Hay that wherein there is much Clover is absolutely the best A Botte of Straw and three Measures of Oats whereof there are six as I said in the Bushel with two heaped Measures of Bran at Twelve a Clock especially and the Straw which he leaveth of the above-mentioned proportion will serve for his Litter A Hunter or Journey-Pad of a reasonable size will eat more Hay although his labour be not so violent both because they are commonly longer of Body and also that when they go to the Feilds to hunt they are a long time without eating therefore they must have more food to keep them always in good case so that people should give to them a Botte and a half of Hay a Botte of Straw and four Measures of Oats A large Galloway or Summer-Pad two Bottes of Hay in three days and each day a Botte of Straw with two Measures of Oats besides one of Bran at twelve a clock The lesser size of Galloways or Summer little Nags two Bottes of Hay in three days and the like quantity of Straw but then two Measures of Oats given at three times in the day will be abundantly sufficient As Coach-Horses are larger than any of these above-mentioned so they require a greater allowance of food therefore if they are very large five Bottes of Hay and three Bottes of Straw betwixt the two and six measures of Oats to each that is the Setier should serve them both for ten days but if they are horses only of a middle size then four Bottes of Hay and three of Straw betwixt the two and five Measures of Oats to each will serve however some people give only four of Oats but it is too small an allowance if they work much In fine I am of opinion that it is an excellent Maxim to feed well such horses as work as also these which do not for it is a true Proverb that there should be no such thing as Oats resting or not made use of A Setier of Oats will serve two of the largest size of Coach-horses ten days although they work very hard and twelve if but moderatly to the common or ordinary size of Coach horses the Setier will last twelve days between the two and to the smallest size it will serve fourteen but a man is always according to their violent moderate or very small exercise to regulate himself for the just distribution of their food When once horses are very plump and well accustomed for a long time to Hard-meat they are nourished and maintain themselves in that condition with a very little food for example I have known in Paris extraordinary large Coach-horses 〈◊〉 did not eat each of them in twenty four hours above an Botte of Hay and a 〈◊〉 straw the Setier of Oats lasted them both a fortnight and yet they were 〈◊〉 very fat and in good case It is true indeed that their labour was but moderate and quently interrupted that is they had many days of rest and before they were reducâ— this small allowance they were continually sick but thereafter kept their health 〈◊〉 well Now if any Man should offer to regulate his horse's food according to this pâ—â—tion without considering whether or not they be already in a good case or have of a long time accustomed to Hard-meat would I assure you be deceived for they only those horses which are very fat that can be maintained with so little food 〈◊〉 must they also be suffered to work too excessively The Wheat Bran which is given to Coach-horses should not be reckoned as 〈◊〉 of their food except they be either extraordinary light-belly'd very young or excessâ— over-heated in their bodies which you may easily discover by the hardness blackness of their Dung Cut-Straw is very good to be given them amongst their Oats and in other 〈◊〉 they are to be ordered as the rest of your horses Every Man who hath good horses should cause take a special care of them 〈◊〉 they are worth his pains and for that effect if he can have his choice of a Stable shall have it well aired and not at all moist for Humidity is a great enemy to 〈◊〉 and bringeth many inconveniencies along with it therefore except in a dry and 〈◊〉 foundation all stables beneath ground are moist and consequently worth 〈◊〉 the Windows should be to the North if possible and the whole Stable kept very 〈◊〉 however without Stiffling and it is upon this account that the Vaults which are tooâ—â— are unwholsome because they are almost as hot as Ovens the Manger should be 〈◊〉 three or four foot high a foot and a half broad and as much in depth provide that the Stall be full four foot high which is the greatest height it should 〈◊〉 the largest size of Horses but for the middle three foot and a half is sufficient and for 〈◊〉 least or Galloway Nags three because for this last size this height of the Manger 〈◊〉 judged abundantly sufficient for if it were heigher it would oblige them 〈◊〉 stretch too much their necks before they could reach the bottom of the manger Heck or Rack perpendicularly fixed because in those which slop forwards the 〈◊〉 and short hay falls from them and so durties the horse's head and Mane In 〈◊〉 where