50 RURAL VETERINARY SECRETS 



SYMPTOMS 



When an iiniinal shows an excessive flow of saHvu from the 

 mouth, and, showing a wiUingness to eat, grabs the food eagerly and 

 suddenly drops it or holds its head to one side as if in pain after 

 drinking cold water, you may be assured that there is something 

 wrong with the teeth which might have caused wounds in the 

 mouth. 



All irregularities and decomposition of teeth interfere with the 

 proper mastication of food and lead to indigestion. This very often 

 terminates in colic, bloating, inflammation of the bowels, worms, 

 unthriftiness, and various organic troubles. Besides, it causes an 

 enormous waste of food. Under these conditions a horse may 

 easily waste from 10c to 25c worth of digestible food per day. Let 

 us take 15c per day for example : In 365 days you would lose $54.75 

 in food alone, to say nothing about the amount of service you lose 

 during this time on account of ill-health and lack of spirit and 

 energy, which naturally follow these conditions. 



TREATMENT 



To avoid all this, the owner should ha\ r his horse's teeth ex- 

 amined at least once a year or oftener. The horse cannot tell you 

 \vhen it has a toothache, but you may feel assured that the faithful 

 animal feels it just as keenly as you do. 



RESTRAINT 



Floating, Hling, and trimming the teeth of horses can be ac- 

 complished without provoking resistance enough to demand any 

 forcible means of restraint. The minor dental operations are ac- 

 cepted with remarkable complacency by the great majority of 

 horses. The only necessary restraint is to prevent the horse from 

 backing away from the operator and from elevating the muzzle out 

 of reach of the hands and instruments. This is done by backing the 

 horse into a single stall and securing the head at a comfof-table 

 height on the pillar reins with the DENTAL HALTER. The ordi- 

 nary leather halter is not satisfactory for this purpose because one 

 side or the other will i)ress against the cheek an<l prc\ent the free 

 passage of instruments along the teeth. 



The dental halter consists of a leather-covered iron loop hfteen 

 inches long and nine inches wide with a single poll strop and a ring 

 on each side for the tie ropes. The poll strap is of tw^o-inch heavy 



