that Celandine roots and leaves chopt bruised and boiled in beer and given the Horse luke-warm to drink is more sovereign But notwithstanding our prescriptions for these maladies some do confidently affirm that an Horse hath no Gall at all but that filthy and corrupt matter is wasted and spent either by sweat exercise or turns into diseases Diseases incident to the Liver The diseases of the Liver are many and do proceed from many causes as when it it too hot and too dry two moist or too cold or by intemperate riding evil food corrupt humours or overflowing of the Gall. If his distemper proceed from any hot cause then these are the apparent signs he will be lean and loath his meat his thirst will be great and he will be very laxative Now the general heads from whence a disease in the Liver doth proceed are Inflammation Impostumation or Ulceration If his distemper proced from a cold cause it must be by an Ulcer which proceedeth from a cold cause and the Symptoms to know it by are continual coldness of his Body great feebleness and faintness and the reason is because the ulcerated matter diffuseth ill vapours through the whole body So soon as you discover this distemper by the Symptoms aforesaid let him blood immediately in both sides of the Neck and the next day let him blood in both the Spur-veins and then give him this Drink Take Hâ—ssop Cowslip leaves Liver-wort Lungwort and Harts-tongue of each an handful then take Gentiana Aristolochia rotunda Enula campana dried and long Pepper of each the like quantity so as when they be pâ—unded and sierced you may have of each a spoonful chap the herbs and then mingle them with a spoonful of live Honey then boil all these ingredients in a quart of Ale till one half be consumed then strain it and give it him blood-warm if he refuse to eat by reason this drink hath made him drie then give him a warm Mash let him rest three days betwixt every Drench Ears Impostumated This disease hath its rise from several causes either by a blow about the ears or poll or else by being galled thereabout with a new Halter sometimes it proceedeth from a cold other whiles by bad and peccant humour The Signs of this distemper are burning glowing and swelling about the part and he will not endure to be touched thereabouts For the Cure Take Linseed and make it into a fine powder and Wheat flower of each half a Pint ordinary Honey a pint tried Hogs-grease one pound mix these well together and warm them on a fire keeping them stirring continually then take of this Ointment and spread it on a linnen cloth or leather the breadth of the swelling and so apply it warm renewing it once in twenty four hours till it comes to suppuration and so break then having cleansed the part heal it thus Take Mel Rosarum Sallet oil and ordinary Turpentine of each two ounces having incorporated them well together make a bigging for the Horse to keep on the medicine and tent it to the bottom with this Ointment applying likewise a Plaister of the same to the place aggrieved renewing it daily till the sore be well Frenzie This Frenzie or madness in an Horse is fourfold first when some naughty and corrupted blood doth strike only one part of the Panicle of the Brain and you shall know this by his turnning round like a Beast troubled with the Sturdy The second is when a poisonous blood infecteth the middle part of the Brain then will the Horse be mad leaping against any thing and running his head against a wall Thirdly he is said to be mad when blood filleth his stomachical Veins Lastly he is then frantick indeed when the poyson of the blood not only infecteth the Brain and Heart but the Panicles also which you may know by his biting of every thing comes near him by gnawing the Manger and lastly by tearing his own skin in pieces The speediest cure is to let him blood in most of the lower parts of the body to draw down the blood from cumbring his head The Veins most proper to be opened for this dangerous Distemper are the Shackle-veins the Spur-veins the Plat-veins and the Thigh-veins taking very much blood from them after this give him this drink take the root of wild Cucumber if not that a handful of Rew or Mints and an handful of black Hellebore and boil them in strong red Wine and give it in an horn luke-warm The Cure which Mr. Markham hath by long experience found most safe speedy and expedient is either to make him swallow down hard Hens-dung or else give him to drink the root of Virga Pastoris stamped in water As for his ordering during the Cure his Stable must be quiet but not close and his food only warm Mashes of Malt and Water of this but a little at a time for the slenderer his Diet the better it is Falling Evil. This Falling Evil is the same which in men is called the Falling sickness it deprives the beast of all sense whatsoever It proceeds from gross and cold flegm gathered together in the fore part of the head betwixt the Panicle and the Brain which being by any hot vapour disperst through the whole Body it doth instantly cause the Falling the signs of this Distemper are so apparent they need no farther description than this that all his body will quake and quiver foam at the mouth and when you think him past recovery he will start up and fall to his meat To effect the Cure let him blood in the Neck-Vein five days after bleed him in the Temple-Veins and in his Eye-Veins then anoint his body all over with a comfortable Friction then bath his head and ears with Oyl de Bay liquid Pitch and Tar mixt together dropping some thereof into his Ears make him a Cap of Canvas quilted with Wool to keep his head warm and force him to sneeze Now because this is a disease that doth not frequently invade the bodies of English Horses only the Spanish French and Italian Horses I think what already is written of this Malady may suffice Foundring in the Body This Distemper of all Surfeits is most dangerous and most incident to Horses which dayly travel It proceedeth from suffering the Horse to drink too much in his travail being very hot whereby the Grease being suddainly cooled it doth clap about and suffocate the internal parts with such a loathsome fulness that without a speedy purgation death will speedily and inevitably follow And this disease may proceed from another cause viz. suddain washing of Horses in the Winter time when they are both fat and hot by travail where are cold Vapour of the Water striking into the body of the Horse benums the inward and vital parts making the blood to lose its office whereby he loseth his strength in such manner that he can neither go nor bow his joynts and being laid he is unable to
one great broad sinew of three inches in breadth being of one single substance no other sinew having any derivation from it which not only holdeth the Shoulder-Blades together but covereth all the Chine over and this is commonly called Pax-wax Of all the principal Sinews appertaining to an Horse from whence an infinite number of small ones are derived there is in number thirty eight according to the opinion of such who have made frequent inspection into the Carkase of an Horse CHAP. XIV Of the Bones in an Horses body AS in an Horse so in an Oxe there are just one hundred and seventy bones which are number'd thus in the upper part of the head two bones from the forehead to the nose two his neather Jaws two twelve fore Teeth four Tushes twenty four Grinders seven bones from the Nape of the Neck to the points of the Spade-bones eight from thence to the Huckle-bones and thence to the Tail seven The great broad binder bone hath twelve joints in it then are there two Spade-bones and from the Forcels two Marrow-bones two Thigh-bones two Shank-bones and from thence downward into the Hoofs there are sixteen small bones In the Breast of the Horse there is a great bone whereunto are fastned thirty six Ribbs there are many more bones in all two hundred fifty seven of which you may come to the knowledge if you are so desirous by your own strict indagation and curious inspection or inquiry Before I enter on the cures of the several Distempers that attend an Horse which are more than belong to any other Beast especially the running Horse by reason of his violent exercise give me leave to inform you how you may know the age of any Horse CHAP. XV. The most experienced and most approved way to judge an Horses Age by his Teeth Hoofs Tayl Eyes Skin Hair and the Bars or Stairs in his mouth AS I told you before in the Chapter of an Horses bones an Horse hath twelve fore Teeth six above and six beneath twenty four Grinders and four Tushes which make in all forty Teeth His Foal Teeth for the first year are only Grinders without Tushes which are white small and bright the second year the four foremost Teeth change colour and appear more big and brown The third year the next Teeth unto these do change also and no Foal Teeth are visible before but two on each side above and as many below being both bright and small The fourth year he hath left but two Foal-Teeth one on each side above and below The fifth year his foremost Teeth will all change and then his Tushes will appear compleat and those which appear in the place of the last Foal-teeth cast will be hollow and have a little black speck in the middest and this is the mark so much talked on which continueth till after eight years old The sixth year beareth little difference to the fifth but in the seventh year his Teeth are at their perfect growth and the mark in the Horses mouth will then be plainest seen In the eight year the mark will in a manner disappear and vanish At the ninth year his foremost teeth will seem longer yellower and fowler than before and his Tushes very bluntish After this year you shall never certainly discern what age an Horse is by his Teeth wherefore you must apply your self to other helps as first observe whether the Horses Hoofs be rugged and seamed full dry and rusty he is then for certain stricken in age whereas if his hoofs are smooth moist and hollow he is undoubtedly young Secondly with your finger and your thumb take your Horse by the stern of the Tayl close at the setting on by his Buttock and if you find a joint sticking out more than any other joint about the bigness of an Hasel-nut then you may adjudge him about ten but if it be smooth in that place and no such thing be felt he may be eighteen years old for ought you know Thirdly mark if his eyes be round full and staring from his head and the pits filled even with the Temple it is a sign he is young if wrinkled under his eyes or about his brow he is then old Fourthly pull with your fore-finger and thumb his skin up if it return to its place smooth he is young if otherwise old Fifthly if the eye brows or main of a dark coloured Horse shall grow grissel he is very old Lastly if the bars in his mouth feel rough and hard and are great and deep then conclude him very old but if otherwise soft and tender there is no fear but that he is young and lusty And now we shall descend to the cure of diseases which are twofold internal and external we shall begin with the last and end with the first CHAP. XVI Of Diseases in Horses and their causes IT is not to be expected that any man should become a Farrier who shall not know First to what disease an Horse is most inclinable Secondly what are the causes of every disease in particular Thirdly how and by what means those diseases do accrew Fourthly the signs and symptoms how to know and distinguish them and Lastly the means and manner how to cure them I shall insist on every one of these in its due order Now first touching the diseases an Horse is most inclinable to they are suitable to the complexion or constitution of the Horse for example if the Horse be colured Mouse-Dun Chestnut Brown Soot colour or Iron-Gray his complexion then is melancholy participating more of earth than any other Element by which means he becomes dull heavy dogged restise faint-hearted c. and therefore most inclined to Inflammation in the Spleen siccity in the Liver to the Dropsie Frenzy and the like and so may you judge of other diseases by the other three Complexions already treated of in a foregoing Chapter Secondly we must consider what are the causes of every disease in particular where note that the causes of sickness are all unnatural effects and evil dispositions Of these causes there are two sorts external and internal External are such which afflict the outward parts of the body and the Internal the inward parts proceeding from ill diet evil humours obstructions c. Sickness it self is no more than an evil temperature and that is two fold either simple or compound simple when one quality is redundant as too cold too hot too moist too dry compound when more than one quality abound as too cold and too moist Some diseases are lingring and consume the body by degrees as Consumptions Glanders others short and presently mortal as soon as discovered as Yellows Anticor and Staggers Now some diseases again do occupy the whole body as Feavers Pestilence Convulsions and so forth others only some parts as Colds offend the head Surfeits the stomach Thirdly how and by what means do these accrew the means are inbred or accidental either coming from ill humours and