there are a great number of horses the best way is to have no Rack at all cause the Grooms which should be continually near them will give them their by degrees and so it will be better freed from its dust as it is just untyed and 〈◊〉 out of the Bottle which is a thing not very commonly practised for the 〈◊〉 men and Grooms do generally throw the Bottles of hay into the Rack hard tyed and without so much as the least untying or dusting it which is a bad custom 〈◊〉 cause if you cause dust it well and but give it them little by lttle it will them a great deal more good than if you should give it all at once as those lazy 〈◊〉 slothful Grooms do The measures and dimensions of a Stable within the walls are eighteen or two foot for one range of horses to wit ten foot for the length of the horse where standeth and eight or ten foot for the Alley or Walk and so proportionably 〈◊〉 Stable of two ranges there must be allowed seven foot and a half for the stanâ—â— two horses which is about eight inches for the Mid-pillar and about three 〈◊〉 inches for the place of each horse For the rest see Chap. 50. at the end A 〈◊〉 not want good models both in France and England whereby he may be instâ—â—â— in the building a convenient Stable especially in France that of Merlow in 〈◊〉 pleasure house of the Constables of Mommorancy the Kings Stables both the great and lesser the Stables of Cardinal Mazarin those of Chilly belonging to Monsieur 〈◊〉 those of Maison which are of a very odd and extraordinary fashion and many 〈◊〉 any of which patterns a man
sharp but alwayes lined with double Leather at least for fear of hurting him and though the old Saying is A Bloody Nose makes a good Mouth yet I would neither hurt his Mouth nor Nose nor any thing else about him if I could help it and then I am sure he will have a better Mouth than if his Nose were hurt Sakers Dockes or Trouse-Ques which are all one are very becoming for a Leaping Horse for they make him appear Plumper more together or Racoursi and also to go higher therefore I would have you make use of them for all kind of Leaping Horses whither for Croupadoes Balotadoes or Capriols but then the horses tails must be tyed up short in the Sakers for horses that goe the Mannage de soldat Terra a Terra in Corvets or Demy Ayres there is nothing more becoming then to see them with good Tails hanging naturally down without any thing upon them and to see them sweep the Ground with their Tails is Gracefull and showeth that they go upon their Haunches which is the perfection of the Mannage But if you intend to beautifie their Mains and Tails before great Princes or Persons of Qualitie then there is nothing more gracefull then to tye their Mains with several collourd Ribbons or all of one collour and after different wayes either plateing them or letting them hang loose It is also observed That Horses do commonly become plain Furniture I mean Sadles and Bridles but not the Houses better then rich therefore the Sadles should be plain white Spanish Leather and Silver Nailes stitcht also with Silk and a good black Leather slip-Cover over it the Bridle soft black Leather and small by no means too broad two Girths as I said joyned in one but parted at both ends like two and a good Italian Surcingle which will be worth both the Girths for sure holding you must be also very careful to see that nothing about your Horse hurt him as Sadle Bridle Cavezon or any thing else for assure your self that so long as any thing hurts him he will never go well Horses also go very seldom well in a high wind for it doth so whisk about them blow into their ears and make such a Noise as it mightily diverts them from the Mannage and so doth any new help or other thing they are not accustomed to for Horses are very sensible and ticklish kind of Creatures and care for nothing which appeareth new to them Plate 4 Chap xi of Sup Fig 1. The Best most modern Fashion of Cavezon with its Reins Fig 2. The Best and most modern Fashion of Great Saddle or Selle a piquer Fig 3. The Best and most modern Fashion of Rope Cavezon For the Pillars The best and most modern Fashion of Stirrups The best and most modern Fashion of Spurrs Fig 4. The True and perfect Seat upon Horseback Fig 5. The true and best way of Ordering An Unruly Colt Before Backing Fig 6. The true and best way of suppling a Horses shoulders Upon large Circles to the Right Hand Fig 7. A true perfect Stop Upon large Circles to the Left Hand Fig 8. A true and perfect Short or Petit Galop Upon Large Circles to the Right Hand Fig 9. A true perfect Passage a long a Wall to the Right Hand There is also another thing which is most uncomely and the disgracefullest thing a Horse can do and that is to whisk his Tail in all the Actions which he makes The common Remedy People use for it is to ty his Tail with a Quinsel which doth indeed prevent that disagreeable Action so long as it holds but the most infallible Remedy in the World