36 
PURE BRED DRAFT HORSES 
horizontal instead of the perpendicular and the penis to glide forward 
and slightly upward over the oblique vulvar opening to strike against 
the inferior surface of the tail and be deflected into the anus. It may be 
purely accidental. Harms thinks it may result from smallness of the 
female. All cases we have observed have been in mares of medium or 
large size, whether viewed actually or comparatively as related to the 
size of the stallion. 
“In the mare the accident is preventable by ordinary precautions on 
the part of the stallion groom, whose duty it is to see that the penis is 
guided into the vulva or, at least, not permitted to enter the rectum. To 
this end, it is best not to attempt service in -case of a mare not certainly 
in proper estrum. It is a part of the business of the groom to see and to 
know that the penis of the stallion is properly entering the vulva of the 
mare. If the mare is kicking or otherwise violently resisting the stal¬ 
lion, he should be promptly withdrawn, since copulation under such 
circumstances is unwarrantedly dangerous for both animals. Such violent 
resistance of the mare is sometimes offered by the groom as an excuse 
for his failure to see and know that the penis of the stallion was being 
properly entered in the vulva, but it is not valid. The mare . . . 
with retracted anus should be placed with her hind feet on a lower level 
than her anterior members, leaving the ground upon which the male is 
to stand at a higher level and thus bringing the vulvar opening more 
nearly perpendicular. 
“The prognosis of penial injuries to the rectum must be based largely 
upon the position and extent of the injury. When the lacerations per¬ 
forate the peritoneum and cause escape of feces into the peritoneal cavity 
the injury is essentially fatal . . . When the injury of the rectal 
wall occurs behind the peritoneum or otherwise does not perforate it, 
the prognosis is good if timely surgical aid is given, though after a long 
period of time, serious or fatal results may follow the impaction of 
feces in the sac formed in the pelvic connective tissue. The pressure of 
the feces escaping from the rectum tends constantly to push the loose 
connective tissue aside and, eventually, to form a large sac, which is 
constantly filled with fecal masses. 
“The handling in such cases consists of gently removing feces from 
the sacculated wound cavity in the pelvic connective tissue and cautiously 
flushing it out at least twice daily with a mild antiseptic solution. At 
the same time the rectum should be manually emptied as far as the 
attendant can reach and the feces thus prevented from dropping into the 
sac. The patient should be kept at rest on a very scant, laxative diet 
during the treatment, which should be continued until the rupture is 
quite healed as it is highly important to guard against extensive saccula¬ 
tion in the part, which can only be done by avoiding the accumulation 
of feces in it. 
“In some instances the injuries to the rectum from the entrance into it 
of the penis are comparatively trivial and consist merely of wounds of 
the mucosa and somewhat of the muscular walls, with the passage of 
bloody feces, some swelling about the anus and other slight symptoms of 
injury, which readily pass away under repeated antiseptic anemata.” 
Williams. 48 
Kicks on Penis 
“Injuries to the penis of the male during copulation are by no means 
rare. The penis of the stallion is most liable to injury from kicks by the 
mare . . . These contusions of the penis during its great vascularity 
in the breeding season are very difficult and refractory to handle. The 
stallion needs be kept quiet, free from sexual excitement, the penis re¬ 
tained at rest within the sheath by means of a suspensorium and the re- 
