328. A HORSE"S AGE
The following rules will enable any man to ascertain with tolerable certainty the age of any horse. Every horse has six teeth above and six below; before he arrives at the age of three he sheds his two middle teeth by the young teeth rising and shoving the old ones out of their place. When he arrives at the age of three, he sheds one more on each side of the middle teeth; when four years old he sheds two corner and the last of his fore teeth; between four and five he cuts his under tusks, and when five will cut his upper tusks, and have a mouth full and complete, and the teeth will have hollows of a very dark brown colour. At six years old the grooves and hollows in a horse"s mouth will begin to fill up a little and their tusks have their full growth, with their points sharp, and a little concave. At seven years old the grooves and hollows will be pretty well filled below. At eight the whole of the hollows and groves are filled up, and you see the appearance of what is termed smooth below. At nine years old, the point of the tusk is worn off, and the part that was concave begins to fill up and become rounded. Between nine and ten years of age a horse generally looses the marks of the mouth. After nine years old a wrinkle comes on the eyelid at the upper corner of the lower lid, and every year thereafter he has one well defined wrinkle for each year over nine. If, for instance, a horse has three wrinkles, he is twelve; if four, he is thirteen, &c.
329. HEAD, NECK OR LUNGS
How to tell by looking at a horse whether there is anything the matter with his head, neck or lungs. A knowledge of this is as useful as it is simple. If there is nothing the matter with the head, neck or lungs of a horse, the nostrils will have a clean, healthy, and bright appearance, but if there is, they have always a dirty, muddy, or in some way an unhealthy appearance.
330. PROF. MANDIE"S HORSE TAMING
Take finely grated horse caster, or the warty excrescence from the horse"s leg, oils of rhodium, and c.u.min, keep these in separate bottles well corked; put some of the oil of c.u.min on your hand and approach the horse on the windy side that he may smell it; he will then move towards you, then rub some of the c.u.min on his nose; give him a little of the castor on sugar, salt, or anything he likes, and get 8 or 10 drops of the oil of rhodium on the point of his tongue; you can then get him to do anything you please. Follow up your advantage by all the kindness and attention possible towards the animal, and your control is certain. This is only fit for nervous horses; but the railroad system is certain. In all kinds of ugly horses it is the best of methods.
331. BOTTS IN HORSES
This may be relied on as a certain and safe remedy for botts in horses. When the horse is attacked, pound some common gla.s.s very fine, sift it through a fine piece of muslin, take a tablespoonful, put it inside a ball of dough, (not mixed with the dough,) then put it down the horse"s throat, and in from two to five minutes the horse will get up and feel and will be well. The moment the gla.s.s touches the botts though they may have eaten their way into the coats of the stomach, so that but a small portion is exposed, they will let go their hold, will pucker up and be driven off by the bowels. This remedy is perfectly safe, and is the only certain cure for botts under the sun. Try it.
332. RING BONE AND SPAVIN
Take of sweet oil, 4 oz.; spirits of turpentine, 2 ozs.; oil if stone, 1/2 oz. Mix and apply three times a day. If the horse is over four years old, or in any case where there is not sufficient, in addition to it, you will fit a bar of lead just above it, wiring the ends together, so it constantly wears upon the enlargement, and the two together, will cure nine cases out of every ten in six weeks.
333. POLL EVIL AND FISTULA
Take 1 lb. common potash dissolved in 1/2 pint of water. Add 1/2 oz.
extract of belladona and 1 oz. gum-arabic dissolved in a little water; work all into a paste with wheat flour, and box or bottle up tight. In applying this, the place should be well cleansed with soap-suds, (castile soap is best) then tallow should be applied all around by the paste dissolving and running over it. Now this paste must be pressed to the bottom of all the orifices; if very deep it must be made sufficiently thin to inject by means of a small syringe, and repeated once in two days, until the callous pipes, and hard fibrous base around the poll evil, or fistula, is completely destroyed. Sometimes one application has cured cases of this kind, but it will generally require two or three. If the horse cannot be kept up, you will put a piece of oiled cloth over the place. The advantage of this caustic over all others is that less pain and inflammation is induced. The sores may be cured by the following or Sloan"s ointment: ceder oil is to be applied to the tendons, to prevent them stiffening, in pole evil, or other cases.