for it is to cut Cross the great Nerve which is under the Tail and then he shall never whisk or shake it again neither will this do him any harm in the World more then the small pain he finds when it is first cut there is therefore no Remedy like it As for the Horse-mans Habit I would have him alwayes make use of that Garb which is most commonly made use of in the Countrey where he liveth but for his Boots they must of necessity be Limber and not strong that so he may both grip the faster with them and also make use of his Aids with the more ease which it is not possible for any Man to do either so neatly or unperceptibly when his Boots are so very stiff and strong as those commonly used for the Warts It is true for a Shock such strong French Boots are certainly best but I am now giving directions for Riding and not for fighting therefore in this case the Limber Boots must take place CHAP. XI Of the true and perfect Seat which a Man should keep upon Horseback HAving in the preceeding Chapter given you an account of what Equipage is most convenient for both Horse and Rider I think it will not be a miss to give you in this CHAP XI and before I proceed further in discoursing of the Art ane exact Discription of the true Seat upon Horseback without which it is impossible for any Man to be an excellent Horseman And therefore before you mount your Horse you must see that every thing be in order about him which you may do in an instant without Peering and Prying about every thing pour faire L'entendu as the French say And when you are in the Saddle for I suppose you know how to get up you must sit upon your Twist and not on your Buttocks though Nature hath made them for sitting on every where else but a Horse back Being thus placed upon your Twist and in the middle of the Sadle advance your Belly towards the Pommel of it as much as you can leaving a handbreadth of space between your hinder parts the Cantle or L'Arson of the Saddle but keep your Shoulders a little back your Leggs being straight down as if you were on Foot and your Thighs and Knees turned inwards to the Saddle holding fast with them both as if you were glewed to the Sadle for a Horseman hath nothing but those two with the Counter-poise of his Body to keep him on horseback plant your feet firmly upon the Stirrops your heels a little lower then your Toes and let the ends of your Toes pass thorow the Stirrops a large Inch or a little more your hams stiff and Leggs not too far from the Horses sides nor too near neither that is only so near as not to touch them which is of great use for certain helps which I shall show you hereafter The Reins of the Bridle are to be in the left Hand your little finger seperating the Reins and grasping the rest in the Hand with your Thumb upon the Reins and your Arm pretty close to your Body but not constrained the Bridle Hand just over the neek of the Horse and about three fingers above the Pommel and two before it that the Pommel may not hinder the Reins in their
or course of the withers but it is not the shape of the Neck alone which maketh a Horse light or heavy on the hand but good or bad legs and feet and strong or weak Reins however the Neck hath a great share in it At the Lower part of the Neck upon the upper side and at the end of the Mane is the Withers which should be some what elevate and pritty long because it is a sign of strength and goodness Moreover when the Withers are well raised they keep the sadle in its just place and hinder it from coming forward upon his shoulders and Neck which doth immediatly spoil and gall a Horse and if to keep it back you make use of a Crupper it will not fail also to hurt him because of the great weight of the Sadle inclining and consequently of the Rider pressing alwayes forwards The Withers although raised should not be too fleshy for then they will be much more subject to galling and when hurt very difficult to cure but if he have them lean and but little more than skin and bone upon them then they will be just so as a good and fine Horse should have them Of the Breast or Counter A large and full Breast or Counter is alwayes esteemed in light or small sized Horses but in Dutch and Frizland Horses they are commonly too large which maketh them heavy this is not to say but for Horses designed for draught large and broad Counters do very well for they make them draw with the more ease and the Harness galleth them less but to ballance that advantage such Breasts or Counters make them much more heavy having by that means the perfect quality of a Cart-horse who the more he is tyed to the ground and the bigger the better he is and if with all this he have also a good wind then he is most excellent all horses which have their mouths nought may draw in a Cart but not in a Coach where they must be light and have a pritty good and sensible Mouth The Shoulders should be of a middle size Of the Shoulders flat and but little flesh