204 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLO&Y. 



intestines ready to ferment and cause intestinal disorders. If 

 he is fed his hay first, he will, of necessity, eat it slowly. When, 

 an hour or so later, his grain is given him, the edge of his hunger 

 is broken, and he will be hours at his oats; they will be perfectly 

 digested and will do him a maximum of good. 



Dampness and lack of ventilation in stables predis- 

 poses the horses to diseases of respiration and to rheum- 

 atism. These conditions, also, by lowering the vitality of 

 horses, make them fit subjects for other diseases, especially 

 those of germ origin. 



Every stable should be provided with ample openings for 

 the admission of air and for the escape of foul air. The fresh-air 

 openings should be low down and so arranged that no current of 

 air blows directly on the horses. The escape of the foul air 

 should be arranged for at the highest part of the stable, and 

 should be so made that rain or snow cannot enter the stable. 



Carelessness in the arrangement of stables is account- 

 able for many injuries from which horses should be immune. 

 Low, narrow doors account for poll-evil and broken hips. Boards 

 splintered by kicks or gnawed through leave rough ends to 

 scratch and blemish horses. Swing-bars whose chains are 

 patched with baled-hay wire, and prominent hooks, nails, or 

 latches where horses might strike themselves, may inflict wounds 

 that are trifling enough in themselves, but when located about 

 the knees or hocks reduce materially the value of a horse, on 

 account of the suspicions aroused by their scars. 



Bad saddling and badly-fitting bridles put horses out 



of business by causing saddle-galls and sore mouths, that just a 



little care would effectively prevent. 



• Contagious diseases are frequently allowed to spread, 



more through ignorance and carelessness than for any other 



reason. A horse with any discharge from his nose, however 



slight, should be isolated at once. He should not be turned 



loose with other horses^ or watered where they are watered, or 

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