208 FARRIEKY, ETC. 



The Ear. — Custom to the contrary, notwithstanding, the 

 hair on the inner side of the ear of the horse should never 

 be cut away. It is necessary to protect that delicate organ 

 from dust, rain, and cold. The only treatment which 

 should be allowed, is to close the edges of the ear together, 

 and to clip off the hair that projects beyond them. 



ADMINISTERING MEDICINE TO THE HORSE. 



On this subject Stonehenge gives the following direc- 

 tions : 



The most common form in which medicine is given to 

 the horse is by means of the ball, — an oblong mass of rather 

 soft consistence, yet tough enough to retain its shape, and 

 wrapped up in thin paper for that purpose. The usual 

 weight of the ball is from half an ounce to an ounce, but 

 they may be given of a larger size, if they are made longer 

 but not wider. Every groom should know how to give a 

 ball, which is managed either with or without a balling- 

 iron, an instrument which is seldom wanted, and which 

 sometimes occasions considerable mischief to the roof of 

 the horse's mouth. Occasionally a horse cannot be man- 

 aged by any other means; but, generally speaking, they 

 are only an excuse for bad management. In giving a ball 

 in the ordinary way, the horse's tongue is drawn out of his 

 mouth on the off or right side, and held there firmly with 

 the left hand grasping it as near the root as possible, but 

 to a certain extent yielding to the movement of the horse's 

 head, so as not absolutely to tear it out. While the tongue 

 is thus held, the ball is placed between the fingers and 

 thumb of the right hand, extended in a wedge-like or coni- 

 cal form, so as to pass as far down tJie swallow as possible ; 

 andv the hand in this form, with the arm bared to the 

 shoulder, is car^^ied over the root of the tongue till it feels 

 the impediment caused by the contraction of the swallow, 