upon them the joint next to the breast and the rest of the whole shoulder very glib and moveable a horse which is charged with shoulders can never be agreeable to the Rider for he will not only weary sooner but trip and stumble every minute if a horses shoulders be not very moveable but stiff and unwieldy which People call fixed or pegged shoulders then he will never have any nimbleness or agreeableness but above all if with such large shoulders he have a thick and big Neck then his legs will be the sooner spoylt and ruined because the weight of both the one and the other will very soon undoe the legs which must support that great burthen as well in the Stable as upon Journey The shoulders are one of the parts of a horse chiefly to be considered because in buying a horse they should be exactly lookt to and you should not take it for a commendation of a horse that people say he is broad and large over all it is a commendation indeed for the but tock but if his shoulders are too large it is a great imperfection Besides the directions I shall give you to know when a horse hath too large shoulders you may observe this a horse which hath too great a distance betwixt his fore thighs just at the top next to his shoulders if he be a horse of an ordinary size and that that distance exceed half a foot it is too much and I can assure you such a horse is charged with shoulders or hath them too big and large he may have also too little a distance between them and then he will be narrow breasted or strainted in the shoulders which is a considerable fault therefore a horse of a middle size should have about half a foot or five inches distance between his fore-thighs and when he is standing straight upon his limbs there should be a less distance between his feet than betwixt his fore thighs near to the shoulders Those who seek after horses which are most open before which is to have a great distance between the fore-thighs near to the shoulders mightily deceive themselves for such horses have almost always but too large shoulders it is not that I would advise you to choose them too narrow because such horses as have them are apt to stumble and easily fall either in galloping or upon an ordinary pace besides that such shoulders are unpleasant to look to and make a horse appear ugly narrow shoulder'd horses do also commonly cross their legs and cut themselves in travelling I shall speak a great deal more of the knowledge of shoulders when I discourse of what is to be observed in buying a horse A horse should have double Reins Of the Reins of Back which is when he hath them a little more elevate upon each side of the back bone than upon it and that passing you hand along it you find it large well furnished and double by the hollow that goeth all along the back-bone the back should be firme and not at all hollow or bending from the the Withers to the Croupe but straight and fashioned after the Reins of certain Mules Those horses which are hollow back't are commonly light and have their Necks raised and high but it is an imperfection they are called Sadle-backed and besides that such horses have not ordinarly much strength it is also difficult so to fit a sadle for them that it do not gall them they have also commonly excessive big bellies called swallowed or gulped bellies in French Ventres avalles which render them very uncomely The Ribbs should be circular and full taking their tour or compass from the very back bone to the end that those parts which they contain which are the Lungs and others may be the more easily lodged and that the Horse may have also the better belly and fuller flank The Belly should be but of an ordinary bigness in middle sized Horses but in Coach Horses the larger the better provyding they be not altogether gulped or swallowed such as those of Cowes or of a Mare with foal but that it be round and well inclosed within the Ribbs and rather extending upon the sides than dounwards The Flanks should be full at the top of which upon each side Of the Flanks there should be a kind of frizour of the hair or feather as we call it the nearer those feathers approach one another upon the top near to the loyns so much the better but if they be as it were within view of other then the mark is excellent The distance between the last Rib and Haunch bone which is propperly the Flank should be but short which we terme well coupled The Horses which are shortest in that place are longest of having their flanks ruined or spoilt by excessive labour but