this bathe all his back with Red-Wine and Oyl of Roses mixt together or take Venice Turpentine washt clean and beat it well with half so much Sugar and then make round balls as big as Wall-nuts and give the Horse of these restringent pills five every morning till you have stopt the flux of his seed Sudden Sickness what to be done therein As soon as ever you perceive your Horse not well according to the signs aforementioned bleed him presently in both sides of the Neck to the quantity of two quarts and after that make this Drink for him Take of sweet Sack one quart and burn it with Grains Cloves and Cinnamon of each a like quantity having beaten them gross add to them three ounces of Sugar and when it is burned put thereunto half a pint of Sallet-oil and two ounces of London-Treacle warm all these and being well brewed together give it your Horse luke-warm to drink then ride him gently till you perceive he begins to sweat and so set him up well littered and cloathed making him to fast five hours or more somewhat after he is well rub'd down give him clean Wheat-straw with clean dry Oats some Wheat and Pease mixed therewith and let his Drink be a warm Mash Stavers or Staggers Though the names of this disease do seem to differ yet their natures are all one consisting of a dizziness in the head and near a kin to the Frenzie when it seizeth the Brain Several are the causes of this dangerous Distemper the common rise or original hereof is evil digestion and corrupted humours whose poisonous vapours do not only distract the head but distemper the whole body The Symptoms are very evident for his sight will so fail him that he will not be able to see a Post before him but run against it besides slavering at the mouth and running at the eyes with filth and matter often lying down and beating his head against the ground The Cure is to take the seeds of Cresses Poppy Smallage Parsley Dill take also Pepper and Saffron of each two drachms make them all into fine powder and put unto them of Barley-water two quarts as it cometh boiling from the fire and let it infuse therein 3 hours and then strain it and give him a quart thereof in the morning fasting then walk him an hour or more and set him up warm giving him Hay sprinkled with water and let him not drink cold water five or six days after but instead thereof give him a sweet Mash Sleeping Evil. This is a very strange disease in an Horse and is of the nature of a Lethargy infesting the bodies of Mankind and as the person thus afflicted will sleep continually having lost his memory quite so will the Horse get into a Corner and hang down his head to the very ground The Cure is somewhat difficult however thus you must do if you intend it First let him blood on both sides the Neck in the morning fasting also take some blood from the third stair in his mouth then take of Camomile and Mother-wort of each three handfuls cut small boil these in two quarts of running water half an hour and then give the Horse a pint once in two days fasting and give him the rest the third day fasting and four or five hours after give warm water and a Mash of ground Malt put into scalding hot water after it comes off the fire keep him warm all the time of his cure and you will do well to fume his head as you do in the Staggers Surfeits of all sorts Though in the Title I seem to treat generally of Surfeits yet I shall speak in particular and first of that inward dry Surfeit which causeth the Cods to swell either continually or betwixt whiles to the intent therefore that you may arrive at the Cure mind these following Instructions You must first purge your Horse after this manner Take an ounce of fine Aloes which glitters for that is the best then pulverize it or beat it to powder then take three ounces of fresh Butter mix these two well together and add thereunto so much Wheat-bran as is sufficient to make it into a Paste and make thereof five or six Balls then convey one of them as far into his mouth as you may that he may the better swallow it giving him an hornful of strong Ale to wash it down then give him a second a third a fourth and the fifth still interlining them with an hornful of Beer or Ale to wash them down after this ride him out for an hour gently then set him up warm keep him fasting six hours after he hath taken his Pills giving him some Hay at night and not before with warm water to drink and the like the next day But the third day after his purgation is over give him cold water and immediately after it two ounces of Honey and half a pint of white Wine a little warmed for that will make him stale clearing his Bladder and procuring an appetite then air him gently for an hour and an half doing thus morning and evening till he be well But if what you have given him do neither sharpen his stomach nor purge him then take three pints of stale Beer three ounces of course houshold bread mixing them together and setting them over the fire being well boil'd take it off and put therein a quarter of a pound of Honey and three ounces of fresh Butter give him these blood-warm and ride him moderately a mile afterwards then set him up warm and let him stand upon the Trench about two hours after it then give him a Mash of sodden Oats till they burst with warm water and Wheat-bran therein this in twice or thrice giving will procure him a stomach and render him laxative withal Now if his Cods be swell'd occasioned by this Surfeit as soon as his Purge hath done working take the charge of Sope and Brandy and with a stick dabb it on his Cods or other swelling proceeding from the same cause as it comes boiling from the fire do this but once and four days after ride him into a River against the stream so deep that he is ready to swim for near a quarter of an hour thus using him once or twice a day till you find his swelling abate If it be a dry Surfeit give the Purge first and afterwards the Cordial made of white Wine and Honey but if he run at Nostrils give him a Drink made of Anniseeds Turmerick Brandy Vinegar and Beer and three days after let him have the Purge in like manner do if his Grease be melted This aforementioned Purge and Cordial are not only good against any dry Surfeit but also for melted Grease set and dried in the body and legs swelled or when an Horse is Gaunt Gut-foundred and costive There is another sort of Surfeit which is moist hot and running that from the Body falls into either fore-legs hind-legs or sometimes into all
cured Take Rock Allom and burn it in a fire-pan then take as much Bay Salt and burn that too having so done beat them to a very fine powder then take of common Honey and sweet Butter of each a quantity alike and work all these into a body bring it thus into a salve and not by the help of fire When you intend to use it let it be either plaisterwise or Tentwise or both ways according as occasion shall require this will not only heal any sore very perfectly but will also eat away any dead or proud flesh Poll-Evil in the Neck The Poll-evil is so called from its breeding in the Poll behind the Ears it is a great Swelling or apostumated Inflammation and to say the truth let men give it what appellation they please it is more than a Fistula in Grain or formal The Causes of this Pole-evil are several as first from the Horses struggling in a new hard hempen halter or from a blow given behind the ears by reason of which bruise the flesh festering and becoming inflamed this loathsome Sorrance hath its original many times bilious and malignant humours invading that place do cause it The Signs are a tumour with Inflammation where note that the putrefaction is greater within than without and therefore you must timely think of letting out the corruption before it happen to break of it self As to the cure you must lay unto the swoln place whatever is mollifying and will ripen it as for example take Hogs grease and lay thereunto as hot as may be or else take Loam of a Mud wall in which there is no Lime by how much the older it is the better boil hereof what you think sufficient in the strongest White-Wine-Vinegar and let it boil to a Pultess and apply this very hot to the swelling renewing it twice a day till you have brought the swelling to suppuration that it is fit to be laid open then look where it is softest and with a Copper round instrument for that is better than any Iron as big as a mans little finger and sharp at the end and being hot thrust it in two inches beneath the soft place so that the point of your cauterizing instrument may come out at the ripest place by this means the corruption will descend downward at the neather hole which you must keep open for the better issuing of the aforesaid matter to that end tent it with Flax dipt in Hogs grease warm laying thereto a Plaister also of Hogs grease upon the same renew this every day once for five days together at the expiration of which time take half a pound of Turpentine very cleanly washed in several waters which when throughly dryed mingle therewith the Yolks of three Egges and a little Saffron Now take your probe and search the bottom of the wound then make a Tent with a piece of dry Sponge never dipt in water so long as near upon to reach the bottom and so thick as it may fill up the cavity but before you put it in dip it in the afore specified Ointment after this lay on a Plaister of Hogs grease made indifferent warm changing your old Plaister for a fresh till you have perfected the cure Or thus you may do first ripen the swelling then open it and cleanse it well from its matter and corruption then apply Hogs grease to extract the fire your Cauterizing Iron hath left behind it then heal it after this manner Take of Hogs grease the quantity of a Tennis-ball Brimstone beaten into the fine powder with an ounce of Quick-silver very well killed and so mingle these together that you have made them into an Ointment and anoint the swelling herewith having so done take a penny worth of red Tar the reddest is the best of Hogs grease half a pound of green Copperas and Bay Salt of each an handful and pulverize them then boil these exceeding well and as it comes scalding hot off the fire dip therein a clout fastned at the end of a stick and anoint or scald the sore four mornings together for this scalding kills the Fistula so that its future and further progress is absolutely hindered after this you need only but to warm the Tar and apply it to the place and the Cure is consummated Now there are some Farriers which cure the Poll-evil only by first opening the sore with an hot cauterizing Iron then taking red Lead and black Soap mingle them with water till they are thick and so tent the Horse therewith till he be whole But the best Remedy I have met withal as a general Cure for any Pole-evil whatsoever is first shave off the hair from the part that is swoln then lay thereon a Plaister of black Shoomakers-wax spred upon white Alom'd Leather letting it lie thereon till it have broken the Impostume then take better than a pint of strong white Wine-vinegar and when it is about to boil put therein as much Lome of a Mud-wall straws and all as will thicken it into a Poultess applying this to the Sorrance as hot as the Horse can suffer it and by renewing it once a day in a little time the Impostume will be whole Pole-evil in the Head There is little difference between the Pole-evil in the Neck and the Pole-evil in the Head only there is a discrepancy as to their place the Causes and Symptoms of this distemper are much alike As to the Cure of the Pole-evil in the Head take this method As soon as you perceive a swelling take presently half an ounce of the oyl of Turpentine and anoint therewith the part grieved and that it may the better sink in chafe it very well with your hand and so let it alone for four days in which time you will perceive the skin to shrink up seeing the swelling thus begin to abate and come down then take of Burgundy-pitch and black Pitch of each an ounce and an half and with a slice daub or spread it over the swelling in his forehead but first you must melt them in a Pipkin with an ounce of Mastich having so done take flocks and lay them on thick upon the place anointed and so let them lie till they fall off which most usually will be about three weeks now when the Plaister falls off if you see no venom nor swelling remaining you may conclude you have done your work but if the impostumation remain unbroken then lance it and cut out what dead flesh you find therein filling the cavity with Flax to dry up the blood and putrefaction suffering it to remain in that condition seven or eight hours then take it out and lay thereon some of that generally known Receipt for a Canker in the Head dressing it once a day if you make an hole at the edge of the swelling below it will heal much the sooner still when you take off your Plaister mark by looking on the top of the Pole-evil how far the proud flesh reacheth which will
