Essays on Horse Subjects

Part 1

Essays On Horse Subjects

BY F. C. GRENSIDE, V. S.

NEW YORK PRIVATELY PRINTED 1907

Copyright, 1907, by F. C. GRENSIDE

PREFACE

Having been requested to contribute from time to time, articles for papers devoted to the horse, I have an accumulation of these that I thought it might not be amiss to publish under the title of “Essays on Horse Subjects.”

Many of these subjects I have never seen any literature upon, and these Essays are largely the result of twenty-eight years’ experience as a practical horseman and veterinarian. Covering as they do the borderland between the provinces of the veterinarian and horseman, they relate to subjects which have been to a large extent neglected by both. This fact is my excuse for publishing them. F. C. G.

CONTENTS

PAGE

QUALITY IN HORSES 1

HEREDITARY UNSOUNDNESS IN HORSES 8

HITCHING IN HORSES 20

HORSESHOEING AND HORSES’ HOOFS 25

CORRECT ACTION IN HORSES 34

FORGING, OVER-REACHING AND CLICKING 41

INTERFERING, STRIKING, CUTTING OR BRUSHING IN HORSES 46

THE HORSE’S MOUTH 54

TURNING HORSES OUT 64

BITTING, SHOEING AND CONDITIONING FOR ACTION 69

EXERCISE FOR HORSES 90

THE HORSE’S COAT IN SPRING, SUMMER, AUTUMN AND WINTER 98

THE CAUSES OF DIGESTIVE DISORDERS 105

THE USE OF BURRS ON HORSES’ BITS 124

QUALITY IN HORSES

There is no subject upon which there seems to be more diversity of opinion amongst horsemen than as to what constitutes “quality” in a horse.

It is a term in very common use, but if you ask a number of horsemen what they mean by it you are sure to get a variety of answers. One will say it means breeding; another, conformation; another, finish; another, “class”; another, symmetry; another, individuality; another, an accentuation of all fine points; another, magnetism; another, refinement of lines or perhaps a combination of some or all of these attributes. Some say that quality is recognizable, but indefinable and unexplainable.

The term “quality” is an abstract one, indicating a special attribute in an individual, just as being well bred, well conformed and possessing finish are attributes of some individuals. When one says that a horse has “quality,” one means that he has a special attribute which may or may not be combined with any or all of the others mentioned. Of course there are varying degrees of “quality,” so that the term can only be used in a comparative sense. In the light classes of horses it is very often used synonymously with breeding. Certainly the more warm-blooded a horse is the higher the degree of quality he is apt to possess, but one may take two equally well bred thoroughbreds and find one showing evidence of the possession of a higher degree of quality than the other. So that breeding and quality do not mean the same thing. Neither does quality signify the possession of symmetry, good conformation, finish or “class.” A horse may be defective in any or all of these respects and still possess a high degree of “quality.” He may be fiddle-headed, lop-eared, ewe-necked, sway-backed, flat-sided, slack-loined, cow-hocked and calf-kneed, and yet show much “quality.”

Much confusion is caused by using the term “quality” synonymously with “class.” Horses are spoken of as high-class, medium-class and so on, indicating the degree of excellence which they possess for the purpose for which they are best suited. Two individuals can be taken as an example, showing equal “quality,” but one of them, on account of better conformation, more style and action, may be worth twice as much as the other. Consequently he is a higher-class individual, although the two are equal in “quality.” So that “quality” and “class” do not mean the same.

Part 2

If, then, “quality” does not mean breeding or conformation or symmetry or finish or “class,” or a combination of any or all of these, what does it mean? It is an easier matter to explain what constitutes “quality” than it is to give a concise and at the same time comprehensive definition of what it is. It may not inaptly be defined as fineness in contradistinction to coarseness, or as fineness of texture. How frequently one hears a prospective purchaser say to a dealer: “He is a very nice horse, but very light in bone.” The dealer almost invariably replies: “Yes, but his bone is of good ‘quality,’” and still further endeavors to make the statement more emphatic by saying that the bone is so dense, so compact, so ivory-like, that a cubic inch of it will weigh more than a cubic inch of some other horse that has indisputably more bone. It is a fact that the bone of some horses is much more dense or compact, and is, as the dealer expresses it, of better “quality” than that of some others.

What causes this greater density in the bones of some individuals than in those of others? We have to look to the elements of which bone is composed for the determining cause. The animal tissues are made up of fluids and solids. The solids are composed of three simple elements, viz.: granules, fibres and cells that are only determinable by means of a microscope. This difference of quality is most easily determinable with regard to the element fibres. The fibres that form part of the tissues of an individual of high “quality” are more slender, more compact and tougher than those of one of less “quality.” One can appreciate this even with the naked eye, in examining the walls of horses’ hoofs. In a horse possessing a fairly high degree of “quality,” the fibres which run from the coronet down, in forming the basis of the wall, are most palpably finer than in those of the wall of a coarser individual. So with the bone; the elements that combine to form it in a horse of high “quality” are finer and more highly organized than in those of a coarser individual.

What you find in regard to quality in the bones of an individual, you find pervading all the tissues of his organism. You do not find a horse with coarse bone and fine skin, or coarse skin and fine bone. If the bone is fine or has “quality,” the muscles, tendons, ligaments, skin, hoofs, hair and all the other tissues which enter into his composition are equally fine or are of equal “quality.” The “quality” of a horse’s bone may be perfect, but undue or disproportionate length or other defective form, or faulty relationship of one bone to another, may make his conformation very imperfect indeed, so that it is difficult to understand why some horsemen think there is any relationship between “quality” and conformation.

A high degree of “quality” is apt to be associated with defects, so that one might almost state that a horse can have too much quality. Size, or more correctly, substance, is strength, other things being equal. A horse with a high degree of quality may be so lacking in substance as to impair his power for the performance of work or for severe tests of endurance or speed. He may be so light-limbed that he cannot stand the “wear and tear” of hard work and remain practically sound. We often find horses that are superfine with disproportionately small feet, and every experienced horseman knows that it is seldom that such horses do much work and remain sound. A horse, however, cannot have too much “quality,” providing it is combined with sufficient substance for the purpose for which he is required. A high degree of “quality” and sufficient substance are most important attributes in contributing to perfection in horseflesh.

There are many every-day evidences of the ill consequences of deficient quality in horseflesh. You hear a horseman say that a horse has soft legs, and he points out an individual inclined to fill about the skin of the fetlocks, to show windgalls which extend up the sheaths of his back tendons, and whose hocks are inclined to be puffy throughout. If he gets a bruise or injury of any kind to the skin of his legs, the consequent swelling is apt to extend and is inclined to remain. Abrasions, cuts, cracks and scratches heal rather tardily. Concussion and direct injury to bone are very much inclined to result in bony enlargement, such as splints, that spread out and have not well-defined limits. Standing in the stable too much readily produces stocking of the legs; there is a predisposition to greasy legs. The feet are inclined to be flat, large and easily bruised.

These tendencies show coarseness of tissue and low organization, a meagre blood supply and inactive nutrition. Horses with “quality” also develop windgalls and splints if subjected to sufficient cause, but their character differs from those of coarse horses in being clean-cut and well-defined and not having the tendency to spread out. A horse with “quality” may have a bog spavin, but it will show as a well-defined prominence and not as a round puffiness of the hock throughout.

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