130 DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 
use of medicines that have a depressing effect. When the veterina- 
rian is examining a horse for soundness, and he suspects that the 
animal has been “ fixed,” he usually gives the horse as much water as 
he will drink and then has him ridden or driven rapidly up a hill or 
ona heavy road. This will bring out the characteristic breathing of 
heaves if the horse is so afflicted, but will not cause the symptoms of 
heaves in a healthy horse. All broken-winded horses have the 
cough peculiar to the affection, but it is not regular. A considerable 
time may elapse before it is heard and then it may come on. in 
paroxysms, especially when first brought out of the stable into the 
cold air, or when excited by work, or after a drink of cold. water. 
The cough is usually the first symptom of the disease. 
Treatment.—When the disease is established there is no cure for it. 
Proper attention paid to the diet will relieve the distressing symp- 
toms to a certain extent, but they will undoubtedly reappear in their 
intensity the first time the animal overloads the stomach or is al- 
lowed food of bad quality. Clover hay or bulky feed which contains 
but little nutriment have much to do with the cause of the disease, 
and therefore should be entirely omitted when the animal is affected, 
as well as before. It has been asserted that the disease is unknown 
where clover hay is never used. The diet should be confined to feed 
of the best quality and in the smallest quantity. The bad effect of 
moldy or dusty hay, fodder, or feed of any kind can not be over- 
estimated. A small quantity of the best hay once a day is sufficient. 
This should be cut and dampened. The animal should invariably 
be watered before feeding; never directly after a meal. The animal 
should not be worked immediately after a meal. Exertion, when the 
stomach is full, invariably aggravates the symptoms. Turning on 
pasture gives relief. Carrots, potatoes, or turnips chopped and 
mixed with oats or corn are a good diet. Half a pint to a pint of 
thick, dark molasses with each feed is useful. 
Arsenic is efficacious in palliating the symptoms. It is best ad- 
ministered in the form of a solution of arsenic, as Fowler’s solution 
or as the white powdered arsenious acid. Of the former the dose is 
1 ounce to the drinking water three times daily; of the latter one 
may give 3 grains in each feed. These quantities may be cautiously 
increased as the animal becomes accustomed to the drug. If the 
bowels do not act regularly, a pint of raw linseed oil may be given 
once or twice a month, or a handful of Glauber’s salt may be given 
in the feed twice daily, so long as necessary. It must, however, be 
borne in mind that all medicinal treatment is of secondary considera- 
tion; careful attention paid to the diet is of greatest importance. 
Broken-winded animals should not be used for breeding purposes. 
A predisposition to the disease may be inherited. 
