Part 7

It is not the province of this book to furnish formulæ of the mixtures or medicines used to “dope” or “shut” heavey horses, but rather to put the buyer on his guard so that forewarned he may be forearmed. Therefore, the following “dopes” employed for dishonest purposes are mentioned:

Arsenic, stramonium, lobelia, indigo, chloral hydrate, opium, melted lard, lead shot, raw eggs, milk, fresh ox blood, vinegar, kerosene, slaked lime in drinking water, etc., and in olden days a fistulous opening was made in connection with the rectum for the free and silent passage of gas.

If the buyer is allowed twenty-four hours in which to reject a horse, heaves, if present, will usually show up in that time if the horse is given an abundance of drinking water and bulky food and then is put to work.

Secret of Plugging a Roarer.

It is well to examine the horse’s nostrils when making a purchase, otherwise he may sneeze out one or more sponges on arriving at his new home. The sponges are inserted to prevent a “roarer” from making a noise when breathing. This is also accomplished by fastening a spring truss to the nose band of the bridle in such a way that it causes pressure upon the false nostrils and so lessens the intake of air when the horse is in motion.

Sponges even of fine quality clog with mucus if left in place too long. Dealers tie fine cords to the sponges and by this means pull them out of the nostrils as soon as the horse is sold. Another plan is to cut off the ends of a lemon, squeeze it dry and then insert it in the nostril. It is left there with impunity as it will soon dry out, shrivel and be sneezed out of the nostril.

Another trick is to pack the horse’s sheath with oakum to prevent unpleasant noises when he is trotting; and the vagina of a lacerated (gill flirt) mare may be similarly treated for a like reason. Laceration of the perineum, an accident occurring at parturition, is usually incurable, hence the importance of making a careful examination when buying a mare.

Diamond Cut Diamond.

It is not always at the time of making a sale that the “gyp” practises sharp tricks. When occasion offers he has been known purposely to depreciate the value of a horse he wishes to buy. If he can make it appear that the horse is lame, sick, broken-winded, weak eyed or balky he may acquire him at a discount, and he has secret methods of accomplishing his dishonest ends. A fine wire or cord tied around the pastern soon causes symptoms simulating those of founder; or the horse limps painfully after a horse-hair has by means of a needle been passed through a certain part of his leg, or when a small nail has been driven into the foot or a gravel or bean put under the shoe. A horse will stop eating and so appear sick when tallow has been smeared upon the roof of the mouth and inner side of the upper incisor teeth; or refuse to pull when his shoulders and breast have been bathed with an irritating solution of corrosive sublimate, tincture of cantharides, or tartar emetic; or seem to have glanders when fresh butter has been melted and poured in his ears; or afflicted with eye disease when whole flaxseed has been chewed and rubbed on the eyes; or he can be made fractious by an application of a caustic fluid.

The owner should make a careful search for such causes of unsoundness should his horse mysteriously go wrong at the time when a trade is pending, and on recognizing the possibility of a trick it is better to call the deal off than to discount the price.

Making a Horse Act Mean.

When a “gyp” dealer learns that a farmer is having difficulty in training a high-strung young horse, he tries to buy him at a discount, and unless closely watched will try to make the horse act mean when examined. He asks the owner to harness or ride the horse, and diverting his attention for a moment, applies an irritating substance to the heels, or some other part of the animal, causing him to kick, plunge and attempt to run away. He calls his secret dope “dog water,” “hop-up,” “soup” or “fog,” and its effect is intended so to disgust the horse owner that he will be glad to sell the fractious beast at a bargain.

Often, should a buyer visit a scalper’s stable in the city, he will be shown a fine-looking horse and attractive harness and wagon. The price asked for the horse and outfit is a low one, and the stranger jumps at the chance to acquire the property; but just as the horse is being hitched up, he begins to kick or behave badly under the influence of a dose of “soup.” The intending buyer immediately suffers from “cold feet,” and is readily induced to take an inferior horse. The fine horse and outfit are thus used times without number to attract buyers and assist in the sale of unattractive, cheap horses at profitable prices.

Blowing Air Under the Skin.

