210 FARRIERY, ETC. 



The administration of a drench is a much more trouble- 

 some affair than the giving of a ball ; and in almost all 

 cases more oi* less of the dose is wasted. Sometimes, how- 

 ever, a liquid medicine is to be preferred, as in colic or 

 gripes, when the urgent nature of the s3'mptoms demands 

 a rapidly-acting remedy, which a ball, from its requiring 

 time to dissolve, is not; and, besides this, a ball cannot 

 contain any of the sprituous cordials. The best instrument 

 for giving a drench is the horn of the ox, cut obliquely, so 

 as to form a spout. Bottles are sometimes used in an emer- 

 gency, but their fragile nature always renders them dan- 

 gerous. In giving a drench, the tongue is held in the same 

 Avay as for the delivery of a ball, but the head must be 

 more elevated ; the drench is then carefully poured into 

 the throat, after which the tongue is let go, but the head 

 still kept up till it is all swallowed. Allowance should 

 always be made for some waste in giving a drench. 



The mode of managing all horses while ' in physic,' is that 

 which I shall here describe. In all cases, if possible, the 

 horse should be prepared by bran mashes, given for two 

 or three nights, so as to make the bowels rather loose than 

 otherwise, and thus allow the dose to act without undue 

 forcing of the impacted fences backwards. If physic is 

 given without this softening process, the stomach and bow- 

 els pour out a large secretion of fluid, which is forced back 

 upon the rectum, and met by a solid obstacle which it 

 takes a long time to overcome, and during that interval the 

 irritating purge is acting upon the lining membrane, and 

 often produces excessive inflammation of it. Purging 

 physic should generally be given in the middle of the 

 day, after which the horse should remain in the stable, and 

 have chilled water as often as he will drink it, with bran 

 mashes. By the next morning he will be ready to be 

 walked out for an hour, which will set the bowels to act 



