DISEASES AND TREATMENT OF THE HORSE. 133 



every hour, so as to keep up the heat. If she wishes to eat, feed 

 her soft feed with plenty of boiled flax seed in it to keep the bowels 

 loose. In regard to the treatment of the rupture, it if best to 

 leave it alone and let nature itself heal it up, because, in opening 

 up the passage and bathing the womb and putting in medicine, it 

 allows the air to pass through the tear onto the bowels, and also 

 the medicine and the water will leak through onto the bowels, and 

 with these things getting in around the bowels it does a great deal 

 more harm than good. If the bowels get costive, give raw linseed 

 oil in drenches of a pint, and also give injections of warm water 

 and a little soap twice a day until the bowels commence to work 

 freely. 



RUPTURE OF THE PASSAGE. 



CiUSCS. — It generally occurs in foaling and is done by the legs 

 of the foal in coming out through the passage if not coming 

 straight, or where the foal is too large for the passage. 



Symptoms. — In some cases, where the mare tries to foal her- 

 self, you will find the legs out — one out the natural passage, 

 while the other is out through the anus. In other cases, where 

 the mare has foaled and is appar^^itly all right, you will first notice 

 the manure coming out through the vulva instead of its natural 

 passage. Oil your hand and arm, pass them into the vulva and 

 examine the passage thoroughly, and if it is ruptured you will find 

 a tear somewhere on the walls of the passage, and it will generally 

 be found on the upper side of the passage, between it and the 

 rectum. 



Treatment. — If it is in a case where the foal is coming out, 

 and is caught with one leg in each passage, oil your hand and 

 ihove the legs back into the womb and then bring them both out 

 of the right passage. After this keep the mare very quiet and 

 feed on soft feed with plenty of flax seed in it, and if it is in the 

 spring of the year let her have grass. If the bowels seem to be 

 costive, give her small doses of linseed oil, half a pint at a time, 

 to as not to make the bowels too loose; also, if the mare seems 

 feverish and swollen behind, give one ounce or four tablespoonfuls 

 of tincture of laudanum along with each dose of oil. Don't try 

 to stitch up the rupture, but simply inject the passage with a half- 

 pailful of warm water and soap with twenty drops of carbolic acid 

 in it. When this is injected in the rectum, it flows down through 

 the rupture and cleanses and helps it to heal ; repeat the ii\jectioa« 



