Part 8

There is a limit, however, to the bulk required, and if this limit is much exceeded, there is not only a waste of food, but injury is done. If a horse is constantly being fed too large a volume of feed, it overworks and overtaxes the digestive organs, soon weakening these organs and consequently rendering them more liable to indigestion, colic, stoppage and diarrhœa. Even if no such evidence of acute disorder shows itself, as the affections named, the unnecessarily distended bowels encroach upon the chest capacity and interfere with the action of the lungs; so that the horse cannot stand as much exertion as he might otherwise. One likes to see a horse with a good depth of rib, and well ribbed-up and not presenting a tucked-up condition, all of which is evidence of a good feeder. But no horse, unless it is a mare in foal, or one running at grass, should show what is called a “pot-belly,” as that is a sign that too much bulky food is being consumed. Too much bulky food is also a cause of that very serious trouble, called heaves, especially if the food happens to be of defective quality, and consequently difficult of digestion. One often hears it said that clover hay is apt to cause heaves. The reason is that horses are very fond of it, and if they are allowed all they want, will eat an excessive quantity of it. If the quality of clover hay is good, and only a proper ration of it is fed, it is no more likely to cause heaves than any other kind of hay.

Fully one-half the horses one sees in country districts are pot-bellied, especially in the winter. In many farm stables you see racks kept full of hay constantly in front of the horses, and the less work they do the more hay they eat, most of them eating certainly twice as much as is good for them. In cities it is different. Hay being high-priced, the quantity fed is usually limited, with the result that digestive troubles are very much rarer than in country districts. It is directly the opposite with regard to the diseases of the breathing organs. In the large, crowded stables of the cities, with breathing space limited, the air becomes charged with impurities, with the result that diseases of the breathing organs are very prevalent, while in the country they are comparatively rare. The relative prevalence of digestive and respiratory troubles in city and country affords a good illustration of cause and effect, but the country horse owner has the advantage, as he has to encounter chiefly diseases that are largely preventable. It is a difficult matter to successfully cope with the prevention of respiratory ailments in cities.

It has been already stated and emphasized that the feeding of too much bulky food to horses is one of the most prolific causes of digestive disorders. The question naturally follows: How much is sufficient for a horse to attain the best results? As far as the supply of nourishment is concerned, it can be supplied amply in concentrated form, as in oats or corn; but a certain amount of bulk is necessary. If there is not a certain amount of bulk in the food material in the bowels, the coats of these organs have not sufficient contents to contract on, so that these organs may be able to move along in proper time substances that should be excreted. The bowels become torpid, as far as excretion is concerned, and the proper digestion and absorption of nutritive material is not carried on. Under these circumstances, health and condition cannot be long maintained, and there will be a waste of food fed in concentrated form. Of course, the amount of bulky food necessary varies according to the size of the horse, and it is approximately correct to put it at about one pound per hundred-weight of the animal’s weight. This may be exceeded in some cases with impunity, to the extent of a few pounds, particularly in horses used for slow work; but it will be found sufficient in the majority of cases. While horses are being used for very fast work, or are in training, a less quantity will suffice. The usual plan in large cities is to feed the allowance of hay all at one time, in the evening, after the horse has finished his day’s work, and it works very well. People used to seeing a horse get all the hay he can eat, think, when they see him restricted, that he is being starved, but they will find he thrives if adequately fed with grain, has better wind, more endurance, particularly for fast work, and is much less liable to digestive ills.

THE CAUSES OF DIGESTIVE DISORDERS--II

Experience proves that there is no better concentrated food for a horse for good hard work than oats. This can be readily explained. First of all, it contains the essential flesh-forming, fat and heat-producing elements in approximately their proper ratio. It also supplies to the nervous system, as no other grain appears to do to the same degree, the sustenance that gives life and ambition. In addition to this, oats have a physical property that mechanically fits them for ready digestion in a greater degree than any other grain. This is due to the fact that the particles of the meal are more loosely put together than in any other grain and that the hull is coarser. On this account, when a masticated mass of oats enters the stomach, owing to its looseness it is readily permeated by the digestive fluid, so that digestion goes on readily and thoroughly. Possibly the most indigestible of all grains, when fed by itself, either ground or whole, is wheat, and this is due to its physical character. A mass of wheat forms a tough, glue-like lump in the stomach, so that it is comparatively impervious to the action of the digestive fluid, and digestion goes on slowly and imperfectly, and is apt to be arrested, causing serious indigestion. Peas and beans, owing to their flinty nature, are also less digestible than oats. Corn, when fed whole, is fairly easily digested, but when ground is difficult of digestion, unless the cobs are also ground with it, which renders it more pervious. Wheat, corn, pea and bean meal can be rendered much more digestible by being fed thoroughly mixed with a little chaffed hay. The chaffed hay, when consumed with the meal, renders the meal more pervious to the action of the digestive fluid and consequently more digestible. Where, from economy or convenience, it is found desirable to use any of these grains for horses, it can be done with comparative safety, if they are ground and fed with chaffed hay. When meal is fed with chaff in this way, it is generally quite thoroughly moistened, which is a mistake, as in this condition it is apt to be too hastily eaten and too imperfectly mixed with saliva to be thoroughly digested. One reason given for moistening is that it makes the meal stick to the chaff and insures the two being consumed together. There is something in this, but, as a rule, if they are thoroughly mixed, there will be enough of the chaff consumed to insure the digestibility of the meal. If moistening is done at all, it should be done only slightly. A horse is so constituted that the major portion of his feed should be fed to him dry, as in this condition he will digest it more thoroughly and with less liability to digestive troubles.