THE ENGLISH HORSMAN The English HORSMAN And Complete Farrier Directing all Gentlemen and others How to Breed Feed Ride and Diet all Kind of HORSES whether for War Race or other Service WITH A Discovery of the Causes Signs and Cures of all Diseases both Internal and External Incident to Horses Alphabetically digested WITH THE Humours of a SMITHFIELD Jockey By Robert Almond a well known and skilful Farrier of the City of London Practising therein above forty five years LONDON Printed for Simon Miller and are to be Sold at the Sign of the Star at the West-end of St. Paul's 1673. TO THE READER Reader I Do here present you with a book which with modesty I may say is worthy of your perusal it contains almost whatever is useful and necessary as to an Horse and all his diseases I confess in my younger days I was not a little curious and have been at some expence for translations out of several Languages as to the several practises of divers Countreys in the profession wherein I was bred I have made it my study and practice out of all to select what I have here for the good of my Countrey delivered with great pains and long experience I must confess I owe much to my famous Countrey men Mr. Blondevil Mr. Markham and Mr. Le Grey for that great light and knowledg I have received from them I have very much lamented the several books I have read in Horsemanship which only discourse of Cures without giving any account either of the cause or sign of the disease which I am sure hath been the occasion of the loss of many a good Horse What I have done is as plain as I could read and judg Your affectionate Countrey-man Robert Almond The Table A. AGe of an Horse to know 48 49 50 Anticor its cure 70 Anbury or Wart 139 B. Breeding Horses best method 4 5 6 7 8 9 Bones of a Horse 47 Blood letting 59. 137 138 Bots Cause and Cure 72 Blood staling its cure 73 Blowing with difficulty its cure 74 Belly ach cause and cure 75 Broken Wind a certain Cure 76 Broken Lungs or Rotten how to know and cure 77 Bloody Flux cause and cure 106 Brittle Hoof cause and cure 144 Bone Spavin 145 Back Swankt or Swoln 147. 150 Burning by a Mare its cure 147 Button Farcy 148 Bunches of all sorts how to cure 149 Blood Spavin its cure 150 Barbs cause and cure 151. 265 Botches in the Groin cause and cure 153 Blood to stanch 277 C. Colts when to geld 9 Colts when to break 10 Complection of an Horse how to judg 20 21 Choice directions in bleeding or Physicking Horses 55 Cold the best cure 78 Consumption cause and cure 78 79 Colt Evil cause and cure 79 Clysters proper for Horses and how to apply them 81 82 83 84 Canker in the mouth cause and cure in the head 154 155 Curb cause and cure 157 Crest fallen cause and cure 158. 273 Casting the Hoof a remedy 158 159 Camery its cause and cure 160 Cronet a certain cure 161 Canker in the Withers cause and cure 161 Casting the hoof how to do it 162 D. Directions for chusing good Horses 15 16 17. 346 347 Diseases in Horses and their causes 50 51 85 Dropsie cause and cure 84 Drenches for all diseases 85 86 Diseases of the Gall cause and cure 87 88 Defence against Flyes 163 Dangerous sickness its cause and cure 164 165 Dislocation of joints 167 E Exerements of an Horse to judg 56 Ears imposthumated cause and cure 89 Enterfering cause and cure 168 169 Eyes hurt by blow cure certain 171 Eye Film Pin or Web 171. 174 Eye Canker 172 Eyes watred 175 Eye bitten 175 Eyes imposthumated 175 Eyes inflam'd 217 F. Feeding of Horses for Race choice observations 26 27 Feavers of all sorts their cures 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66. 93 Frenzie cause and cure 91. 334 Falling Evil 91 Foundring in the belly 92 Flux in Horses cause and cure 95 Farcy cause and cure 148 Falling of the Fundament cause cure 177 Fetlock hurt cause and cure 178 179 Frettizing a certain cure 180 Frothy hoof a cure 180 False quarter in a hoof its cure 182 Fig a disease on the heel its cure 185 Fistula cause and cure 187 188 189 190 Frets Cause and cure 190 191 G. Glanders cause and cure 95 96 97 General Rules for Sores and outward Maladies to be observed by the Horse Chirurgeon 133 134 Gaunt belly how to remedy 152 Gravelling cause and cure 191 192 193 Gourged or gourded legs 193 Gelding of Horses and Colts what to be observed and time when 195 Garget cause and cure 196 Gauled back its cure 198 Gigs cause and cure 200 Glanders a Pill 262 Grease molten 305 H. Head Ach cause and cure 98. 205 Hungry evil cause and cure 98 Horse Hide bound cause and cure 99 Horse lean how to fatten 100 101. 213. 345. 357 Horse shot to cure 144 Hurle bone disjointed 203 Hide bound cause and cure 204 Heels troubled with the Mellet 206 Hips hurt or strained 211 Hough bonny cause and cure 212 Halting by stroke or strain its cure 213 Hair to make slick and smooth 339 Hair how to take off of any part 340 Horse how to make to follow his master or find him out amongst a multitude 342 Horse to make nimble at the spur 343 Hair to make grow soon thick and long 344 Horsemens observations for ordering Horses 351 I. Instructions to accomplish a rider 22 23 c. Jaundies eause and cure 101 Inflamations how to ripen cure 103. 217 Inflamations about the heels to cure 142 Ives cause and cure 216 Itch in the tail cause and cure 220 Interfering its cure 220 Joints grieved with ach weakness or swelling by cold 221 Jade tired or dull how to make to go forward 341. 356 Though resty and heavy to prance and caper 355 K. Kidney infirmities cause and cure 104 Kernels like Grapes cause and cure 140 Knots or knobs to remove â—22 Kernels in the throat to dissolve â—23 Knees broken to cure â—24 Kibed heels cause and cure 239 L. Loathing meat cause and cure 105 Lask cause and cure 106 Lips heat 210 Legs swelled to cure 224 Leprosie cause and cure 227. 272 Lice to clean from Horses 229 Lampas cause and cure 230 Lave-Ear'd Horses how to remedy 232 M. Method of breeding Horses 4 Molten grease and fatning balls 39 Murrain or Plague 68 Molten grease cause and cure 108. 238 Mourning of the chine cause and cure 108 109 Maunge 201. 235 Mouth heat 210 Moon eyed Horses its remedy 173. 223 Melander cause and cure 234 Mouth sore 237 Mellet cause and cure 237 Mortfounder'd its cure 238 Mallender cause and cure 240 Mourning of the chine its cause cure 241 Molt long or Molt worm its cause cure 242 Mollifiers against hardness 243 Main shedding its remedy 297 Mark in the mouth to counterfeit 355 N. Night Mare cause and cure 110 Navel
gall cause and Cure 244 245 Nose running 247 Neighing how to hinder 340 O. Over gorged cause and cure 111 112 113 Over reach and over strain its cause and cure 247 Oyl of Oats its soveraign virtue and how to make it a great secret 250 Old sores a speedy cure 251 Old Horse how to make him seem young 339 P. Praise of a Horse 1 Properties of a good Horse 11 12 13 14 Pursiveness its cure 74. 116 Pissing blood cause and cure 115 Pricking by shooing a remedy 140. 157 158 159 Pole evil in the Neck cause and cure 251 252 253 Pole evil in the Head 254 255 Pastern joints strained 256 Prick on the Crownet its cure 256 Purgation its benefit 264 Purgation for Surfeits 264 Pains near the Fetlock its cure 266 267 Plaisters 274 Q. Quitter bone cause and cure 269 270 271 Quick scab cause and cure 272 R. Rules for ordering breeding Mares 348 Rules for ordering Colts 8 9. 349 Race Horses how to order 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 Rot in Horses cause and cure 118 Red water and matter to take away 273 Ring bone cause and cure 274 275 Rats tail to cure 276 Rowels how to order in any part 276 Ring worm 317 S. Scouring for a Horse 36 37 Shape of a Horse good to know 42 43 Sinews of a Horse 46 Sneezing to cause 67 Shedding Seed cause and cure 120 Staggers cause and cure 121 Sleeping evil cause and cure 122 Surfeits of all sorts cause cure 123 124 125 Staling how to cause 126 Squinzy cause and cure 126 Star in the forehead how to make 127 Strain in the Kidneys its cure 147 String halt cause and cure 156. 307 Scab on the Hoof to cure 160 Stub or Thorn how to draw 166 Scab or Leprosie 201 Shoulder hurt or Wrench cure 208. 279. 281 Strain or swelling 214 Shingles 234 Sore mouth 237 Sores to skin presently 268 Saddle hurt or swelling its cure 276. 302 Swift cut 277 Stanching blood 277 Salves for all sores 278 Shoulder dislocated its cure 280 Shoulder splat cause and cure 282 283 Shoulder pincht 284 Sinew sprain'd strain'd or griev'd 285 286 Scratches 287 288 Surbating of an Horse 289 290 291 Sinew crampt cause and cure 291 Strangle 292 Strain in the Pastern 293 Strain in the Coffin joint 295 Stifling cause and cure 295 Stumbling 298 Stars artificial to make 300 Smath'd back cause and cure 303 Spur galling 303 Selender cause and cure 305 Surfeit or Grease molten 305 Stripe on the Eye 307 Swelling after bleeding 308 Screw or splint 309 Shackle gall 310 311 T. Tiring on the road a remedy 128 129 Teeth pained cause and cure 265 Tongue hurt how cur'd 313 Tetter or Ring worm a cure 314 Tail how to cut V. Veins of an Horse to know 44 45 Vniversal medicine for all diseases 69 Vives in the Ears cause and cure 70 Vomiting cause and cure 130 Vlcers of all sorts a speedy remedy 215 Vniversal Plaister for most sores 262 Venom drank its cure 318 W. Worms how to cure 73 Wind Cholick its cure 131 Wind broken its cure 131 Wind to preserve 131 Warts to cure 149 Wens to cure 149 Weeping Hoof a cure 180 Withers grief its cure 201 202 Wild Fire its cure 321 Warts in the Eye 322 Wens to remove 322 323 336 Worms of all sorts a cure 324 325 326 327 328 329 Wind gall a cure 330 331 332 Weakness in the back 333 Water Farcy 334 Wolf teeth a cure 319 Y. Yellows vide Glanders Yard mattering to cure 337 A Brief Encomium OF AN HORSE By way of Introduction OF all four-footed Beasts I cannot find any so useful to man and so serviceable as is that generous Creature we call an Horse Neither doth the pleasure man receives by him come any ways short of the profit he reaps thereby In peace he serves to till the ground and as he takes great pains in causing the earth to bring forth its fruits in its proper season so when produced he labours no less to lodge them where his master shall appoint If the gallantry of his Masters spirits commands him to the War how chearfully he obeys and foams with impatience till he shares in his riders self-propounded honour How troublesome would Land-travail be were it not for this hardy and laborious creature who in the darkest night through thick and thin performs his journey not valuing the extremity of weather