334. DeGRAY, OR SLOAN"S HORSE OINTMENT
Take of rosin 4 oz., lard 8 oz., honey 2 oz., mix and melt slowly, gently bring it to a boil, and as it begins to boil slowly, add a little less than a pint of spirits of turpentine, stirring all the time it is being added, then remove from the stove, and stir till cool. This is an extraordinary ointment for bruses in flesh or hoof, broken knees, galled backs, bites, cracked heels, &c. or when a horse is gelded, to heal and keep away flies.
335. NERVE AND BONE LINIMENT
Take of beef"s gall 1 quart, alcohol 1 pint, volatile liniment 1 lb., spirits of turpentine 1 lb., oil of origanum 4 oz., aqua ammonia 4 oz., tincture of cayenne 1/2 pint, oil of amber 3 oz., tincture of spanish fly 6 oz., mix and shake well. Uses too well known to need description.
336. TO CURE FOUNDERS IN 24 HOURS
Boil or steam oat straw for half an hour, then wrap it round the horses legs while quite hot, cover up with wet woollen rags to keep in the steam: in six hours renew the application. Take 1 gallon of blood from the neck vein, and give a quart of linseed oil. He may be worked next day.
337. TO CURE COLIC IN TEN MINUTES
Bleed freely at the horse"s mouth, and take 1 oz. of oil of juniper, 1 oz. of laudanum, and 2 ozs. of sweet spirits of nitre. Mix in a pint of gruel, and drench him with it.
338. GARGLING OIL
Take of tanner"s oil 1 quart, oil of vitriol 2 oz., spirits of turpentine 1 oz. Mix all together, leave the bottles open till it stops working, then it is ready for use.
339. MERCHANT"S GARGLING OIL
Take of linseed oil 2-1/2 galls., spirits of turpentine 2-1/2 galls., western petroleum 1 gall., liquor pota.s.s 8 oz., sap green 1 oz., mix all together, and it is ready for use.
340. PURGING b.a.l.l.s
Take of aloes, 3 oz.; anise seed, 3 oz.; pulverise and mix with castile soap. This makes one ball for a horse.
341. URINE b.a.l.l.s
Take of white resin, 1/2 lb.; castile soap, 1/2 lb.; venice turpentine, 1/2 pint; mix well together; make the b.a.l.l.s the size of b.u.t.ternuts. Give the horse three the first day, two the second day, and one the third day.
342. FOR THE HEAVES
Give the horse 1/2 drachm of nitric acid, in a pint of sweet milk.
Repeat once in two days, once in three days, and once in four days.
This receipt is highly prized, and is good; but the best remedy for heaves is so simple that scarcely any one will try it; it is to take fresh sumack tops, break two or three bunches of them up in the horse"s feed, three times a day. This will actually cure the heaves unless, they are very bad.
343. INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS
The symptoms of inflammation of the lungs in the horse is as follows: it is usually ushered in by a shivering fit, the horse is cold all over, reaction soon takes place, the body becomes warmer, and the extremities extremely cold. The breathing is quick, he refuses to lie down. If when wearied out, he lies down, it is but for a moment.
Treatment--This may be commenced by a good bleeding, which is to be followed by a drachm of emetic tartar, and three drachms of nitre, every eight hours, rubbing the extremities, and giving bran-mashes; throw warm blankets over the animal, hanging down to the floor, and place vessels of hot water in which put hot stones or bricks, and sweat freely, also, give one scruple of opium, and two of calomel, twice a day. The sides of the chest may be thoroughly blistered.
This is the proper treatment.
344. STOMACH AND BOWELS
Inflammation of the stomach and bowels in the horse, resembles colic in its symptoms, except in colic the pains pa.s.s off at times, and return again, whereas in inflammation, the pain is constant, and the animal is never easy; after a time the eye acquires a wild haggard, unnatural stare, and the pupil, or dark spot in the eye, dilates.
Treatment--Take away, at once, six or eight quarts of blood, and repeat the bleeding if the pain returns. Follow the bleeding by one scruple of opium, and two of calomel, twice a day; also blister the sides of the chest; give him bran mash and purging b.a.l.l.s, (Receipt No. 340).
345. INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS
The princ.i.p.al symptoms of inflammation of the kidneys in the horse, is, pressure on the loins elicit symptoms of pain, the breathing is hurried, there is a constant desire to void urine, although pa.s.sed in small quant.i.ties, highly coloured, and sometimes tinged with blood.
Treatment--This is blood letting, active purging, mustard poultices as near the kidneys as possible, and the horse warmly clothed, &c., as in other inflammations.