CHAPTER XIV.
INJURIES—THEIR NATURE AND THEIR TREATMENT.
POLL EVIL.
Poll evil consists of a deep abscess, ending in an ulcerous sore which has numerous sinuses. The situation of the affection is the most forward portion of the neck, near the top of the head, which part is peculiarly liable to injury, especially in agricultural horses.
POSITION OF THE HEAD BEFORE AN ENLARGEMENT ANNOUNCES THE EXISTENCE OF AN ABSCESS ON THE POLL.
The gentlemen who superintend the laying down of stable floors always make the pavements of the stalls to slant from the manger to the gangway. They either know nothing about the habits of the horse, or they disdain to think about so trivial a matter as the convenience of an animal. Their stables are built for men; and it is sufficient if the places will hold whatsoever man chooses to put into such out-buildings.
The horse is most at ease when the position takes the strain off the flexor tendons. That end is accomplished when the hind legs are the higher portion of the body, or when the ground slants in precisely the opposite direction to which the flooring of all present stables incline. The animal, finding the slope which is most convenient for the builder's purposes adverse to its comfort, endeavors to compound the matter by hanging back upon the halter, thus getting the hind feet into the open drain which always divides the stalls from the gangway.