20 MEANS OP RESTRAINT. 



and he may be protected from his own teeth by the use of the 

 cradle (Fig. 60) or beads, or the side bar (Fig. TAB). With the 

 cradle around his neck, the horse is prevented from carrying his 

 head on either side ; its use, however, must be carefully watched 

 lest the friction of the cord, which secures it in place upon the 

 superior border of the neck, should cause severe complications by 

 chafing or even cutting through the skin. Peuch and Toussaint 

 have reported one case of fatal tetanus from this cause, but no 

 such accident ought ever to occur, for the means by which it may 

 be avoided are easy and obvious, protecting the border of the 

 neck with pads. The side bar prevents the flexure of the neck 

 toward the side upon which it is placed, and when in use during 

 an operation is applied on the side occupied by the operator. 

 It is used both singly (on one side only), and doubly (on both 

 sides). 



The danger of accidents arising from the unrestrained mobility 

 of the head of the animal being thus guarded against, those which 

 may be caused by striking and kicking with the feet are next to 

 be considered. In many instances it may be sufficient to simply 

 raise the foot from the ground, and to keep it thus suspended by 

 holding the leg in a position of flexure (Fig. 6). 



No violent measures are necessary in order to obtain such con- 

 trol over the movements of the horse as are consequent upon com- 

 peUing him to support his weight on three legs ordy. The method 

 of raising the foot and keeping it off the ground is a matter too 

 familiar to every stable hand to need detailed instructions. But 

 a Uttle art may be necessary, with a Httle compulsion added, to 

 induce him to continue to sustain the role of a tripod long enough 

 for the j)iu-pose of the operator. But this cannot always be de- 

 pended on, and therefore when he betrays an evident unwilling- 

 ness to submit quietly to such a confinement of the foot, the com- 

 pulsion of the ropes or straps must be resorted to. For the fore 

 leg the strap is attached below the fetlock and passed around the 

 forearm, and either buckled or held in place by an assistant. 

 When the rope is used it is passed around the coronet, the leg 

 flexed and the rope either passed round the forearm and secured 

 in the same manner as the strap, or thrown over the withers and 

 held by an assistant on the opposite side of the horse. For the 

 hind legs the rope, plaited rope or plate-longe, is necessary with 

 the hobble. These are applied in different ways. 