And this he seemeth to do out of pure gratitude to his feeder endeavouring this way to recompence his cost and why not since it is acknowledged by all intelligent persons that an Horse is endued with great understanding and from my own experience often knows when he hath a fool on his back It is reported in History that Bucephalus that famed War-Horse would not suffer any to mount him but Alexander the Great who then exprest all imaginable pride and satisfaction in bearing so victorious a Conqueror And that we may see farther how far this Creature is naturally inclined to love man I have read of one Nicomedes a King whose Horse so intirely loved him as that upon his Masters death the beast refused his best beloved food and so continued till he dyed And that we may not altogether borrow examples of this kind from forreign parts I shall produce you this one and no more observed in the Battel fought on Marston-Moor A Gentleman of eminent note being at that time there mounted on an excellent Gelding whom he had bred up from a Colt charged the enemy with much Gallantry yet notwithstanding it so happened that he was slain he that slew him observing his horse to be much better than his own alighted and so exchanged the horse immediately finding a rider on his back which he was unaccustomed to bear and now retaining as it were a resentment for the death of his Master began to fling and bound and never gave off yarking till he threw his rider and then fell to him with his heels which he exercised so nimbly that he gave his masters overcomer not the least opportunity to escape and having kill'd him left him and ran into the body of his own party I know not whether this Horse might not deserve as great esteem as such horses who for their love and tractableness have had Statues nay Cities erected to their memory However I must not applaud the Egyptians who have raised mangnificent Pyramids to those who have been eminently serviceable in their Wars But as I must condemn so I cannot but laugh at the preposterous folly of that Roman Emperour who doted so much on a horse that he made him a Senator But in truth there is so much to be said in the praise of this noble useful creature that should I write the one tenth thereof there would be no room for my ensuing matter But by the way this Encomium doth not belong to all Horses but such as are good To the intent therefore you may
surfeits or molten grease and foulness by over exercise and the like Fourthly of the signs and symptoms of Diseases which are many nay almost innumerable however take them thus in brief First observe the place of the member grieved and see whether it have its true proportion and is not less or more in quantity if either happen the Horse is diseased next mark the alteration of the quality as whether too moist too dry too cold or too hot Your third sign may be taken from the members non-performance of his duty and lastly by the thicker and thinner Excrements But these directions may seem to some difficult and abstruse wherefore take these plainer instructions which are the thirty years observation of a most ingenious Gentleman and one admired by all the Horse-Doctors in or about this City and thus he layeth down the undeceivable signs of all sorts of internal diseases If an Horse be more than usual slower to labour or duller to the spur If he be shorter winded drawing his breath quick If his ears hang down more than they were wont If his hair do bristle or be more staring If his Flanks be more than usually lank and hollow If he burn betwixt his ears or about his pasterns If travelling his stomach fail him and his mouth dry which used to foam These are infallible signs of inward distemper as to the general now as to signs of particular diseases take these If an Horse hold down his head whereas he was wont to have a chearful look it prognosticates a Feaver Head-ach or Foundring That Horse whose eye were naturally clear and quick and of a suddain look dull and dim and heavy is troubled either with the head-ach or the staggers is seizing him An Horse will frequently discover obstructions in the Liver by often turning his head to the right side and the like by turning it down to his belly make appear that he is troubled with the Bots Worms or Cholick Water running from an Horses mouth is the sign of a wet cough or staggers If foul matter issue from an Horses Nostrils it signifies an Ulcer in the nose or head if it be white it is a sign of the Glanders if black of the mourning of the Chine if yellow the consumption of the Liver if little lumps proceed from his mouth it shows the rottenness of his Lungs The beating of the Flank with shortness of breath is the sign of a Feaver or â—trangle If ought may be felt on both sides the Forehead beating it is a sign of the Staggers Swellings about the ears betoken the Pole-evil under the ear the vives and swelling in the mouth is the sign of the Canker Flaps or Lampass Swelling under the throat and swelling about the root of the Tongâ—â— is in the first a sign of the Glanders in the last a sign of the Strangle but if about the tongue roots there be only knots or kernels it is only a sign of a Cold. If an Horse tremble after drinking cold water during that time he hath a certain fit of an Ague for if any will observe it after the trembling is over he shall find him burn and glow extremely If an Horse piss with much difficulty you may suspect him either foundred or troubled with the Wind-Cholick or Stone if the colour of his urine be yellow it is a sign of the Glanders but if thick and black he is afflicted with pain in the Kidneys If Horses Dung stink much it is the sign of a hot Liver if little then of a cold Liver and if undigested then of a Consumption or some dry Malady If an Horse desire extremely to lie down on his right side he is troubled with a hot Liver if on the left it is the sign of a distemper'd Spleen if he tumble to and fro taking no rest then he is troubled with Worms Bots or Wind-cholick if not able to rise when down it betokens mortal weakness or foundring in the body If an Horse covet much meat and little drink it betokens a cold Liver but if he thirst much and eat little then it denotes a Feaver rotten Lungs an extraordinary heat in the stomach or the dry Yellows If an Horse strike with his foot at his belly it signifies the Cholick or Griping of the Guts but if he fisks with his Tayl when he strikes then it is Bots or Wormâ— If a knotty Ulcer creep along the Veins it is the Farcy if expanding it self only in one place it is a Canker if the Ulcer be hollow and crooked it is a Fistula but if it be a spungy wart and full of blood it is an Anbury If an Horses tongue be swoln and hang out of his mouth it is the Strangle To conclude there are many more signs and symptoms oâ— diseases the discovery whereof I shall leave to your own industry And now I am come to the fifth and last thing which I promised to discourse upon and which must conclude this Treatise viz. The means and several ways used to compleat the cure of every individual disease incident to the afflicting an Horses body observe this first as a Prooemium thereunto CHAP. XVII General yet choice observations in the administration of Physick to Horses THe signs and symptoms of diseases will avail you little if only knowing how to judge of health and sickness you know not also how to apply things proper to every malady and to the intent you may avoid all absurdities herein take these rules First let what ever potion or drench you give your Horse be but luke-warm for it is of a most dangerous and deadly consequence if you scald an Horses stomach Secondly give him his potion easily that you may avoid suffocation Thirdly draw out your Horses tongue a little before you clap the horn into his mouth and then let it slip in again and that will force him to swallow what he hath received Lastly if you will have your physick work well keep your Horse fasting a good while both before and after the reception thereof and use him to moderate exercise for the better operation as walking or trotting him as you shall find him furnished with strength As to the mixing your medicaments take these three observations First if your Horses distemper be hot as a Feaver c. then let your simples be mixed with Oyl Honey or warm water Secondly if the disease hath its rise from cold causes as Coughs Rheums c. then mingle your simples with Wine or good Ale Lastly if your Horse be weak and much debilitated by his distemper then mix your simples with Milk and Egges CHAP. XVIII Of Blood-letting PHlebotomy or Blood-letting is either to prevent diseases and so preserve health or to refrigerate the spirits or else to take away blood where there is too much or else to void and purge gross and foul humours In phlebotomy you are to observe this first to chase or exercise him moderately then let him rest a day before you
a Chafingdish and held under the Horses nose and this will cure his head ach For any obstructions or cold in his head there is nothing better than a rag anointed with Oyl de Bay and therewith rub his Nostrils as high as you may For the Glanders anoint two feathers with Oyl de Bay Euphorbium and white Ellebore and thrust these into the Horses Nostrils For any Cephalick distemper but especially the Staggers Cold Glanders or Strangle take the powder of White Pepper and blow it into his Nostrils or squirt into them Aristolochia mixt with Wine and you will find a suddain amendment But the best fume of all is made of Olibanum Storax and Benjamin being bruised together and burned under the nose of the Horse CHAP. XXIII Of the Gargil Plague or Murrain in an Horse THis Disease hath its original from several causes sometimes from Surfeits sometimes from evil Planetary influence not only corrupting Plants but several sorts of creatures Of such an infectious nature it is that it will not only spread through a Studd a Shire but through an whole Kingdome The signs of this disease are lowring and hanging down the head and in a small time after this first observation you will find a swelling under his Ear-roots or Tongue which swelling will be hard and spread over one side of his face his Mouth and whites of his Eyes will be yellow and will have a very stinking breath As an Antidote or Preservative take a pint of Muscadine and dissolve therein two Ounces of the best Treacle and give it them To cure the deseased take a good quantity of stale Urine and mix therein a good deal of Hens-Dung stirring it till it be all dissolved take a pint hereof at a time and in an horn give it your Horse luke-warm CHAP. XXIV A Diacatholicon or Vniversal Medicine for all Distempers If at any time according to the former signs and symptoms you find your Horse not well open his Neck-Vein taking from him a good quantity of blood then fasting give him three mornings together half an Ounce of Diapente well brewed in a pint of Muscadine which Diapente you shall make after this manner Take Gentian Aristolochia Bay-berries Myrrh and the shavings of Ivory of each a like quantity beat them into very fine powder and searce it I say having given him of this powder then ride him abroad an hour and then give him what he will eat at Noon give him a sweet Mash and at night with a course Rubber rub him well all over â—specially his Head and Nape of his Neck this you must do three or four days together and you will find a suddain reparation of health Here followeth â—n Alphabetical â—ccount both as to the names character causes signs and cures of the most common and dangerous diseases which belong to Horses Avives Avives is a French appellation for this disease and is corruptly called by English Farriers the Fives or Vives It s growth is under the ears descending downwards towards the Throat with inflammation and swelling this disease is dangerous and often mortal for this swelling will stop his wind and choak him if not timely prevented The causes of this distemper are great heats and rankness of blood The cure you may effect this one way which is worth all the rest I have read of Take a penny worth of fine Pepper beaten to fine powder a spoonful of Swines grease the juice of an handful of Rue two spoonfuls of Vinegar