66 OBSERVATIONS ON INJURIES, ETC,, AMONG ARMY HORSES. 
not afford too much ! yet, seven out of every ten horses, when 
we noted it, had sore and denuded polls, or other effects of 
undue pressure. There were also several cases of indented 
nasal bones from the same cause. 
The fans of the saddles, too, unless very well fitted to the 
horses* backs, often fret the skin so much as to prevent the 
animal being ridden. Horses that have much lateral action 
in their hind quarters, and those in low condition, are the most 
liable to this casualty ; there are, however, other and auxiliary 
causes. 
It is the exception to see a battery of horses come into a 
station, after one or two months* march, looking as they 
ought to. There may have been a scarcity of grass two or 
three months previously to starting (but as Government has 
not yet seen the necessity of providing for such emergencies, 
by stacking grass which should be cut at proper seasons, a 
scarcity of this kind of forage must occasionally exist), and the 
horses may have been thus thrown out of condition. Supposing 
six months* comparative idleness has made them fat, a march 
soon alters this, and reduces their obesity. Of the inclemency 
of the weather in India during the marching season we cannot 
complain. Though horses do, as a rule, lose condition on a 
march, we do not say it can be avoided, we only note it. At 
these times the chafing of the harness in different parts 
removes most of the hair it comes in contact with, and it is 
not until the new coat begins to grow that a ragged appear- 
ance is got rid of. 
Wounds are not unfrequently produced in the angles of 
the mouth or lips, or on the gums, by incautiously putting 
on the watering bridle when its bit is so hot as not to be 
borne by the hand, from lying in the sun for hours. Where 
stables have been erected, these cases do not occur. Wounds 
from kicks with the heels or calkins of 'the shoes are sene- 
rally found upon the front and inner aspects of the tibia. That 
this should be so may appear remarkable. The lesions, ex- 
ternally, are usually small ; but in the parts where there is 
no muscular protection, and but a delicate dermal covering, 
bone is the tissue upon which the contusive force almost 
directly impinges ; severe lameness results, and the wounds 
require a longer time to heal, comparatively speaking. Ninety 
per cent, of the horses we have had under our charge for the 
last three years have abraded marks or superficial wounds in 
those parts, which appear as concavities, during the standing 
posture, just above the tarsal joint on the outer side. The 
concavities become partial convexities when the hocks are 
flexed as in the recumbent posture, and by reason of an in- 
sufficient supply of bedding, are injured by contact with the 
