If a colt cannot be enticed with oats, &c., he must be driven into a corner between two steady horses, where, if a halter cannot be put on, at least a running hempen noose can be got round his neck; but, whichever is used, it should be flat, or the struggles, which are often long and violent, may bruise the neck, and produce abscess or poll evil. When his exertions have tired him, he may be then led to the operating spot: here his attention should be engaged while the hobbles are put on, if possible; if not, a long and strong cart-rope, having its middle portion formed into a noose sufficiently large to take in the head and neck, is to be slipped on, with the knotted part applied to the counter or breast, and the long pendent ends passed backwards between the fore legs, and, as expressed by Mr. Percivall, ‘extended obliquely backward, carried round the hind fetlocks within the hollows of the heels, brought forward again on the outside, passed under the collar rope, and a second time carried backwards over the outside of all, and extended to its full length in a direct line behind the animal.’ Thus fettered, Mr. Percivall says his hind feet may be drawn under him towards the elbows; I have, however, often found that, at the moment the rope touches the heels, the colt either kicks and displaces the rope, or altogether displaces himself; but his attention can generally be engaged by one fore leg being held up, or by having his ear or muzzle rubbed, or even by the twitch: if not, the rope may be carried actually around each fetlock, which then becomes a hobble; and this rope may be gradually tightened: in this way I have succeeded with very refractory colts; but it requires very able assistants, and, if possible, the man who has been used to the individual colt should be present. In either way, as soon as the rope is fixed, with a man to each end of it, behind the colt, let them, by a sudden and forcible effort in concert, approximate his hind legs to his fore, and thus throw him. Before the colt is cast, however, it should be endeavoured to ascertain that he is free from hernia: with an adult horse this is even more necessary.
Being satisfied that no hernia exists on either side, proceed to cast the horse, turning him, not directly on the left side, but principally inclining that way; and if possible let the croup be very slightly elevated: it is usual to place him directly flat on the left side, but I have found the above rather more convenient. Every requisite being at hand, and as Hurtrel d’Arboval, with his usual minuteness, observes, the operator, having his scalpel between his teeth, should place himself behind the horse, as the most convenient way to perform his manipulations, and firmly grasping the left testicle with his left hand, and drawing it out so as to render the scrotum tense, he should make an incision lengthways of the bag, from its anterior to its posterior part, or, as expressed by Hurtrel d’Arboval, in the direction of the grand axis of the organ. The incision may be carried at once through the integuments, the thin dartos expansion, and the vaginal coat of the testicles, by the dexterous operator, with a sweep of the scalpel: but with one less au fait at the operation, it will be more prudent to make the first incision through the scrotum and dartos only, to the required extent, and then to do the same by the vaginal coat, thus avoiding to wound the testicle, which would produce violent resistance, and give unnecessary pain. The testicle, if the opening be sufficiently large, will now slip out; but the operator must be prepared, at the moment of so doing, to expect some violent strugglings, more particularly if he attempts to restrain the contractions of the cremaster, and by main force to draw out the testicle. Preparatory to this, therefore, the twitch should be tightened; the attendants, especially the man at the head, must be on the alert, and the testicle itself, at the time of this violent retraction of the cremaster, should be merely held, but not dragged in opposition to the contraction, otherwise peritonitis itself might be the result from any such violence. If the clams have been put on over the whole, according to Mr. Percivall’s method, they will assist in retaining the retracting parts; but I must again offer a caution, that they be not used with too much pressure. The resistance having subsided, provided the clams have been thus employed, they must now be removed; or, if they have not been previously in use, they must now be taken in hand, and, being wadded with tow, should be placed loosely on the cord, while time is given to free the vas deferens, or spermatic tube, which is seen continued from the epididymis, from the grip of the pincers. The Russians, Mr. Goodwin informs us, cut it through when they operate. Hurtrel d’Arboval does not note it in the French practice; but humanity is much concerned in its removal from pressure, from the excess of pain felt when it is included. It is also necessary, before the final fixing of the clams, to determine on the part where the division of the cord is to take place. To use Mr. Percivall’s words, “If it be left too long, it is apt to hang out of the wound afterwards, and retard the process of union;” indeed, I have known the end of it swell into a fungous excrescence, which greatly embarrassed the practitioner to destroy: on the other hand, if it be cut very short, and the arteries happen to bleed afresh after it has been relieved from the clams, the operator will find it no easy task to recover it from the retraction of the cremaster. The natural length of the cord, which will mainly depend on the degree of the descent of the gland, will be our best guide in this particular. The place of section determined on and marked, close the clams sufficiently tight to retain firm hold of the cord, and to effectually stop the circulation within it. There are now two modes of making the division; the one is to sever it with a scalpel, and then to sufficiently sear the end of it so as to prevent a flow of blood, avoiding, however, to burn it to a cinder, as is sometimes done. The other, and in some respects the preferable method, is to employ an edged firing-iron, which is to divide it by little crucial sawings, so that, when the cord is separated, it shall not present a uniform divided surface, but ragged edges, which will more perfectly destroy the mouths of the vessels, and tend to lessen the chances of hæmorrhage. This done, loosen the clams sufficiently to observe whether there be any flow of blood; gently wipe the end of the cord also with the finger, as sometimes an accidental small plug gets within the vessel, which afterwards is forced out, and therefore had better be removed by this means and at this time. Retain a hold on the clams a few minutes longer; and while loosening them gradually, observing to have an iron in readiness again to touch the end of the cord, if any blood makes its appearance. Satisfied on this point, sponge the part with cold water, but by no means dash it over them, as has been done; neither is any external application necessary, still less any resin seared on the end of the cord, which can only irritate, and will never adhere. On the after-treatment much difference of opinion has existed, and even yet exists. The powerful evidence of accumulated facts has now convinced veterinarians of both the necessity and propriety of some motion for the newly-castrated horse as a preventive of local congestion; such practice is common in most countries but our own, and seems salutary in all. Hurtrel d’Arboval, thus impressed, recommends the horse, immediately after the operation, to be led out to walk for an hour, and it is a general plan in France to walk such horses in hand an hour night and morning. Mr. Goodwin, in proof of its not being hurtful, informs us, that whole studs of horses brought to St. Petersburgh to be operated on, are immediately travelled back a certain portion of the distance, night and morning, until they arrive at home. I have, therefore, no hesitation in recommending a moderate degree of motion in preference to absolute rest, as practised among us: it is a plan which has long been followed with success among our own cutters; and perhaps our not adopting it before has arisen from prejudice against whatever was practised by illiterate persons, without reflecting that, illiterate as they are, their employers are not all so; and that, unless success attended their practices, they would cease to be employed.
For the French mode, twitching, &c., vide Goodwin, Blaine, &c.
When a colt is to be gelded.—In the first or second week in June he should be cut; and when recovered he should be turned out for the summer.
“I would not operate,” says Mr. Percivall, “during the season of changing the coat, nor even just prior to that period, from fear of interrupting the process, or checking it altogether; neither would I choose frosty or sultry weather: but, above all, it is advisable to suspend the operation when the flies abound. If the subject have passed the colt period of age, I would recommend a dose of aperient medicine before the operation be undertaken, unless he should be already living on green food.”
Each testicle should be taken out of the scrotum separately, by an opening sufficiently large, when a ligature should be applied, moderately tight only, around the spermatic chord, about an inch and a half beyond its insertion into the testicle; the separation should then be effected by the scalpel or knife, between the ligature and testis. It is sometimes performed without the ligature, by making the division of the chord with a red-hot knife, but the other is the neatest and safest mode.