out again. The common remedy, if such it may 

 be called, is the application of a red-hot iron to the part, and 

 burning out the prominent part, or lampas ; but this is never 

 necessary. All young hoi'ses have that fulness in the roof of the 

 mouth which is named lampas, and it never interferes with 

 their appetite, or the chewing or gathering of their food. There 

 may, however, be some degree of tenderness about the gums at 