Of course, a certain amount of laxative food is necessary in order to mildly stimulate the bowels and keep them sufficiently active. Some horses cannot stand laxative food without their bowels becoming unduly relaxed. To such it is better not to give any, particularly if they are going to work the next day. It is an interesting point to study, and one that throws some light on the peculiarities of the digestive tract, to explain why bran mash, boiled feed and roots act as laxatives. They do not possess any purgative principle, as aloes does. If a dose of aloes is given to a horse, it is dissolved in the stomach, taken up by the blood vessels, going the round of the circulation, and is eventually eliminated by the glands of the bowels, increasing their secretion very much and rousing the action of the coats of the bowels, so that a large quantity of liquid excrement is passed. An explanation sometimes given of the laxative action of mash and the like, is that it is due to the increased amount of liquid supplied by the moist food; but that is not a satisfactory explanation, as there is not enough of it to make any difference. The most reasonable explanation appears to be that it acts as a laxative by virtue of its indigestibility. It apparently acts in the way that oil does. Small quantities, as a couple of ounces, of linseed oil, given three times a day to a horse, are digested and cause the animal to accumulate fat; but if a pint or a pint and a half is given, it will not be digested, but passes on into the bowels and stimulates them, causing laxative action. It will be noticed that it is the undigested portion of the oil that causes the purging. So it is with boiled feed and mash. It is on account of a considerable quantity not being digested, that passes into the bowels and stimulates their action. This is beneficial up to a certain point, but if the bowels are overstimulated, irritation is apt to result and the system is robbed of some nutrition. Horses that are not worked or worked very little, can stand, and, in fact, require more laxative food than those more exerted. Active exertion of itself has a naturally stimulating effect upon the bowels.

The lesson we learn from all this, is that moist food for horses should be given with care and judgment. Given too frequently or in too large quantities at a time, it is apt to cause indigestion and undue relaxation of the bowels. Most horses that are doing little work, such as those in moderate exercise, are benefited by a little boiled oats and barley, given every evening. This is a very good plan, particularly for sale horses. It is a good rule to follow with hard-worked horses, that if they happen to stand in for a day, a mash should be substituted for their evening meal of grain. With horses that work hard and regularly six days in the week, the general custom of giving the mash on Saturday evening is a good one; but in the case of horses that may be left in for the day at irregular intervals, it is usually the best plan to give simply a mash for the evening meal instead of grain.

Veterinarians meet with a frequently fatal disease called by them azoturia, which in almost all cases is a preventable disease, due to an error in feeding. It usually occurs in horses used to regular work and good feed being kept idle for a few days and getting as much feed as when they are working. It has been found in large stables that with the carrying out of the rule that if a horse does not go out during the day he shall have no grain in the evening, but only a mash, there will be very few, if any, of these cases.

Indiscretion in watering horses sometimes leads to derangement of the digestive organs. The chief trouble arises from allowing too long intervals to elapse in watering. Under normal conditions water may be given as often as it will be taken, and it is rare that a horse will take too much, unless he is very warm. Even when he is quite warm, a quart or two may be given with impunity. The proper plan is to water before feeding, as the water is then rapidly absorbed and does not interfere with digestion. Unfortunately, it is difficult to get many horses to drink, particularly in cool weather, before feeding, and they have to be watered afterwards; it is, however, wise to allow an hour to elapse before doing so. If a horse takes a full feed of grain and a drink shortly afterwards and is then put to any violent exertion, he is very apt to suffer from digestive derangement. If a horse is suffering from diarrhœa, or is purging from a dose of physic, water must be restricted and slightly chilled; otherwise, superpurgation and death may result.

