300 STRAIN OF THE FLEXOR TENDON. 
when defaced, cannot be made sound again. Horse property is noto- 
riously hazardous. It should be the care of men to use a tender thing 
with a greater gentleness. Instead of which, horses are galloped till 
they become blind, and lashed to drag weights beyond the proper limits 
of their strength. Men, who never think in whom the fault really lies, 
complain that Providence has not suited the horse to purposes such as 
would derange most iron-wrought machines ! 
When a horse first shows ring-bone, seek to allay the pain. Apply 
poultices, on which one drachm of powdered opium and one of camphor 
has been sprinkled. Rub the disease with equal parts of oil of camphor 
and of chloroform. The pain having ceased, have applied, with friction, 
to the seat of enlargement and around it, some of the following oint- 
ment, night and morning :— 
Iodide oflead. . . 2... 1 es ws » | « One ounce. 
Lard ae Se Sedo. os shen Mee Ar Ge Se aeeeiohtounces, 
Mix. 
Continue treatment for a fortnight after all active symptoms have dis- 
appeared, and allow the animal to rest—being liberally fed for at least 
a month subsequent to the cessation of every remedy. When work is 
resumed, mind it is gentle, and be very careful how the horse goes to its 
full labor. 
STRAIN OF THE FLEXOR TENDON. 
The flexor tendons of the legs are liable to a variety of accidents. 
Injuries to these structures, according to their severity, are denominated: 
strain of the flexor tendon, clap of the back sinews, sprain of the 
back sinews, aud breaking down. 
The first accident is common enough, and springs from the horse being 
forced to perform extraordinary work on uneven ground. Else it is 
caused by the irritability of the rider; tugging now at one rein, then at 
the other; forcing a timid animal into strange contortions, and at the 
same time elevating the head, thereby throwing all the strain upon the 
muscles. This is a spectacle repeatedly presented to him who walks 
about town. An angry rider is seen sawing, without compunction, at 
the mouth of some patient horse. The spectators look on complacently. 
There is nothing offensive to them in an enraged man venting his 
anger on an unoffending creature. Were the act generally reprehended, 
it would not be so frequently exhibited; but the only emotion the con- 
templation of another’s brutality appears to elicit, is a desire in the pas- 
sengers to provide for their own security. 
The main cause, however, of the most prevalent of these sad deform- 
ities is that of the shaft-horse descending a steep declivity with a load 
