756 VETEEINAKY HYGIENE 



contact with it ; the nostril gets torn up, or the upper eye- 

 lid left hanging by a neck of skin, or even the eyeball 

 destroyed. 



In stables with bails bites on the neck are very frequent ; 

 in this way a horse may be disfigured all down one side of 

 the neck. The obvious remedy is to remove the horse 

 which inflicts the injury, who will be found to be a 

 bully, and to have suffered no injury whatever from retali- 

 ation. Bites on the ear from the same cause are much 

 more severe, as they cause permanent disfigurement; the 

 cartilage curls up and a very unsightly appearance is pre- 

 sented. 



A horse given to biting should be examined to see whether 

 he is a ' rig ' ; complete castration certainly controls horses 

 in the use of their teeth. 



Injuries due to bails are generally caused by the animal 

 kicking over them ; if the bail is high he becomes a fixture, 

 and in his struggles to get free removes the skin from the 

 hock to the perineum. Bails have been very fully dealt 

 with at p. 311, it is only necessary here to repeat that a bail 

 should be fitted sufficiently low to prevent a horse getting 

 kicked, and at that height should he get over it, very little 

 difficulty is experienced by him in getting his leg back ; 

 whereas with a high bail if once over he is suspended 

 behind, and cannot of his own efforts get back. 



With deep bails horses sometimes get under, and with 

 the bail on their back are unable to rise ; the accident is 

 not a serious one, though the horse may be damaged by 

 his struggles, as he invariably does when he finds himself 

 in difficulties. 



' Slipping up ' in the stable is a common cause of injury, 

 especially when the animal is being turned around in the 

 stall, the hind legs go from under him, and he falls heavily 

 on his pelvis, which in consequence is frequently broken. 

 All stable floors are slippery, but the use of sand is 

 an obvious precaution which should always be adopted. 

 Slipping up is frequently due to the carelessness of the 

 groom causing the horse to turn too suddenly, by giving 



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