780 VETBEINARY HYGIENE 



Animals performing long hours of slow work may be 

 watered and fed frequently in small quantities, in fact their 

 work necessitates it. Animals performing fast draught 

 work, as cab horses, are watered and fed during their 

 comparatively long intervals of rest. Horses performing 

 fast saddle work may be watered in small quantities during 

 work, but should only be fed with small quantities of 

 concentrated food like grain ; bulky material like hay being 

 entirely omitted, owing to the distension of the stomach 

 and its pressure on the diaphragm. 



In countries like South Africa where horses travel con- 

 siderable distances daily, and with care and condition may 

 do fifty miles a day for several days in succession, there 

 are certain rules, the result of experience, which are never 

 neglected. One is that the horse or horses are not worked 

 at a stretch for more than two or three hours, after which 

 there is a rest for an hour, during which the animal must 

 lie down and roll and empty his bladder. If the latter 

 function is not performed no further progress is made until 

 it takes place. The Boers are wonderful horse-masters, 

 and they know how to get every ounce out of a horse 

 without unduly distressing it. Eifty miles a day for a 

 Boer Commando during the war was a frequent per- 

 formance ; eighty miles was regarded as a long march, but 

 quite within the capabilities of a horse-master. Of course 

 British Cavalry cannot approach this until they know 

 how to ' live on a country,' and the horse is asked to carry 

 nothing but the rider and his weapons. 



Sore backs and shoulders and wounds of the mouth, 

 though not diseases of locomotion, are conveniently 

 alluded to here as injuries resulting from work. Owing to 

 their great importance they will receive special considera- 

 tion in the section devoted to Saddles and Harness. 



STUMBLING AND BRUSHING. 



Defective action during work is very liable to lead to 

 serious trouble, especially when a horse gets tired. The 



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