HORSE MEDICINES AND REMEDIES 235 



stirring it well, and then covering it over until it is 

 sufficiently cool for the horse to eat. If in the heat of 

 summer a cold mash is preferred, it should, nevertheless, be 

 made with hot water, and then suffered to remain until it 

 is cold. This is not always sufficiently attended to by 

 the groom, who is not aware that the efficacy of the mash 

 depends principally on the change which is effected in 

 the bran and the other ingredients by the boiling water 

 rendering them more easy of digestion, as well as aperient. 

 If the horse refuses the mash, a few oats may be sprinkled 

 over it, in order to tempt him to eat it; but if it is 

 previously designed that corn should be given in the mash, 

 it should be scalded with the bran, to soften it and render 

 it more digestible. Bran mashes are very useful pre- 

 paratives for physic, and they are necessary during the 

 operation of the physic. They very soon become sour, 

 and the manger of the horse of whose diet they form 

 a principal part should be daily and carefully cleaned out. 



When horses are weakly and much reduced, malt mashes 

 will often be palatable to them, and very nutritive ; but 

 the water that is poured on a malt mash should be 

 considerably below the boiling heat, or the malt will be 

 set, or clogged together. If owners were aware of the 

 value of a malt mash, there would be much physic saved. 

 Speared corn mash, often talked of, is nothing more than 

 a malt mash. 



Poultices, or Cataplasms. — As bread would be expensive, 

 bran is generally used in veterinary practice, which a little 

 linseed meal improves in consistence. This is important, 

 as otherwise the poultice runs through the cloth. Yet it 

 must not be too thick, lest it dry too quickly ; and its action 

 is due greatly to its keeping moist. It should, therefore, be 

 frequently wetted from without. In applying poultices to 

 the legs, care should be taken not to tie them too tight, as 

 is frequently done, and whereby the mischief is aggravated 

 instead of relieved ; a piece of broad list is, for this reason, 

 very proper to fasten them on with. A poultice should 

 never be applied too hot ; very little good can be derived 

 from it, and much pain may be occasioned. A hot poultice 

 soon sinks to the heat of the part. Poultices are likewise, 

 in many cases, applied cold. A convenient mode of applying 

 a poultice to the extremities is by means of an old stocking 

 cut off at the ankle. The leg of it, being slipped over the 