mix them well together and put it equally into both the Horses Ears and tye them up with two strings shaking the Ear so that the Medicine may sink downward this done let him blood in the Neck-Vein and Temple-Veins and you need not question the cure of your Horse Anticor The nature of this disease agreeth with its name for by reason of immoderate riding or too hard feeding without exercise the Horses blood becometh corrupted and inflamed taking up its residence in and about the heart and having not speedy vent is the cause of suddain death You may know this disease by this sign just against the heart there will be a swelling in the middle of the breast before the swelling doth appear the signs will be these he will groan very much when laid down hanging down his head he will refuse to eat Immediately upon the appearance of the swelling open both the Plate-Veins or take away a good quantity of blood from both sides of his Neck having done this give him a Drink of Diapente with Ale putting thereto an Ounce of brown Sugar-Candy and half an Ounce of London Treacle which will expel the grief from his heart after this anoint the swelling with Hogs grease Bores Grease and Basilicon of each three Ounces incorporate these well together and rub the swelling every day therewith till it come to suppuration or softness then by opening it let out the matter then wash your sore with Coperas water which you shall make thus take two quarts of fair Water and adde thereto half a pound of green Copperas with an handful of Salt and put these into a Posnet with a spoonful of Honey and a branch of Rosemary boyl these together till one half of the liquor be consumed a little before you take it off the fire put to it the quantity of a Wall-nut of Allum then let it cool and preserve it for your use Having washt the sore clean with this water then apply thereunto this Oyntment put into a clean Skillet of Rossin the quantity of a Wallnut being molten add thereto the like quantity of Wax and when that is melted put thereunto half a Pound of Hogs grease tryed and that being melted put in a spoonful of English Honey and when these are melted and well stirred together put thereunto half a pound of ordinary Turpentine this being dissolved take it from the fire then adde of Verdegrease finely pulverized one Ounce and so stir them all together then set it on the fire and let it simper but if it boyl it is utterly spoiled then strain it and when cold preserve it for your use This Ointment is of excellent Vertue to cure old Ulcers Fistulas but more especially any green wound Bots or Worms in Horses It is the opinion of the most judicious that there are three sorts of Worms which breed in the Bowels of an Horse First Bots being short Worms with great red heads and long small white tails next Truncheons which are short and thick being all of a bigness and the last are as big as a mans finger and six inches long and are only called Worms Mr. Markham by experience hath found out a fourth sort which are of a middle size and are red and fiery with thick short sharp heads and are of all others most dangerous for sometimes they will get up to his very throat and choak him sometimes eat through his very Stomach and kill him These Worms do proceed from a raw gross
common and yet most dangerous if not timely cured wherefore I shall lay down the best receipts I could meet withal And first phlebotomize your Horse in the Neck-vein and let him bleed so long till you see the blood come very pure then give him of this Drink Take a quart of Ale and put therein Saffron and Turmerick of each half an ounce and the juyce that is wrung out of a great handful of Celandine and being luke-warm give it the Horse to drink keeping him warm three or four days giving him warm water with a little Bran in it Another way to cure him is when you perceive he is troubled with the Jaundice by the sweating at the roots of his Ears and by the yellowness of the Whites of his Eyes then blood let him in in the Neck-veins on both sides of the Neck then take Elder leaves Celandine and Camomile of each an handful cut them small and give them to the Horse in a pint and an half of the best Beer being made luke-warm fasting keep him warm and give him warm water to drink for two or three days So much of the yellow Jaundice a word or two of the black Jaundice It is the opinion of several understanding men that the black Jaundice is a disease incurable but because others are of a contrary opinion I will give you an account of what they prescribe for the Cure thereof First rake his Fundament then give him a Clyster made of Oyl Water Milk and Nitrum then pour into his Nostrils the Decoction of Mallows mingled with sweet Wine and let his meat be Grass or Hay sprinkled with water and a little Nitre and his Provender dried Oats he must rest from labour and be often rubbed I shall say little to it only leave it to your own Experience Inflammations how to ripen as Pustuls and Kernels which grow under the Chawl of an Horse These Pustuls and Kernels proceeding from Inflammations occasioned by colds c. must be dissolved otherwise all remedies will prove insignificant wherefore to bring these Pustuls to suppuration you must take Wheat-bran two handfuls and a quart of Wine or Ale to thicken it with put to it half a pound of Hogs-grease boil these together till the Liquour be quite consumed and so apply it to the place as hot as the Horse can endure it renewing it every day till it be so soft as that it be fit to be opened to let out the corruption then tent it with Flax dipped in this Salve But if the Inflammation be impostumated you may then take of the grounds of a Beer-barrel a Gallon of Smallage Peniroyal Winter Savory Cumfrey Rew and of the Berries and Leaves of the Misseltoe of each two handfuls chop these very small and put them to the Beer grounds and add thereunto Deer or Sheeps Suet tried one pound and three or four handfuls of Rye or Wheat-bran so much as will serve to boil these to a Pouâ—tess then apply it to the place and let it be never so much impostumated it will either break or soften it but if it be very hard it will discuss and divert the humour some other way Kidney Infirmities The Kidneys are frequently afflicted with Inflammations Obstructions Aposthumes and Ulcers and these are occasioned by some great strain by over-riding or over-bearing The usual Symptoms of the distempers in the Kidneys are discerned by his staggering and roling as he goeth his Urine will be thick and blackish if he hath stones they will be shrunk up if none his sheath will be drawn backward The Cure Bathe his Back and Loins with Oyl Wine and Nitrum warmed together and after he is bathed cover him with warm cloths and let him stand in Litter up to the Belly then give him to drink water wherein hath been sodden Dill Fennel Anniseeds Smallage Parsley Spikenard Myrrh and Cassia or as many of these Simples as you can well procure The next morning fasting give him a quart of Ews milk if you cannot get that then half a pint of Sallet oil with the root of Daffadil boiled in wine and let Oats be his Provender If the Horse be troubled with the Stone which you will discover by his often straining to piss but cannot then take an handful of Maiden-hair and steep it all night in a quart of strong Ale and give the Horse to drink every morning till he be perfectly cured this is an infallible Medicine to break in an Horse any stone whatever Loathing of meat in an Horse This is a disease proceeding from the intemperature of his Stomach occasioned by rankness of blood or overmuch travel Dayly experience makes this latter apparent for if an Horse be ridden hard and put up into a Stable hot he will refuse his meat and hence it is that I cannot but condemn baiting at Noons a vulgar ignorant custom because a journey commonly craves haste so that an Horse is not admitted to take so convenient a cooling as is requisite before his meat which breeds many distempers Now to cool him moderately either wash his tongue with Vinegar or give him to drink Oyl and Vinegar mingled with cold water But if the loathing of his meat proceed from the coldness of his Stomach which is only known by the standing up and stovering of the hair then give him Wine and Oil to drink mixed divers mornings together or Wine Oil Sage and Rice boiled together giving him thereof a quart at a time Some again will give him Onions pilled and chopt and Rocket-seed boiled and bruised in Wine others mingle Wine with the blood of a Sow-Pig But to conclude Take this as the best remedy for any general forsaking or an Horse's loathing his meat whether it proceed from hot or cold causes in the Stomach and that is when there are green Blades of Corn especially of Wheat give your Horse a good quantity thereof if it be at such a time as that they cannot be procured then give the Horse sweet Wine and the seeds of Gith mixt with it or else sweet Wine and Garlick well pilled and stampt brewing it a good while together this is a sovereign remedy in maladies of this nature Lask or Bloody Flux The Lask or â—ax is an unnatural loosness in an Horses Body which if not in its due time stayed will bring the Horse to great debilitation and weakness this disease proceedeth from very many causes wherefore I shall pass them over and only inform you that as you must have a care not to stop it too soon so let it not run too long both being of an equal dangerous consequence As long as you find the strength and good estate of your Horse continue you may let him scowre but when once that begins to impair you must put a stop to its farther course which you may do several ways As first take of Bean-flower and Bole Armoniack of each a quartern mix them together with a quart of red Wine give it him luke-warm
Belly-Gaunt how remedied Though I here prescribe a Cure for an Horse Belly-Gaunt yet my advice shall be not to keep any such Horse but dispose of him with what convenient speed you may for he will never thrive well being washy and very tender and if he come once to labour hard he will be always diseased and unhealthy However if you perceive your Horse to have his Belly shrunk up towards his flanks becoming as Gaunt as a running Horse that is Dieted for a course then conclude he is very costive and is afflicted with much unnatural heat in his body In order to his Cure you are to understand that every Horse hath about his Cods two small strings which extend from his Cods to the bottom of his Belly viz. on each side one which strings you must endeavour to break with your fingers which is not difficult to do then anoint that place every day with fresh Butter and Vnguentum Populeon mixed together this in a little time will make him Belly-well Botches in the Groin Botches in Horses do commonly proceed especially if they are gross and full of humours from sudden and violent labour which will force those humours into the weakest parts and there engender a Botch most commonly in the hinder parts near the Cods betwixt the Thighs As soon as you shall perceive this swelling which you shall find if you will feel it hard and round mollifie or ripen it with a Plaister made of Wheat-flower of Turpentine and of Honey of each a like quantity stirring it together to make a stiff Plaister and so lay it on the swelling renew it every day till it break or wax soft if it break not Lance it and cleanse it from its corruption then tent it with Turpentine and Hogs-grease renewing it once a day till you have cicatrized the orifice To conclude take this one more which is a most certain and approved Cure for the Botch in the Groins or for any Impostumation As soon as the Swelling appears lay upon it a Plaister of Shoe-makers Wax spred upon Alom Leather and let it lie till the sore grow soft then open it with a Lancet or let it break of its own accord when the filth hath issued forth wash the sore very well with strong Alom-water then tent it with an Ointment called Aegyptiacum till it be well and sound Canker in the Mouth The Ingredients which make up a Canker in the Mouth are a many sore Blisters rawness of Mouth and Tongue with a sharp hot humour proceeding from thence which frets and corrodes nay rots the flesh where-ever