When the muscles of the shoulder have wasted away, constituting the condition termed “sweeny,” air sometimes is blown under the skin to give the part a plump condition. This trick is easily detected, for when the hand is passed over the inflated part it crackles (crepitates) showing the presence of air under the skin (emphysema). The same trick is practised to make an old horse appear younger than he really is, the hollow’s over the eyes being blown up by means of a hollow needle, quill or straw passed through the skin. For low hip and atrophy of the shoulder muscles we have also known tricksters to inject a two per cent solution of phenol under the skin and then thoroughly massage the part.

Stopping a Switcher.

Apart from operating upon the muscles of the tail to prevent switching, which often is a bad vice in mares, dealers resort to the following trick: The tail is tied up over the horse’s back as tightly as possible and left in that position over night. It becomes so numbed by this treatment that the horse is unable to use it for half a day or so after it is let down.

The switching habit is also mechanically prevented, when the mare is hitched, by fastening a strand of the hair or string from each side of the tail to a part of the breeching of harness.

Tail switching is less likely to be noticed by the buyer if the tail is tied up or braided. Therefore, it is well to let the tail down for this and other reasons before deciding to buy the horse.

The Turpentine and Gasoline Tricks.

Temporarily to lessen or remedy the lameness of a footsore horse, turpentine heated to the boiling point is poured into the sole of the foot. It can be held there for five minutes by binding a bandage around the foot so that the turpentine cannot run down over the hoof-head. The buyer may readily detect this trick, as the odor of turpentine gives it away when the hoof is examined.

It also is alleged that the following treatment is given for muscle soreness, caused by use over hard stones: The night before he wishes to sell the horse affected in this way, the “gyp” dealer will pour gasoline over the withers, and let it flow down both shoulders and forearms. The gasoline contracts the capillaries and larger blood vessels and diminishes the blood pressure and nerve sensibility, thus allowing a nearly natural movement of the muscles. Of course as soon as the effect of the gasoline passes away the soreness will return. If gasoline were rubbed on the muscles it would probably result in a blister.

Gingering a Show Horse.

As a preparation for the show ring contest, or before exhibiting a horse to a prospective buyer, it is almost the general practise to insert ginger root in the animal’s rectum that the irritation produced thereby may cause it to carry a high tail and show spirit and action.

While this objectionable practise obtains most as regards coach and carriage horses, it is also followed by exhibitors and sellers of draft stallions and mares, and of recent years has been practised extensively. Indeed the trick is becoming far too common, and we have even seen it boldly and flagrantly practised in the judging ring to the disgust of all decent and fair-minded spectators. Possibly there may be some excuse for the practise as a means of setting a show or sale horse “on edge,” but if allowed at all it should at least be done in private and be absolutely prohibited as a public act in the show ring. We sincerely trust that managers of horse shows will take this view of the matter; and officers of the humane societies should see to it that horses are not excessively tortured in this way. While the grooms of some horse exhibitors use ginger in the judging ring, others pay some regard to the rules of decency by backing the horses into their stalls before showing so that the trick may be practised unnoticed by the visitors who throng the aisles of the horse barns. We have heard of such a plan being followed when preparing the entire string of coach horses of one owner for the evening exhibit at a great horse show.

Unnerving and Cocaining.

Chronic lameness is done away with by skilful obliteration of the large nerves which supply the affected parts with sensation. The operation is termed nerving or unnerving in common parlance and, properly, as neurectomy. It consists in cutting down upon the nerve and then removing a portion so that its function is destroyed so far as the portion below the seat of operation is concerned. Unnerving is most often done to hide the lameness caused by navicular disease which is incurable: it may also be practised on account of ringbone, side-bone, founder or other unsoundness of the foot. After unnerving the horse does not evince pain when the parts below the seat of the operation are pinched or pricked. The operation merely does away with pain and lameness. It is in no way a cure.

Cocaine or eucaine solution injected by means of a hypodermic syringe upon the nerves at the points where neurectomy would be performed will temporarily have an effect like that of the operation. Just after the injection a swollen or puffed place may be discovered at the point where the hypodermic needle was inserted, and local soreness may be present after the effects of the drug have subsided.