744 VETEEINAEY HYGIENE 



The removal of fsces from the stable is done by hand; tho 

 smaller the amount which passes into the drains the better. 

 The watchful groom during the day is always on the look 

 out for evacuations, as the sooner they are moved the 

 cleaner the bedding and feet are kept. It will be observed 

 how frequently horses stand in their recently-dropped 

 evacuations, this cannot be purely accidental, and we think 

 the reason is owing to the warmth imparted to the feet. 



Some horses contract a habit of eating their own faeces ; 

 we have never succeeded in inducing them to eat those of 

 another horse, but their own they recognise at once. This 

 disgusting habit is difficult to explain ; some believe it is 

 due to deficiency of salt in the food, and extra salt may be 

 given as a preventive, but we have never known it effect 

 a cure. The animal becomes extraordinarily cunning in 

 depositing his excrement in such a position, as to enable 

 him to reach it with facility. 



When bedding is neglected and dung allowed to collect 

 in the feet, the foot pad frequently takes on an unhealthy 

 action with a discharge from the cleft, followed by a 

 destruction of the surface and cleft of the pad. This 

 disease known as ' thrush ' is an indication of bad stable 

 management ; it will be alluded to again in speaking of 

 the hygiene of the foot. 



Injuries caused by lying down. — As a rule we think it will 

 be found that most horses prefer one particular side to lie 

 on, and the choice is probably more frequently the off than 

 the near. 



Horses do not sleep for long at a time, they are generally 

 up and down several times during the night, and in the 

 matter of disarranging their bedding they closely resemble 

 the biped. Some hardly disturb it, the bed in the morning 

 is found much as it was left overnight; others have half 

 their bedding away from under them, generally in the passage 

 behind. This is not without hygienic interest, the horse 

 that gets its bedding out in the passage mainly lies on the 

 floor, and an animal that lies on the bare floor may get 

 injured. 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



