Proprietors of horses thus injured are commonly very earnest in their solicitations for a professional opinion as to the extent and probable consequences of the accident. No certain judgment can, however, be pronounced, nor should one be given. Any surgical calculation, notwithstanding it may be most prudently qualified, is apt to be misconstrued by the anxiety of distress. The most guarded hint at a probability of recovery is too likely to be seized upon as a positive guarantee of perfect restoration; and the possible evils which may have been alluded to, confusion causes the individual not to remember. Therefore silence is wisdom in these cases, however slight the broken knee may appear in the first instance.
Broken knees are principally caused by the imprudence of him in whom authority is invested. Certain people imagine the public admire the man who chastises a horse. Such persons slash away for every trivial error. Every imaginary fault is punished with the whip, which too often curls around parts that should be respected. The animal, pained and frightened, thinks only of the slasher behind it, and entirely disregards the path upon which its eyes should be directed. The cutting is incessant, and the horse's pace is incautiously fast. An impediment is encountered; the animal trips; it is cast to the ground with violence, while the man is probably rendered fitter for a hospital than for the continuance of his travels.
Other riders and drivers always visit with severity the slightest indication of weak limbs. A sudden drop or a false step is, to such people, the signal for the reins to be jagged, the voice to be raised, and the whip to be freely exercised upon all parts of the animal's body, but mostly about the face and ears. The man likes to behold the poor creature shake its head, and loves to imagine he is then teaching the terrified quadruped to be careful. Equine pupils, no more than human scholars, are to be tutored by barbarity, which may slay the reason long before it can instruct the mind. Composure is imperative to the acquirement of any knowledge. Thrashing calls forth terror, and alarm is synonymous with confusion of mind. The horse is susceptible of a fear which humanity, happily, finds it difficult to conceive; and how far such a creature is calculated to be educated by cruelty, the intelligent reader is left to infer.
Could the animal argue, it might plead that the weakness objected to was caused by exertion made in man's service; that the stumbling gait was consequent upon no negligence on its part; that it afforded the beaten wretch no pleasure to have the knees broken, but, if the quadruped might profess a choice, it would prefer not falling down, etc. etc. If such pleas were properly considered, they perhaps might still the turbulence of the punisher.
The great majority of these injuries are consequent upon the prejudice or thoughtlessness of mankind. Popular admiration is, in this country, much in favor of a good crest. Every animal, no matter how nature may have formed the neck, must carry a good head. The rider, therefore, drags upon the bridle, while the form of nearly every gentleman's harness-horse is distorted by the bearing-rein. The constraint thus enforced not only obliges additional muscular action, but it disqualifies the animal to see the ground. In England there should be no objection to a blind horse, since such of the species as have eyes are, by the prejudices of society, seldom permitted to use them. The horse, being urged on when virtually blindfold, must of necessity stumble upon any unusual impediment being encountered. Such an accident shows no fault in the quadruped; but the man is truly responsible for those consequences which his folly has induced.
When a horse stumbles, never raise your voice—the creature dreads its master's chiding; never jag the reins—the mouth of the horse is far more sensitive than the human lips; never use the lash—the horse is so timid that the slightest correction overpowers its reasoning faculties. Speak to the creature; reassure the palpitating frame; seek to restore those perceptions which will form the best guard against any repetition of the faulty action. When the legs are weak, the greater should be the care of him who holds the reins. No cruelty can restore the lost tonicity of the limbs; therefore all slashing is utterly thrown away. If the reader regard his own safety, let him not, when riding, hold the head up, or, when driving, sanction the employment of a bearing-rein. No inhumanity can convert an animal with a ewe neck into the creature with a naturally lofty crest. The disguise of such a defect as a head badly placed on the neck is an impossibility. Therefore, if you are desirous of a well-carried head, think of it when making the purchase. Pay something more, and any kind of quadruped is obtainable; but be above the meanness which purchases for a low figure, and then endeavors to palm off its cheap article as a jewel procured at the highest price.
When a horse has been down, never judge of the injury by the first appearance. While the animal stands in the yard, order the groom to fetch a pail, with milk-warm water and a large sponge. With these he is to clean the knees—not after the usual coarse and filthy fashion now universal; not by first sopping the part, and then squeezing the soiled sponge into the pail whence more fluid is to be abstracted. The dabbing and smearing a wound simply irritates it; and the dirt, having all entered into the pail, the fluid is rendered unsuited to after cleanly purposes.
THE PROPER WAY TO WASH
A BROKEN KNEE.
To perform the office properly, the knee should not be touched. The sponge should be saturated, then squeezed dry above the seat of injury. The water thus flows in a full stream over the part, and, by the force of gravity, carries away any loose dirt that may be upon the surface. Sopping, dabbing, wiping, and smearing occasion pain, and can remove nothing which may have entered the skin and which is protected from the action of the sponge by a covering of hair; whereas by the plan recommended the dirt is removed, the part is not debilitated, neither is its natural energy destroyed. The last drop of water, moreover, is as clean as was the first, and the animal is not irritated immediately prior to a surgical examination.