it passeth The Original of this disease is commonly some unnatural heat arising from the stomach sometimes the Venom of filthy food is the cause thereof Some prescribe this as an excellent Remedy Take of the juice of Daffadil-roots seven drachms of the juice of Hounds-tongue as much of Vinegar the like quantity of Alom one ounce mingle these well together and wash the Canker once a day herewith till it be well Others use this remedy Take half a pint of the best white Wine-vinegar and half a pound of the best Roch Alom and an handful of red Sage and boil them all together and therewith wash the Horses mouth and tongue If the Canker be in the Tongue only then take of Roch-Alom the quantity of an Egg boil it in four or five spoonfuls of white Wine-vinegar with a spoonful of English Honey and an handful of Columbine-leaves cut small and therewith wash his Tongue once a day and it will be quickly whole But the best of all remedies comes at last Take of Ginger and Alom of each a like quantity finely pulverized then with strong Vinegar so mingle them that they be as thick as a Salve then with Alom-water or Vinegar wash the Canker clean and then anoint it with this Salve which in twice or thrice doing will kill the Canker and after heal of it self Canker in the Head This Canker frequently seizeth the eyes and sometimes the Nostrils causing those parts it invadeth to be raw and running with yellow water For the Cure take half a pint of Sallet-oil one ounce of the Oil of Turpentine three ounces of Burgundy-pitch and one penyworth of Verdigriese beaten fine put all but the Verdigriese in a Pipkin together and let them boil a pretty while then remove it from the fire and put in the Verdigriese and let them all boil together to a Salve but have a care the Verdigriese make not all run over into the fire Be sure you stir it all the while it boils and having boiled sufficiently take it off and set it by for your use When you would make use of this for a Canker in the Nostrils first tie a rag about a sticks end and dip it in some white Wine-vinegar and Salt and run it up his Nostrils to mundifie and cleanse them then take a feather and dip in the cold Salve and run it up his Nostrils also not oftener than once a day If the Canker be in the Horses eyes or face with Tow rub the part till it bleed and when it hath done bleeding anoint it with a feather dipt in the aforesaid Salve dress it once a day constantly till you see it beginneth to heal after that once in three or four days will serve turn Cords or Strings in Horses There are two strings like threads which are therefore called Cords because lying betwixt the knee and the body it goeth like a small cord through the body to the Nostrils making an Horse to stumble much and sometimes to fall It proceeds commonly from an extream cold which lodgeth in the stomach which causeth the Cords to shrink up in so great a measure that sometimes he can neither lift his head to the rack nor put his head to the ground nay not so much as to his knees The only signs of this Malady are his often stumblings and stiffness without any visible Sorrance To cure him you must take the end of a crooked Harts horn that is sharp put it under the Cords and twine it a dozen times about till the Horse be constrained to lift up his foot then cut the cord asunder and put a little Salt into the issue or cut it first at the Knee then at the end of his Nose and so draw it upwards a span length and cut that off Others only open that Vein that descendeth on the inside of the leg by the breast taking away at least a pottle of blood and after seven days wash him with Beef broth and they say it is a speedy cure But the newest way of curing this Distemper is first to make him this comfortable Drink take half an Ounce of Diapente one Ounce of Anniseeds beaten small three penny worth of English Saffron dry it by the fire and crumble it small with your fingers two Ounces of Honey two Ounces of fresh Butter a pint and an half of strong Beer a quarter of a pint of
and Sope of each a like quantity and mix them together like a Paste then having cut out the over-reach and laid it plain first wash it with Urine and Salt and with a cloth dry it then bind on the mixt Sope and Salt not renewing it in twenty four hours thus do three days together the venom being drawn forth take a spoonful of Train-Oyl and as much white Lead and mix it to a thick Salve lay on a plaister hereof morning and evening till it be whole which will speedily be effected Canker in the Withers A Canker in the Withers often happens thus the Withers of an Horse having been violently wrung and afterwards for some time neglected though which means the violence of the Distemper breaketh upward yet most of the matter or corruption discending and rotting still downwards it will suddainly prove a cankerous and foul Ulcer and as full of danger as any Fistula what-ever The signs are very evident for the humour which issueth from the sore will be sharp hot and waterish corroding or fretting away the hair wherever it comes and the hole of the sore will be somewhat choaked with a kind of spongious dead flesh so that the gross matter will be somewhat obstructed in its passage The ancient Cure hereof was to take a keen Razor and cut open the hole of the Ulcer so that you may look into the cavity or profundity thereof and having cut out all the dead flesh from the quick then take a quart of stale Urine and add thereunto some Salt then boyl it well and having first cleansed the sore very well with a wisp of Hay then wash it with the Urine and Salt boiled together then take the yolks of four Egges and a penny worth of Verdigrease with a spoonful of flower and make a Plaister thereof applying it to the sore renewing it once a day till it be whole Casting of an Horse how to do it In the first place you must elect a convenient place such as is some soft green Swarth Dunghil not over moist or in a Barn upon good store of straw and having brought him to any of these places then take a double long rope and cast a knot a yard from the bought then put the bought about his Neck and the double rope betwixt his fore Legs and about his hinder Pasterns underneath his Fetlock then put the ends of the rope under the bought of his Neck and draw them quick and they will overthrow him then fasten the ends and hold down his head under which lay good store of straw Now if at any time you would brand your Horse in the buttock or do any thing about his hinder legs take up his contrary fore-leg and that will secure you from his striking Defence for Horses against Flies in the heat of Summer Your Horse-fly especially but there are other offensive Flies in heat of Summer which are a great trouble and perplexity to Horses stinging them in such manner that they will run themselves off their legs thinking to free themselves that way to prevent the biting of these Flies when he is at grass anoint his body all over with Oyl and Bayberries mingled together if in the stable take a Spunge dipped in strong Vinegar and bind it unto the head-stall of his Collar These are very good preservatives but there is nothing better both when he is abroad and at home than to take Rue and make it into a pretty big wisp and therewith rub the Horses body all over then take another wisp of the same and do the like till you think you have imbittered his coat sufficiently and then your own experience will find no fly will fasten upon him this hath been always tryed effectually Drying up of Humours If you would dry up stop or stay any flux of humours take Rozen Affalto and Myrrh of each an Ounce and dissolve them in Vinegar of red Wax half an Ounce and of Armoniack half an Ounce mingle them well together in the boyling and make thereof a Salve which you will find to be a great dryer a binder of loose members and a comforter of weak parts Or you may take Oyl or soft Grease beaten to a Salve with Vitriol Galls and Allom the powder of Pomegranats Salt and Vinegar this dries and binds sufficiently There are many forms of drying and binding which are published in all books of this nature wherefore referring you thither I shall only instance this one more and that is the Bark of a Willow Tree burnt to Ashes which I can assure you is as great a binder and dryer as any simple whatsoever Dangerous Sickness and how it cometh This dangerous sickness in general proceedeth from many and particular causes having each of them peculiar signs and therefore must have distinct remedies The causes may be ranked under these four heads first dangerous Maladies may proceed from heats occasioned by over much labour or exercise hence comes molten Grease the heart over-charged and its pores so obstructed that it cannot perform his function by which means the spirits are detrimented and the whole body put out of order and the signs hereof will be dulness of countenance swelling in his limbs scouring and loathing of his meat The second original cause of dangerous sickness are Colds from indiscreet keeping after violent exercise or otherwise and the symptoms of this are heavyness of countenance with sleepiness Pustuls inflamed Kernels and swellings a rotten inward Cough after which he cheweth some filthy phlegmatick matter between his teeth The third cause of dangerous sickness is surfeit by food either by over eating or under eating of that which is good or eating of what is unwholsome by the first all ill humours ascend into the head from which are bred the Stavers Phrenzies with other deadly diseases From the second proceeds the putrefaction of the blood converting all the nutriment into corruption hence come the Yellows Farcy Feavers Mange with other such like pestilential and loathsome Distempers The signs hereof are a dulness of the face and eyes in such sort as the Horse will be unable to lift up his head as high as the Manger his upper lip and sheath cold his pace staggering c. Lastly dangerous sickness may come accidentally as by receiving some desperate wound or hurt in some vital part whereupon nature being highly offended gives leave to many mortal diseases to seize the body of an Horse The general signs hereof are sweatings at the roots of the Ears in the Flanks and behind the shoulders his mouth will be dry and hot his tongue furred and lastly he will have a loathing to his meat Dangerous sickness how to cure The best way to cure dangerous sickness is to meet with it in the Bud before it hath got too great an head but send it packing before it be deeply rooted in an Horses body and to this end you must have a strict eye over your Horse frequently prying into his present condition if
