198 DISEASES OF HORSES. 



of a school for the veterinary art, has disseminated an 

 improved practice, and spread improved practitioners 

 throughout the country ; and we would earnestly re- 

 commend an application to one of established reputa- 

 tion in all cases of difficulty and danger. But as it is 

 not always that such a one is within reach, to enable 

 the agriculturalist to have in his own hands the means 

 of informing himself, or to being a check to others, 

 w^e submit a concise view of the diseases of the head, 

 neck, trunk, and extremities, preceded by some general 

 observations. 



GENERAL REMARKS 



On the Healthy and Diseased State of the Hor&e. 



2. Condition of Horses. — Being in condition, in stable language, 

 signifies not only perfect health internally, but such an appear- 

 ance externally, as the philosopher would call unnatural, or at 

 least artificial : while the amateur considers it as an essential requi- 

 site to the other qualities of the horse. This external condition 

 is denoted by a sleek, short, shining coat, with a degree of flesh 

 neither bordering on fatness nor emaciation. Even in this sense of 

 the term, condition must be varied according to the uses of the 

 animal. In the cart horse, provided there be a sleekness of coat, 

 looseness of hide, sound wind, freedom from grease or swelled 

 legs, with good digestion ; a fulness and rotundity of bulk, instead 

 of detracting from his beauty or impeding his exertions, will add 

 to the one and assist the other. In the coach horse, the hackney, 

 the hunter, and the racer, a different condition is expected, varying 

 in diflferent degrees from that of the cart horse. In both cart horse 

 and racer, it is equally necessary that the various internal organs 

 should be in a state to act uninterruptedly for the benefit of the 

 whole ; but in addition to this, it is necessary to the racer, that 

 the greatest possible quantity of animal fibres should be condensed 

 into the smallest possible bulk, and that the absorption of all 

 useless fat and other interstitial matter should be promoted by every 

 possible means, as essentially necessary to unite lightness of body 

 with full strength and elasticity. It is in the attempts to produce 

 such a state in its full perfection, that all the secrets of training 

 consist: but whether a total departure from natural rules, by 