An irrational plan of salting horses sometimes causes trouble. That horses require salt is generally recognized, but a great many follow the plan of giving it at intervals of a week or more, when they become very ravenous for it and eat a great deal of it, which makes them so thirsty that they will drink immoderately, and this will sometimes cause digestive derangement. Horses should have access to salt constantly; they then get the most benefit from it.

Before leaving the subject of feeding, it should have been stated that care should be taken in making changes of diet, which should not be done too abruptly, particularly changes to food which, if eaten hurriedly or in considerable quantities, is apt to cause indigestion. Good examples of such food are roots, boiled grain and grass. An attack of indigestion in a horse that is a good feeder may almost certainly be caused by giving too large a feed of roots or boiled grain or by turning him into a fresh clover field that has a luxurious growth of herbage. If the grass is short, and he has to work hard for his feed, he can be safely turned into a pasture field; but where there is luxuriant growth, there should be several days’ restricted feeding before it is safe to allow some horses, particularly greedy feeders, liberty to eat at will.

In all horses in which the excrement from the bowels shows evidence of imperfect mastication, the cause should be sought for, and removed if possible. Greedy feeders bolt their grain, not taking time for perfect mastication. This not only results in waste, but is apt to cause irritation also. Bolting the grain may be prevented in a variety of ways. Numbers of feed boxes have been invented to overcome this trouble, some of which are fairly effectual. The old-fashioned plan of putting a number of stones amongst the grain works very well. The addition of an equal quantity of bran to the grain is also an assistance, but really the most effectual plan, where practicable, is to mix two or three pounds of chaffed hay with the grain. In the case of horses which do not bolt their grain, where there is evidence of imperfect mastication, the grinders should be thoroughly examined. This should be done by a qualified and reputable veterinarian. The wandering, self-styled horse dentist should be carefully avoided, as he is apt to injure the teeth by the over-use of the forceps and tooth-rasp. Many horses’ lives are shortened by allowing unprincipled and ignorant men to ill-treat the teeth.

Horses are more liable than almost any other species, to irregular growths of the grinders, owing to their peculiar anatomical arrangement. The two rows of grinders in the upper jaw are further apart than those in the lower, and consequently overlap them on either side. The grinding surface is beveled, and in the upper jaw slants from within outwards, forming a ridge on the outside of each row. The arrangement in the lower jaw is just the opposite, the ridge coming on the inside. In order that grinding of the food may take place in a perfect manner, the teeth must come into perfect apposition. If the grinders do not come into perfect contact in the process of grinding, the food is not only imperfectly masticated, but the teeth wear irregularly. Nature’s method of keeping the teeth of normal dimensions is by the wear they experience during grinding. If from any cause this wear does not take place throughout all the grinding surface, irregular projections form, and are most apt to be found on the outer ridge of the upper rows of grinders and on the inner of the lower ones. These projections are liable to interfere with mastication to a degree proportionate to their size, and sometimes cut and abrade the cheeks and tongue. When the mouth is in such a condition, it will be much benefited by proper attention. The owner, however, should not be misled by traveling dentists into thinking that all horses’ teeth require attention. The dentist points out the projecting ridges on the outside of the upper rows and on the inside of the lower ones, and makes the owner believe this to be an abnormal condition. Some owners seem to think, or are made to think, that the grinding surfaces should be level from side to side, instead of beveled, as nature made them.

In addition to the tendency to injurious projections on the grinders, as already described, we not infrequently find on the front part of the first upper grinders and on the back part of the last lower ones, prominences of considerable size. These are found generally in horses with “parrot mouths,” or what are sometimes called “overshot mouths.” This is a deformity, as the upper jaw is placed a little too far forward with respect to the lower one, so that a portion of the first upper grinders and of the last lower ones do not come in contact with opposing teeth. These are not kept of normal dimensions by wear; consequently, projections are formed, which seriously interfere with mastication, and otherwise injure the mouth. Occasionally a broken or decayed tooth is found, which also gravely interferes with the grinding of the food. If from any cause the power of mastication is impaired, it results not only in waste, but the imperfectly prepared food is liable to cause digestive derangement. If a horse is found to slobber at the mouth and to have difficulty in eating, the teeth should always be carefully examined by an expert.

THE USE OF BURRS ON HORSES’ BITS

Every now and then one hears of the A. S. P. C. A. making a crusade against the use of burrs on horses’ bits, and it is one of the practices that their agents are always on the alert to detect. They assume that the use of a burr is such a very evident act of cruelty, that they would have no difficulty in securing a conviction, which would redound to their credit as assiduous and vigilant officials.

