CHAPTER I. 



TWITCHES, GAGS AND BABNAGLES. 



The Twitch. 



If every practicing veterinarian in tke civilized world was 

 asked to name the first and most important factor in confining 

 a horse in the standing posture, their unanimous answer would 

 be "a well made and properly applied twitch." The twitch 

 as a means of subjection or restraint,, is as ancient as the 

 domesticated horse himself. Since its introduction it has been 

 used with excellent and satisfactory results; although brutal 

 in principle, it is the veterinary surgeon's most valuable asset 

 against injury. 



It is almost universally applied to t^e upper lip; however, 

 in rare instances it is placed on the lower lip and ear. It is 

 applied by grasping lip through loop of the twitch, and is tight- 

 ened by rotating the handle. It acts by squeezing the lip until 

 sufficient pain is produced to detract the animal's attention from 

 the seat of operation. To use more force in this squeezing 

 process than is necessaTy is inhum.an, besides rough handling 

 of the twitch or bearing on it too long will often cause labial 

 paralysis. 



The twitch diverts the animal's attention by compressing 

 the sensory nerves of the lip. The ordinary rope and stick 

 twitch, Figure 1, is one of the simplest and most inexpensive 



Fig. 1. Ordinary Rope and Stick Twitch. 



forms. It is made by simply boring a round hdle (c) in a 

 stick (a), preferably hard wood, about one inch from the end. 