as they Having observed all I have been saying you are as yet to consider if your horse be Sound that is if he doe not halt you will know it best upon the Step or Trot for upon a Gallop a man can perceive but very little without having had a great and long experience especially if the lameness lie in his fore quarters but still it will be less perceptible if he be gallop't by a good and skilful horseman The surest way then by far to know if a horse halt is to make use of the very same method people take for Coach horses which is to cause trot them along the streets iâ— ones hand it is there that a man cannot possibly disguise and conceal a horses lameness and is the true touch stone whereby a man cannot be deceived in buying any kind of Horses and not only for knowing if they halt but also for observing their strength and reins When a horse trotteth in ones hand you are to observe if the lifting up keeping up and setting down of his fore Legs in French Le Lever Le Soutien et L'Appuy be such as they ought and as I have already told you in the 11 Chapter if he keep his Reins streight and equall without rocking or swinging his head high well placed and firm for if he halt he will mark every time in his trot with a motion of his head When a horse rocketh which I have explained in discoursing of the Step or Walk it is when one of his haunch bones goes up and the other down always the one after the other every stâ—p he marketh with his trot for his Croup should not at all move thus after the fashion of a ballance beam and if it do it is a token of no great strength The Horse-Marchants are obliged to warrant and secure the horses they sell from these infirmities following to wit Pursyness Glanders that he shall prove sound when either warm or cold that is that he shall no more halt after he is warm than he did at first going out of the stable when cold If a horse have any of these three infirmities people both at Paris and almost over all France oblige the seller to take him again within nine dayes after the delivery For the other infirmities which I have been all along explaining in the preceeding Chapters you are to have your eyes as sharp and clear sighted as possible that so you may discover them because theÌ„ Horse-marchants who are otherwayes generally called Horse-coursers are not obliged to warrant them nay nor even the Eyes for it is to be supposed that you might have looked to them and so have discovered whether they were good or not but if you are a buying a horse from a Gentleman or Burgess who tells you expresly that he will not warrant his soundness you should in that case use all diligence imaginable to discover the horses infirmities if you suspect he have any for when a horses price is once payed it is very difficult to make him be taken back again When a Man buyeth a Horse at Paris it is very fit to know the person from whom he is bought least he might have been stoln because it is lawful for the true owner of the Horse to take him again where ever he can find him so that in this case the Buyer will be sent to seek after the Seller he knoweth not where and if he cannot find him the price of the Horse is lost for good and all it is just so when a Man buyeth a Horse in the weekly Mercats but if it be in an open and publick Fair there is no such hazard You are yet further to observe if the Horse you intend to buy be right situat and planted upon his legs and feet as he is standing still and quiet and that he have the toes of his hind feet pointing streight forwards and turned neither out nor in or that he do not bring his hind legs too much forwardbeneath his belly as he is standing which is the very worst of all stances People say of such a horse that his two ends or head and Croup are going to join when they perceive him standing in such a posture and it is either a token of a bad horse or that he is much fatigued when he thus endeavours to give ease to his fore-legs by bringing forwards and as it were beneath his belly those behind that so he may make them support the most considerable weight of his body Having thus examined your horse in every point as I have directed you will when once you have had a little practice in the twinkling of an eye find out and discover the smallest imperfection so that if a horse have any it will be the first thing will fall under your view and presently displease you you are in the next place to consider if he have a good Mouth CHAP. XVIII How to know if a Horses Mouth be good and Loyal A Horse to have a good Mouth CHAP. XVIII How to know if a Horses Mouth be good and Loyal should have a well raised Neck and if it be somewhat large and thick it should be at least well turned his reins strong and well shapt and his legs and feet likewise if he have all these right no doubt but he will have unless it be by accident a very good Mouth Look to or rather feel between the upper parts of the jaw-bones to know if they are sufficiently well seperate that so the Horse may with the more ease bring in and place his head exactly for if these two bones be too closs upon other and that he have also a short and thick Neck charged with flesh so that he cannot place his Head right his having a good mouth well be to little purpose because you cannot make use of it and also this goodness of the Mouth is only agreeable when the Head is brought in