FIRST AID TO THE SICK AND INJURED 439 



Injuries, again, may be under the flank, or in other situations where it 

 may be possible to stuff the handkerchief into the wound or employ cold in 

 the form of water from the nearest stream, pump, or other source. 



If he can gain attention from a passer-by and communicate with a 

 dwelling-house, it is most likely that vinegar or alum or spirit can be 

 obtained, any one of which, diluted with water, is an approved styptic. 



First aid may be, and indeed often is, too impetuous and ill-considered, 

 as in the case of staked wounds, the horseman rashly attempting to remove 

 a foreign body which a veterinarian would first very cautiously examine as 

 to direction, &c. (see Punctured Wounds). The sufferer from a staked 

 wound should not be walked home without a plug of some kind in the 

 orifice, as without it air is drawn into the loose tissues under the skin, 

 causing much after-trouble. Some portion of the rider's apparel can be 

 spared for this purpose, or suitable material such as tow or cotton-wool may 

 be obtained at the nearest house. 



Joints injured by sprain or collision should be supported by whatever 

 in the way of a bandage the horseman can contrive. A stocking is the 

 most serviceable garment, which with the aid of a penknife may be made 

 double the length. First aid in joint injuries often consists in the patience 

 requisite to wait for an ambulance. An injury capable of being cured may 

 be, and often is, rendered hopeless by making the patient walk a long 

 distance, when the nearest stable should in any case be the longest journey 

 the animal should be induced to take. 



Where, after a fall or collision, blood is found to be flowing from the 

 nostrils, the mouth, or other orifices, the patient should not be moved until 

 it is ascertained if the fluid is from a large artery or vein, superficial and 

 unimportant, or deeply seated and serious. By its colour and volume the 

 horseman may be able to decide, and, while waiting for skilled assistance, 

 render first aid by the application of cold water to the head, loins, or other 

 parts. 



In every kind of injury in which dirt or other foreign matter is present, 

 as in the eye, an effort should be made to remove it without waiting for the 

 surgeon. If antiseptics (such as are now to be found in every household) 

 are not at hand, then clean water may be used. 



Of the many accidents which horses are liable to meet with in the 

 field and upon the road, it is impossible to treat fully in this chapter, 

 and the more important injuries and diseases are elsewhere treated at 

 length. We cannot, however, leave this branch of the subject of first 

 aid, without reference to the comparatively frequent accident in low-lying 

 districts of horses getting into ditches or drains and failing to extricate 

 themselves. The usual bump of locality, which is a horse's strongest 