twelve times together then add unto it half the quantity of the juice of Housleek and with this wash and bathe the Eye twice or thrice a day this is good for any infirmity whatsoever belonging to the Eyes Here followeth another Water not inferiour to the other Take a pint of Snow-water and dissolve therein four drachms of white Vitriol wash the Horses eyes herewith at least four times a day and the effects will be admirable Eye-bitten This frequently happens as Horses stand in the Stable one Horse biting the other where he can best or next fasten his teeth if so then it fall out that your Horse be Eye-bitten take a little Honey with a little grated Ginger mingle them together and put them into the Horses Eye with a feather three mornings together Ears Impostumated This disease proceeds from several causes either from some violent stroke about the Ears or Poll or else by being wrung too hard with a new hempen hard Halter sometimes by a cold in the head or by other ill humours which strive to get a vent or passage through the Ears The signs are apparent for the Ears will burn glow and swell besides the Horse will be very unwilling to be handled thereabout The Cure is thus Take Linseed and make it into fine powder then take Wheat-flower of each half a pint ordinary Honey one pint tried Hogs-grease one pound mix all these well and warm them on the fire continually stirring them then spread this Unguent upon a Linnen cloth or Leather the breadth of the swelling and lay it thereon very warm once in a day and a night renew it till it break or be so ripe as that it may be convenient to lance it which must be downwards that the corruption may have a more easie passage then heal it thus Take Mel Rosarum Sallet-oyl and ordinary Turpentine of each two ounces make these into a body then make a Night-cap to keep on the Plaister tent the sore to the bottom with this Ointment and make a Plaister thereof and lay it on the place grieved once a day you must lay on a fresh Plaister and tent anew till it be whole But if the Ears be only inflamed then take Oil of Roses Venice Turpentine and common Honey of each a like quantity mix them well together and making them blood-warm dip some black wool therein and stop the Ears therewith renewing it once a day and it will remove the Inflammation Foul and old Sores how to cleanse and mundifie This following Water hath been often tried and upon trial found to be be a most excellent cleansing and healing Water for all old and rotten Sores Take of green Coperas and of Salt-petre of each half a pound Bay Salt and Salt-gem of each three ounces Arsnick one Ounce powder all these finely and put them into a stillitory Glass the pot or bottom thereof well nealed adde thereunto one pint of the strongest White-Wine-Vinegar set the pot on the fire and put on the head closing it with Cute of Hermes and being thus placed in the Furnace make under it a strong fire for the space of five or six hours and with your Receptory take the first water that cometh after an hour the fire will be out of the water then stop up the Glass very close and preserve it for your use When you are to wash any sore with this water have a care that you do not let any fall upon either Vein or Sinew for it will burn them in twain but where Ulcers and foul old sores are in the flesh this water will work wonders Falling of the Fundament The falling of the Fundament is a Distemper proceeding most commonly from over much laxativeness and flux of blood who growing exceeding weak by the voiding thereof straineth to bring forth something and instead thereof the fundament cometh out sometimes it comes by Colds or mere Poverty Cure it thus take white Salt made into very fine powder strew a little upon the Gut then take a piece of Lard and first having boiled Mallow leaves till they be soft take of these leaves and beat them well with the Lard and when sufficiently beaten make it up in the fashion of a Suppository and apply it fresh to the place once a day Fetlock hurt The Fetlock may be hurt by casting the Horse with the double rope or sometimes by a bite of a Dog if by either of these this Sorrance happens take unslaked Lime and the Yolk of an Egge of each a like quantity beat them together to an Oyntment then mix therewith the juice of one head of Garlick and a little soot and anoint herewith the sore till it be almost well but skin it over thus take Sallet Oyl and Oyl of Roses of each one Ounce of Turpentine three Ounces and of new Wax one Ounce melt them well together and adde to them the fourth part of the powder of Verdigrease and herewith anoint the sore in few days it will skin over the sore and heal it Foundring in the feet if new a suddain Cure If your Horse be foundred in his feet but of no longer standing than seven or eight days with this following remedy you may restore his feet to their former soundness First let him blood in the Neck Breast and Spur-Veins taking from thence two quarts and receive it in a clean vessel and therewith make this ensuing charge Take the blood and put into it eight or nine new laid Egges shells and all and beat them well with the blood put to them of Bole-Armoniack pulverized very fine half a pound strong White-Wine-Vinegar one pint Sanguis Draconis three Ounces finely pulverized make this up thick with Wheat Meal with this charge his Back Reins Breasts Thighs Fetlocks and Soles and apply two cloths Plaisterwise to the Coffin of his hoofs and bind the forelegs above strait with broad filletting then ride him two hours upon an hard way if paved best of all then set him up This Foot-foundring in an Horse is a certain numbness pricking or tingling within his hoofs and I can compare it to no more proper thing than when any of us by cross sitting do cause our feet to be asleep as we say vulgarly during which time we are so disinabled from going that we cannot stand but with some difficulty so it fareth with an Horse the course of whose blood being stopped those obstructions cause that torment Several are the causes of this Malady briefly it comes sometimes by taking off his Saddle too suddainly after a great heat or by standing still in the cold unwalked or by standing in some shallow Water after he hath been ridden no higher than his Fetlock or by too strait and uneasie shooes Now though I have already prescribed a remedy for this foundring I cannot let this one more pass which for its excellency can hardly be valued and is good for all sorts of Foundrings new or old In the first place you must with a
Corrupt blood rank feeding or over-heating do cause this Maunge in the Tail yet not always for sometimes it is occasioned by Truncheon-worms in the Fundament which are bred there in the Spring which will cause them frequently to rub their Tails in this case you need do no more than anoint your hand with Butter or Soap and pull out the Worms and the cure is effected But if you find the Tail grow bare by reason of shedding the Hair which is occasioned by some small worms which grow at the root thereof or otherwise by some small fretting Scab then anoint his Tail throughout with Soap and after wash it with strong Lye this will both cleanse him from the Scab and kill the Worms Sometimes there will grow a Canker in the Tail which by degrees will eat not only the flesh but seize on the bone so that it shall drop joint by joint against this Malady you must take this course Take of green Copperas and Alom of each two pound of white Copperas half a pound boil these in five quarts of running water in a strong earthen pot till one half be consumed then with a little of this water luke-warm wash his Tail every day once with a little Flax bound to a stick and it will quickly be well Interfering Interfering or Enterfering signify both one and the same thing this infirmity comes sometimes naturally the pace being very strait or sometimes by broad shooing so that in his going he heweth one leg against the other whence come hard scabs and very mattery sore causing the Horse to halt down-right The Cure is thus Take of May-butter or fresh Grease and mingle it with Nerve-oil and Turpentine fry these in a pan and then add Cow-dung and apply it Plaister-wise You need not trouble your self about the cure hereof if your prudence and discretion would look after his shooing so that he might go so wide as not to touch However if you will play the Horse-courser you may take a sharp and knotted Cord and draw it from his Dock between his legs to the Girths and so ride him Joints grieved with any Ach Numness Weakness or Swelling whatsoever which proceedeth from a cold Cause The causes of this Ach Numness and Swelling are either a strain or a cold taken by violent exercise labour or immoderate riding The Signs or Symptoms are so visible to the Eye they need no description The Cure is Take Aqua vitae and warm it on the fire then take it and bathe the part grieved and rub it very well holding before it a broad flat hot Iron which will cause the spirit to sink in the better then take a ragg or piece of Flax and dip it in the Aqua vitae then take Pepper and having beaten it well fierce it in a fine fierce and lay it on the rag or flax and bind it to the grieved member then swathe it well with a Linnen Rowler do thus once a day and this will soon recover him There are others who take Acopum and mingle it with sweet Sack and therewith rub and chafe the grieved joint this is an excellent Medicine though not altogether so good as the former Increase of an Hoof lost or torn by some accident If your Horse hath lost his Hoof or if it be any ways impaired then take the Oil of Hemp-seed of Wax of Venice Turpentine Rozin Pitch Bay-seeds dried and powdred of each half a pound Roch-alom two ounces incorporate these well together and let them seeth over a soft fire having thus boiled some little space take it off and strain it through an hair cloth thus you may preserve it till you have occasion to make use thereof Once or twice a day take of this Unguent and anoint the Hoofs of your Horse and this will make them grow exceedingly and so sound as that hereafter they will not prove brittle Knots or Knobs how to remove If you perceive that your Horse hath growing on any part of his body any unnatural Knot or Knob which by Artists are called Excretions caused by putrified blood or by wounds not well healed which Excretions are not only perspicuous to the Eye but plainly felt by the hand I say in such a case you must endeavour to remove them with all expedition which may be done thus Take an Incision-Knife and scarifie those Excretions then lay thereon Coloquintida burned and sifted having eaten away this Knob or Knot then heal it up with some drying Medicines as Honey Lime or Bole armoniack Or take the strongest sort of Aegyptiacum and with Cotton lay it thereon and in four or five times doing it will utterly destroy or eat away the Excretion Kernels under an Horses throat how to discuss suddenly safely and with little Expence In the first place you must take a lighted Candle and therewith sear the Kernels then take Butter it matters not whether fresh or salt and lay a piece thereof on a red cloth and rub it well in therewith and in less than fourteen dayes the Knots will vanish and if the Nose run by reason of them it will stop as soon as they are gone During the Cure if it be in Winter he must be kept warm in the Stable otherwise he may run at grass but neglect not to anoint his Knobs or Kernels once a day at least Or you may take Soap and mingle it with Brandy-wine and having a red hot Iron in readiness hold it somewhat near the part as you apply the Soap and Brandy-wine to make it sink in the better this Medicine will suddenly bring them down or break them Now if your aforesaid Knobs be of a long standing and be extremely hard then in this manner you must work the Cure Take an ounce and an half of the Oil of Turpentine and joyn thereto the like quantity of strong Beer put these into a glass and so shake them that they be well mingled together with this bathe the Knob clapping it in well with your hand and using an hot Iron to make it sink in the more four days after apply the charge of Soap and Brandy-wine Five or six days after you may ride him whither you please Knees broken of a long standing perfectly cured If your Horse have old broken Knees much swelled and hard and have been a good while healed up only take the Oil of Worms and anoint the places grieved for this is a great mollifier of any hard and bony part if this answer not your expectation then may you use the aforesaid Remedy which I prescribed for hard Knobs of a long continuance Legs that are swelled how to cure As to the swelling of an Horse's Legs you must consider whether it be before or behind if in his forelegs then the cause hereof was some over violent labour by reason he was fat and the Grease which was melted fell down in his forelegs which had it staid within and not fallen outwardly would have ingendered an Anticor or some other
