Asthma. Broken Wind. Heaves. Dyspnoea. 285 



The symptoms of indigestion are also very manifest. The 

 dung pass2d is like so much chopped hay and oats, and does not 

 at all resemble the fseces of a healthy horse. The abdomen is 

 tumid, tense and filled with flatus, which is frequently passed 

 per-ano, and has no doubt given rise to the name of broken wind. 

 This expulsion of gas from the rectum usually takes place when- 

 ever the animal is excited to cough. When first started on a 

 journey, the frequent passage of wind and dung for the first mile 

 or two is one of the most disagreeable features of the disease. 

 When the animal has thus emptied himself he usually goes much 

 better for the remainder of the journey. 



Broken-winded horses are always greedy feeders, and if they 

 get little work they manage to maintain their flesh. But they 

 are soft and flabby, and if put to active work they fall off rapidly, 

 becoming emaciated and hidebound, a true indication of their 

 impaired digestion. 



The symptoms are liable to occasional aggravation. If the 

 stomach and bowels are overloaded they are invariably so. If 

 the patient is kept in a hot, close stable, the same result follows. 

 Thick, muggy weather has the same effect. After a more than 

 usuall}' severe day's work all the symptoms may be intensified, 

 and this may continue for several days or a week. Bouley at- 

 tributes this to an extensive rupture of air cells and a sudden 

 increase of emphysema, and the gradual subsidence of the symp- 

 toms to the partial absorption of the displaced air and the accom- 

 modation of the lung to its new condition. 



I/ight and laxative diet on the other hand alleviates the symp- 

 toms and a broken-winded horse usually improves at grass. 



Course. The general tendency of broken wind is to persistent 

 aggravation, but by a judicious regimen many cases may be 

 checked in their progress and greatly relieved, or even cured. 



Treatment. We have already seen that broken wind is vir- 

 tually unknown on natural pastures where the grass is short, 

 green and succulent. Turning out on such pastures will improve 

 or even temporarily cure mild cases. The same may be said 

 of the lexative systems of diet. (See that recommended for 

 chronic bronchitis'). Feeding on dry grain only, with a very lim- 

 ited supply of water, will enable many broken-winded horses to 

 do ordinary work with comparative ease and comfort. In such 