to its best situation and posture for we do not imitate the Cravates who make their horse carry their Noses in the Air by which they are very subject to falling and also when any of them are in thir countryes the Clods or Stones in the high-wayes make them frequently trip and stumble You have in the second Chapter of this First part particular observations whereby to know when a Horses Mouth is good to which I referr you that I may avoid repetitions put your finger into the horse's Mouth pressing his barr pretty hard with it and if you find that it paineth him it is a token that the barr is sensible and consequently that his Mouth is good but upon the contrary if the barr be not sensible his Mouth will be nought for a horses Mouth is no otherwise good but it so far as it is less or more sensible however too great a degree of it will render it bad as I shall shew you Move your Finger also along his barrs to feel if they be high and ridged and
amongst it so much the better then let the Water boyl untill their remain only a third and then taking it from the fire scum off all the Char-coal You are only to make use of the Ashes of burnt lees when you can procure aâ—other wood but what is white and soft or hath long floated upon the water and it in any other case for upon the contrary it would but prove prejudicial You shall then with this Water being more than luke-warm cause Bath and it hard with ones hand your horses fore and hind Legs and Hams and then can charge them well with the remaining Ashes and let them continue upon his Legsâ— next morning without either leading him to the Water or removing him out of thâ— Stable and I assure you the very first time you make use of this remedy you 〈◊〉 perceive the good effects it hath had and your horse will next Morning have his Lâ—â— more supple and neat then you have before seen them of a long time and he 〈◊〉 be also more hearty then he was the day preceeding the application you are to continue the use of this from time to time that so you may have full satisfaction and oâ—tentment from it Here is also another very good method for the same purpose Take two Quarts good strong Vinegar put it over the fire in a pot or Skillet and when ever it begâ— to smoak throw amongst it four small shuvells full of red hot Cinders which 〈◊〉 made of Green-wood let them boyl half a quarter of an hour and then take the from the fire and let them cool a little when this stuff is luke-warm cause Bath as rub hard your Horse's fore-legs with it and if you do this every fourth day I assâ— you you will preserve your Horse's Legs sound and neat during the greatest fatâ—â— of their Journey If you have but one Horse one Quart of Vinegar will be sufficient this remedispels the humours by resolution prevents their falling down upon the Legs a so preserves them sound and neat and without gourding or swelling When you return from a long Journey or travelling this remedy may be also pâ—ctised with success by only using it every third or fourth day for some time for thâ— Bath will not only unweary and refresh the Horse but also recover his Legs When a Man hath rid a Horse extremely hard so that he fears foundering 〈◊〉 best method he can take after he hath put him in the Stable and that he hath foâ— caused lead him a little in ones hand and otherways order'd him as I have alreâ—â— directed is to take two Quarts of Vinegar with two pound of Salt and mixing the well together cold cause bath and rub hard the horse's four legs with it for about 〈◊〉 an hour then cause pour into his feet some Oyl of Bays scalding hot and upâ—â— the Oyl hot Ashes above which he is to put Hurds or Course flax with thin slicâ—â— wood or peices of whale bone fixed cross-ways above it to keep all fast and 〈◊〉 concentrate the heat but if you can have no Oyl of Bays then take either the Oyl of Walnuts Turneps or that of fishes but the Oyl of Bays is by far the best The same receipt is also good for horses which are very wearied but these immediatly preceiding are better because they are for your horses of Value such as Barbs Turks Spanish horses Hunters that are esteemed Journey-pads and fine English horses for a man would have but little to do should he cause take that care of jads or ordinary Naggs and all the Cow-dung in Flanders would not be sufficient for it far less the Cinders especially in red Char-coal and yet they are those little Naggs and Gallowayes which endure the greatest fatigues and perform the longest journeys Witness the Messengers and Posts where they don't take this care nor observe these precautions for if they did they would but last and endure too long but again fine and large horses are very soon spoiltâ—f they are not had a care of therefore people commonly say that great horses do not love great journeys thereby signifying that if they travel too much they will be soon spoilt for in effect it is not properly their imployment because they are as it