The searing of the bars with a hot iron, as is sometimes practiced by cruel and ignorant smith’s, cannot be too strongly condemned. It tortures the horse to no purpose, renders the mouth callous, and destroys the delicacy and sensibility of a part upon which all the pleasure of driving and riding consists, while it is totally unnecessary.
Crib-Biting
Much has been written about crib-biting or wind sucking. It has sometimes been regarded as a vicious habit and at other times as connected with indigestion. However, there is much better basis for believing it to be a bad habit than anything else.
Horses that are worked regularly every day rarely develop it; and it is only among horses which are only used occasionally, and which stand for long hours in the stall, that we find it. Also in a stable of the latter kind if one horse starts it the others soon follow his example.
Treatment.—Many things have been tried, but the best results have been obtained by giving the horse plenty of regular work. If there is any disturbance of the digestive organs which has been occasioned by the wind sucking J.K. would be the proper remedy.
Loss of Appetite
Loss of appetite, or diminished appetite, is but a mere symptom of some more general affection. It is a symptom of almost every disease, and especially of every morbid condition of the digestive organs. There are cases, however, in which this seems the most prominent symptom; and the animal appears well in every other respect, save that he does not eat. The teeth should be examined, and, if needful, corrected. We should see also if the throat is sore. In general, loss of appetite will be found connected with a morbid or unhealthy condition of the digestive organs, and will yield to a few doses of J.K., fifteen drops, morning and night. This is also the appropriate remedy for defective appetite or the weakness which often remains after acute disease.
Ill Condition, Indigestion
In consequence of over-feeding, bad food, suddenly changing the kind of food, working the horse too soon after eating too much food, or bad and uneven teeth, which prevent the horse from chewing his food well, the following condition presents itself:
Symptoms.—The skin has the condition known as hidebound; the horse sweats easily; he is weak, and cannot work so long or with so much spirit as in health; he is thin and does not fatten; his tongue is foul; mouth slimy; the dung is dry, mixed with undigested oats, or it is slimy or bad smelling; the water is variable, scanty and thick, or clear and abundant, and there is a short, frequent cough. Sometimes he eats very greedily, and at others will eat nothing placed before him, or will take one kind of food and leave another, or he likes dirty straw or his bedding better than the best oats or hay, or, in some instances, his morbid appetite leads him to lick the wall or eat plaster from it.