BREAKING DOWN. 305 
merely be severe clap of the back sinews. Be it which it may, with a 
heavy heart at loss of money and credit, thus suddenly snatched from 
him, the jockey leads the horse toward the stand, or, by the shortest 
road, to the stable. ' 
BREAKING DOWN. 
Many horses, after encountering this accident, are instantly shot. The 
poor animals, by such a proceeding, are saved from a painful cure and 
a crippled existence. Such conduct is, however, seldom actuated by 
thoughts of mercy. Nevertheless, to an animal of motion, 
whose every feeling is displayed by means of its limbs, and 
which is instinctively more perfect in action than the most 
accomplished ballet-master, the incumbrance of a leg mis- 
shapen, callous, and unwieldy, must be a serious affliction. 
The limb is spoiled for life in the horse which has broken 
down. The pain in time departs; the breathing becomes 
quiet; the pulse sinks to the normal point; the appetite 
returns, and the spirits grow to be as high as ever. But 
no art can replace the structures which have been disorgan- 
ized; and the limb, after everything approaching to inflam- Or BEARING 
mation has subsided, remains a huge, unsightly object—an ee 
affliction to its possessor. 
The treatment of breaking down has not been much experimented 
with. However, constitutional measures are, at first, imperative. At 
the same time, a bandage should be applied to the injured limb, and this 
bandage should be kept constantly wet with cold water. A high-heeled 
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