Owners of horses appear to be afraid to take a chance of defending such a suit. Why? Is it because they are averse to spending the time, experiencing the incidental worry, and standing the expense, or is it the fear of being convicted of cruelty to an animal? It seems to the writer that the latter is the chief reason, and from which one would naturally shrink; otherwise it appears difficult to understand why horsemen allow men who, as a rule, have very limited or no knowledge of horse management, to dictate to them as to what equipment they should use in driving their horses.

To one who knows the use of a burr, it seems incredible to think that, with a fair trial and a proper presentation of a defense, a conviction could be obtained against a driver of a horse for using a burr on a properly selected subject.

Numberless experts could be obtained as witnesses to show that the use of a burr is no cruelty in properly selected cases, and such experts could be obtained amongst horsemen of undoubted standing who would shrink from anything that savored of cruelty to animals.

Still further, it could be demonstrated, as it has been to the writer many times, that it is positively inhumane not to use a burr on some horses. One comes in contact with nervous, fretful pullers, that wear themselves out, lose their appetites, and become wrecks, that by the use of a burr often cease pulling, in a large measure, drive comfortably, and regain condition. People are heard to speak of burrs as if they are instruments of torture, placed on a horse’s bit to irritate him. Some suppose that they are used to give a horse a stylish carriage and promote action. As there is so much misconception with regard to the object of their use, it will be well to explain what is intended to be accomplished by them.

A burr is made of a piece of thick leather, studded with bristles on one side, about half an inch long. It has a hole in the centre, so that it can be fitted on the mouth-piece of the bit, and a slit running from the circumference to this hole, so that it can be taken off or put on, as occasion requires.

When it is put on it is placed on one end of the mouth-piece of the bit, right up against the cheek-piece of it, with the bristled surface towards the horse’s mouth. If the mouth-piece of the bit is of proper width, the bristles do not prick the skin of the horse’s lips, unless he voluntarily presses on them. After he has pressed on them a few times, finding they are uncomfortable, he usually stops doing it; then they don’t hurt him.

This is the object of a burr, namely, to keep a horse from pressing on one side of the bit. A horse that presses forcibly on one side of the bit, which habit is usually called side-lining, is very difficult to guide, as he takes an unyielding grip of the bit, usually holds his head to one side, and pulls to an extent most uncomfortable to his driver, and most wearing to himself. Anxious, ambitious, free, high-strung horses are apt to get into this habit, unless their mouths are properly educated to the bit, and their general handling and management good.

Not the least important amongst the exciting causes is insufficient and irregular work, causing a horse to get what is often called “above himself.” Under such circumstances, if he is a free horse, he will go up firmly against the bit, and may bruise or injure his mouth in some way, producing soreness and irritability of the gums where the bit presses. This causes him to pull more, and some horses brace themselves against the cheek-piece of the bit, which enables them to pull to an extent most trying to the driver, and most wearing to themselves. The farther they go the more they pull and the more excited, fretful and heated they become. The constant repetition of this causes them to get “run down” in condition, and the unnecessarily violent exertion they make in performing their work is very hard on their legs and feet.

If by the simple expedient of using a burr on a puller’s bit, this habit of pulling can be lessened, and practically overcome in some cases, is it not justifiable to take the risk of subjecting a horse’s lips to a few pricks with bristles in order to attain such desirable results? A fretful puller suffers infinitely more, by the over-exertion to which he subjects himself, and by working himself up into an excited and heated state, than by the use of burrs.

As for the driver, it becomes absolutely painful to him to drive a side-lining puller, and it is not without danger, especially where there is crowded traffic, as in cities, on account of the difficulty of guiding and controlling a horse with such a disagreeable fault. To a driver who has had his arms pulled out, the use of a burr does not seem by any means too drastic a remedy.

It may be asked: Is there not some other means of a less heroic nature, that may be resorted to, to overcome this disagreeable habit? There is no doubt that thoughtless, careless, ignorant and unintelligent handling and management of horses, especially of young ones, makes many pullers. Sensitive, nervous, courageous horses are predisposed to this fault, and there are some in which it is almost impossible to prevent the development of it.

Some horses, whose mouths have become irritable from pulling, will be very much benefited by “turning out” for two or three months. Keeping the bit out of the mouth for a length of time allows that organ to heal and freshen up, until it may regain something like its normal condition; but much care must be exercised when they are again put to work, otherwise they will soon relapse into their former habit of pulling. No matter how much care is exercised with some horses, that may almost be called natural pullers, they will develop the fault, and any measures adopted to overcome it are fruitless, and all that can be done is to seek measures of control, such as proper bitting and the use of burrs. Many pullers are quite valuable horses, and their owners are loth to lose their service, or even to part with them for a good price, on account of the good qualities they possess.