GREASE. 249 



more depends upon management than on medicine; 

 and there is nothing so likely to be injurious as the 

 frequent use of diuretics, of which many grooms are 

 particularly fond. The staling-ball of the stable is the 

 fruitful source of debility (the worst cause of swelled 

 legs) : it first weakens the urinary organs, and loss of 

 tone in tlje system generally succeeds. 



i 



GREASE. 



This is irritation of the skin and glandular structure 

 of the heel. It may be traced to various causes. One 

 of the most frequent is washing of the heels when the 

 horse comes in from work. He is hot all over, and 

 the heels are as hot as any other part; but the harness 

 is scarcely taken off, before cold water is sluiced 

 plentifully over the legs, under the notion of clearing 

 away the soil that hangs about them. That could be 

 excused, if the wetted legs were rubbed thoroughly 

 dry afterwards; but the groom has too much to do, or 

 is too idle to undertake this : he, perhaps, sponges off 

 a portion of the wet, but he leaves on a great deal 

 more ; and the cold process of evaporation is imme- 

 diately established. There is hardly anything so 

 debilitating, or so likely to induce an unhealthy irri- 

 tability; and it is the prevailing cause of grease. 



Washing the heels should be strictly forbidden in 

 every well-regulated stable. After the horse has stood 

 a quarter of an hour, during which time the groom 

 may be employed about the harness or some of the 

 arrangements of the stable, a great deal of the dirt 

 will have dried upon the leg, and may be easily 

 brushed off. An hour after that the rest may be 

 m 5 



