HORSE AILMENTS AND HOW TO DOCTOR THEM. 389 



The cause of slavering may be from eating some weed, such 

 as wild lobelia; or some of the grasses, as white clover or 

 clover rowen ; or it may be caused by a sharp or ragged-edged 

 tooth or snag of a tooth, or a rough bit with a rough driver. 

 Anything to cause soreness or irritation of the mouth may pro- 

 duce slavers. 



Treatment. Get rid of the cause as soon as possible. If a 



broken tooth, take it out ; if a sharp edge of a tooth, rasp it 



smooth ; if a rough bit, change it ; if a rough driver, change 



him at once. 



SHOE BOIL. 



A shoe boil is a swelling at the elbow, near the place of 

 buckling the girth, and has been called a callous of the elbow. 

 It is usually caused by a bruise of the hoof or shoe in lying 

 down in the stable. It frequently assumes the size of a hen's 

 egg, and is sometimes much larger. It often becomes painful, 

 and many times interferes with the work of the horse ; 

 after it becomes thus troublesome the horse will often avoid 

 lying down at all, or will change his position when doing so. 



Treatment. Bathe the parts two or three times per day with 

 hot water, to which may be added a solution of carbolic acid, 

 one part to twenty of water. Saturate a pledget of tow or 

 oakum with turpentine and put into the opening, which will 

 keep it discharging for several days, which is very necessary. 

 "When the tumor has subsided and the discharge stopped it will 

 heal very readily. If it does not break of itself, I would recom- 

 mend a seton, put in as low down as possible. 



STRAIN OF THE STIFLE JOINT. 

 The stifle joint is composed of the union of the lower end 

 of the upper thigh bone with the head of the lower and larger 

 thigh bone and the patella forming the front part of the joint. 

 This joint is a very strong and complicated one, and corre- 

 sponds to the knee joint of man, including the knee-pan. This 

 joint becomes sometimes dislocated or put out of place, and oc- 

 casionally strained ; the injury is usually called stifle, or the 

 horse is said to be stifled. 



