OBSERVATION S ON INJURIES, ETC., AMONG ARMY HORSES. G5 
two narrow bridges, and rushed into his own stall, between 
two other horses, where he fell and lay on his side until libe- 
rated. His injuries were complicated and severe. Other 
injuries are caused by collision with, and frightful upsets of, 
the guns whilst executing rapid movements over uneven and 
treacherous ground. A leading horse of a team of six stum- 
bled and fell at a gallop; all fell over him, including drivers, 
gunners, limber, and gun ; horses' legs, shafts, and spokes 
were intimately confused, and the kicking was terrific. Both 
men and horses escaped without fractures, but contusions, 
bruises, and abrasions were extensive. The same horse fell 
under the same circumstances a second time. Afterwards he 
was sold as unsafe, having always been addicted to stumbling, 
which could not be rectified. The gun-wheels often tear 
away the horn from the skin at the coronets, and we shall 
cite one case where the wheel tore the hoof completely away 
from its connecting structures. 
Treads and overreaches are not uncommon after field-days, 
when turnings have been made quickly, and halts suddenly. 
On the march, especially if the country is a little hilly, the 
unequal pressure of the harness, particularly that of the 
saddles, produces abrasions and sometimes serous and even 
purulent abscesses on the withers and back, which, unless 
carefully tended, may become serious. We have had occasion 
to treat cases that have been neglected and become fistulous, 
after a long march, when there had been no veterinary 
medical officer in charge of the horses. 
Horses may have worn their own saddles two or more 
years without in the least suffering at exercise or parade, 
but let them proceed on a month's march, and we are almost 
certain to get a number of cases of injured withers and back. 
Inordinate pressure of the bit on the upper edges of the in- 
ferior maxilla has given us some troublesome cases — mostly 
in horses with hard mouths. The continual pressure of 
heavy head-stalls, together with ponderous collar- chains, 
denudes the skin of its hair ; and it may not be out of place 
to mention here that, in a battery of the 119th brigade, most 
of the head-stalls have parts in them more than an inch in 
thickness, perfectly rigid and inflexible, the average weight 
being seven pounds, or about it, exclusive, in some cases, 
of heavy chains, some of which also weighed seven pounds. 
Often have we pointed out the advisability of substituting 
lighter head-stalls, and of having them made of good English 
leather, instead of the semi-tanned native leather they 
are made of, and as often have w r e been told, that “ now 
they are made, they must be worn out," Contracts will 