all The Remedy is to take a Plaister of Pitch Rozin and Mastich and lay all over the Temples of the Horses head then with a sharp knife or Lancet make a slit under each of his eyes about four fingers beneath and let each slit be an inch long then with a Cornet loosen the skin about the breadth of a groat and thrust therein a round piece of Leather with an hole in the midst see that the matter run at least eight days looking to it every day after this remove the Leather and heal up the wound with flax dipt in this Ointment made of Honey Wax and Turpentine of each a like quantity dissolved together but let it be only warm when you dip your flax therein let the Plaisters on his Temples fall off of their own accord being fallen off make a Star in the midst of each Temple-vein with your hot drawing Iron Malender Low-worm or Shingles being much alike This Malender or Low-worm is so like St. Anthonie's-fire or the Shingles that I hardly think it distinguishable from either It is caused according to the opinion of the most judicious by a Worm that breedeth in the Back-bone betwixt the bone and skin which extendeth it self along the breast to the Brain but as soon as it comes to touch the pannicle thereof the Horse will immediately fall into extreme madness and frenzie and hardly reducible The Symptoms of this Disease are first he will bend down his back and make many proffers to stale but cannot and when he doth piss it will be but very little at a time and that in his sheath too a little after this he will fall distracted not only gnawing the Manger or what is next him but will also bite and strike at all that comes near him This disease is called by the French Ver-Coquin by the Italians Vermiform who absolutely hold that this worm which is the cause of this distemper can be no ways destroyed but by fire but our English Farriers know to the contrary as for example this ensuing Receipt is an infallible remedy Take of Acrement a quarter of a pound six heads of Garlick clean pilled of Rue and Tormentile bearing a yellow flower of each one pound stamp these in a stone Mortar and put thereto as much White-Wine as will with the juice make a pottle before you give your Horse any of this liquor let him bleed very well from his Tail having stancht the blood give a sixth part of the aforesaid liquor and so continue doing every morning till all the liquor be spent This is an approved cure The French cure is by taking an Iron with a Button at one end and making it red hot they burn the Horse on the fore-head under his fore-top and on the fore-top and four other in the Neck clean though upon the Crest two of the holes must be on the one side of the Crest and two on the other putting into every hole to extinguish the fire Vnguentum Rosarum after this they let him blood in the Neck-Vein and this they say is an infallible remedy Maunginess in the Main Main Maunginess with shedding of the hair happens either by Lice rankness of Blood or else sometimes by scrubbing against that Post some other maungy Horse hath rubbed The best and speediest way of curing this Maunge is to take two pound of fresh grease one Ounce of Quick-silver and the like of Brimstone of Rape Oyl half a pint mingle these together stirring them so with a stick or slice till the Quick-silver is undiscoverable then take an old Curry-comb and scratch away the scurf so that the part become both raw and bloody then anoint the places herewith holding a broad hot Iron against them to make the Ointment to sink in this in four or five days will cure him This disease is called by the French the Elephantick Malady because they say the Elephants are much troubled herewith You are to understand that the Maunge is infectious and therefore as soon as ever you perceive it in one Horse remove him from all other to the intent you may prevent the infecting of others Our late Farriers have this Receipt in great esteem Take of Orpin one pound Brimstone and Euphorbium of each one Ounce Cantharides twenty five make all these into fine powder and with Hogs grease make it into an Ointment apply this to all the maungy places rubbing it well in after this anointing six days after anoint him with Hogs grease only when you find the scurf to fall off wash the Neck and other parts with Buck Lye made blood warm For Maunginess in general take a Gallon of strong Ale and a pound of Tobacco stalks half a pound of Allom a pint of Salt one penny worth of Mercury boil these together till one half be consumed then first let him blood and afterwards wash him here with Now if it be a dry inward Maunge you will know it by his hair coming off in plats scaling off sometimes from head to tail leaving a dry scurfie Maunge this Malady proceedeth from an extraordinary heat of the blood now in this case his body being inwardly afflicted with this Maunge give him this drink take one Ounce of the flower of Brimstone two Ounces of Rozen beaten small one Ounce of Turmerick powdred one Ounce of Anniseeds pounded in a Mortar put all these into a quart of strong Beer made blood warm and so give it him in a horn fasting after this tye him up to the rack five hours then give him warm water and bran and at night bursten Oats the next day strow two spoonfuls of Rozen powdred among his Provender the like the next night and the same quantity the next day and you need not doubt of a cure Mouth-sore If the mouth of your Horse be sore and that it proceedeth from corruption of blood or cold causing the palate of the Mouth to be inflamed and look red falling from the palate into the chaps in such a manner as when he hath opened them he will be unable to shut them again in this case I advise you first to let forth the corrupt blood then take Verjuice and Bay salt quantum sufficit and warm it on the fire then with Flax dipt therein wash his mouth and tongue three or four times a day But if it be fallen into his chaps which you shall know by his yawning and gaping then take only Verjuice of the Crab and make it luke warm then tye a rag to a stick and wash his mouth therewith very well helping him to close up his mouth with your hand Mellet A Mellet is a dry scab that groweth on the heel sometimes proceeding from corruption of blood but more commonly for want of Elbow-grease in rubbing him clean and dressing him after he is set up wet this Malady frequently appears like a dry chap. The usual cure is to take a pint of Honey and of Sope three Ounces and of White-Wine-Vinegar four or five
rise again The Symptoms of this disease are holding down his head staring up of his hair coughing staggering behind trembling after water loathing his meat stiff-going and disability to rise when down but the most remarkable of all signs is his belly will cling up to his back and his back will rise up like a Camels The first thing you are to do in the curing this Malady is to rake his Fundament then give him a Clyster finding the Horses belly emptied then take a quart of Malmsey of Sugar half a quartern half an Ounce of Cinamon of Liquorish and Anniseeds of each two spoonfuls beaten into fine powder which being put into the Malmsey warm them over the fire adding thereto some Honey which being molten give it the Horse luke-warm which done walk him up and down an hour if the weather be tolerably warm then let him fast upon the bit two hours being well cloathed and litter'd and when you give him Hay let it be sprinkled with Water and give him his clean sifted Provender by a little at once his drink must be warm Mashes of Malt and Water upon his recovery draw blood from him in the Neck-Vein and moderately exercise him often Feaver I have in a Chapter foregoing treated of several sorts of Feavers however I must not in this place omit speaking something more thereof An Horse that is Feaverish may be known by his suddainly falling ill his heaviness and gauntness of his Belly when it first seizeth him he will quake exceedingly The Cure Take half an Ounce of Diapente one Ounce of Bay-berries half an Ounce of long Pepper beat these together then take half an Ounce of Diascordium and put all these into a Pint and half of strong Beer and making it luke-warm give him it any time of the day to drink but take no blood from him in any case it is death if you do only cloath and litter him warm the Diascordium will cause him to sleep Now after the Drink hath done working and the Horse left off sweating then give him half a Pint of White-Wine and two Ounces of Honey mixt together and made luke-warm then air him and four hours after give him a Cordial made of three pints of stale Beer and a quarter of a Pint of Honey and a quarter of a pound of Butter and a good piece of Houshold bread boyl them a little together and give it him luke-warm and so set him up for that night Next morning fasting give him the Cordial again and at ten of the Clock give him warm Water and Bran at three of the Clock White-Wine and Honey and at night warm Water and Bran. Thus do with airing him sometimes and as you see him mend you may air him oftner at which time take some blood from his Spur-Veins and never question his cure Flux in Horses A Flux proceedeth from cold or from drinking too much after eating too plentifully of Provender for the Water coming thereunto causeth it to swell whereby crudities are bred in the Stomach and so carried down to the Guts and this occasioneth the Flux It proceeds sometimes from too soon travelling after Provender it being not well digested before or from drinking cold Water when he is too hot or from eating Hens-Dung or a Spider Be not over hasty in stopping this Flux unless you perceive he purgeth too much and over violently for then undoubtedly Nature is highly offended and then give him a laxative Clyster which I prescribed before in the Chapters of Clysters and that will carry away from him whatever within offends him a day after give him this Drink made of Bean Flower and Bole-Armoniack Powder of each three Ounces mix them with a quart of Red-Wine give it him Blood-warm and afterwards keep him warm in the Stable giving him Hay and Oats a little at a time Another way Take of wood-Ashes finely searced and of Bole Armoniack made into a fine powder of each a like quantity put them into the water that he is to drink and let him drink thereof morning and evening and this will stay his Flux Glaunders I shall wave what the Ancients have said of the Glanders imagining that it comes from the Latin word Glandulae and say that it is a running Impostume engendred either by cold over much fasting or long thirst or by eating foul meat or else by infection of other Horses It is a Flux or Rheum which sometimes runneth at one Nostril sometimes at both now he that would perfectly cure this disease must consider the matter which issueth from the Horses Nose If the humour be clear and transparent then it is not very dangerous if white it is worse yet with no great difficulty cured If it be yellow it is infectious yet curable and therefore separate him from your sound Horses If that yellow be mixed with red or if the colour of the matter be like Saffron the Horse is in a manner incurable He ought to consider whether the matter hath an evil smell if so it is the sign of an Ulcer if it stink not at all it is a certain sign of death To facilitate his cure you must give him warm Mashes of Malt and Water with purging his head by sneezing you may then give him any of these several drinks First you may take a pottle of Urine an handful of Bay Salt and a good quantity of brown Sugar-Candy then boyl it to a quart after this adde Anniseeds and Liquorish beaten to fine powder and give it him blood-warm to drink Secondly you may take Swines Grease and boyl it in Water then take the fat from the water and mingle it with a little Oyl Olive and a good quantity of Urine and half as much White-Wine when it is luke-warm give him a quart thereof to drink Thirdly take a quart of Ale an Ounce and half of grated bread the Yolks of two Egges of Ginger Saffron Cloves Cinamon Nutmegs Cardamomum Lavender Galingal and Honey of these an indifferent quantity mix these together strain it and give it him to drink But if the Glaunders be of the worser sort which will be known by the aforesaid Symptoms then take half a pound of Swines Blood adde to it a pound of the juice of Beets with three Ounces of Euphorbium finely beaten and when it hath boyled some time take it off from the fire and put thereto another Ounce of Euphorbium keep this Oyntment and anoint therewith his Nostrils by dipping two very long feathers or little rods therein and so rub them to and fro his Nostrils then walk him abroad and do thus four days together and this by experience hath been found an excellent cure Gargel Murrain Plague and Pestilence Blood-letting is very dangerous in these Pestilential diseases The signs when to know an Horse afflicted with this distemper are Gumming thick at the eyes hanging down of the head staggering as he goeth swelling of his head falling away of his flesh notwithstanding a good appetite