were the Gentry among horses I knew a horse of Value which being Rid extraordinary hard from Paris to Foutaine-bleau they at his arrival took all the care imaginable to lead him and dry and rub him for near two full hours but they put no hot oyl into his feet neither did they give him any of the stinking pills Brandy Claret-wine and Nutmegs nor Glister he was not sensible of any prejudice by this for the time and also he was three dayes after Rid about a league and at the end of eight dayes he made two short journeyes only at a step and he appeared also to be very well and sound after his arrival but the third day thereafter when they took him to the forge to shoe they found his fore-feet in some measure round and Crown'd or elevate in the soles from the point of the frush to the Toe and his soles were so high in those parts I have mention'd that they could not fit him with any other but vaulted or hollow shoes and although he had very good feet before yet he could not now almost support himself but as a horse in whom the foundering had fallen down upon his feet and occasioned Crescents in his Soles they caused barr or stop his pastern Veines as I shall show you when I discourse of shoeing and they shoed him with Panton or Pantable shoes which is a fashion of shoes I shall discrive to you hereafter the horse was by this method made fit in fix months time to serve and although his feet were not so good as formerly yet they made use of him Now if they had observed the precautiones which I have given which are to pour scalding hot oyl of Bayes into the feet and to administer some things inwardly to him they would have been fred of this trouble at a more easy rate and the humour which fell down upon his feet would have been expelled another way CHAP XXXIV A Continuation of the directions for preserving Horses sound upon Travel Sect. 1. CHAP XXXIV A continuation of the directions for preserving horses sound upon Travel YOUR horse being as I have ordered put in the stable and unbridled I shall continue to perscrive what shall be next done for to order him methodically If you travel in Summer you are immediatly after he is unbridled to cause take off the saddle and rub him very well all along the Back where it stood with hay or shraw for it is a great deal better to unsaddle him although it were but in the time of dinner and which is a thing that few people practise only that they may save themselves the trouble of saddling again than wholy tâ— omitt it But if
supporteth the heel for this pretended preservation of the heel is but a fancy very ill grounded therefore laying aside such whimsies the middle of the spunge must without any other Philosophy be placed just upon the middle of the end of the quarter which touches the corner of the frush and is called the Heel and which it is to be supposed you have not pared for as I told you the heels must never be pared because this paring of them which by the common smiths is called the opening of the heels should as I said be rather termed the closeing as opening of them Now the middle of the Spunges being placed upon the extremities of the quarters which form the heel and toucheth almost the frush must not reach any further and then your horse will be shod both for his own ease and the benefit of his foot for he will never become hoof-bound neither will he over-reach by reason of the Spunges of his fore-feet shoes being set equal with his heels and not suffered to exceed them the best and strongest reason I can give for this is that a horse is never so much at his ease as when he is standing without shoes upon his litter therefore that he may have alwayes that ease cause put shoes upon him which follow exactly the shapâ— of his feet and that do not much exceed the outsides of his hoofs at the heels to preserve them as some smiths say for that is not to follow nature which is our guide and wiser than we but is rather to cross and constrain her as for example Are not the Spantards more at ease in their shoes than we because their shoes follow the form and figure of their feet and are made conform to the model thereof where as the French cause make shoes whose shape their feet must take and be accustomeâ— with and whether they incommode them or not they are not much concerned at iâ— provided they be but in the fashion apply this comparison to the shoeing of horse and you will find it answer pretty near Those who cause make the spunges of their horse's shoes too long besides that the fatigue and weary them and also make them over-reach they likwayes ruine aâ—â— spoil their feet and are the occasion of their becoming hoof bound those again the are too short make a horse go not so much at his ease but your horse's shoes 〈◊〉 never be too short if they follow the whole compass of his feet to the ends or 〈◊〉 of their frushes and no further The spunge is that part of the shoe which when it 〈◊〉 fastned upon a horse's foot is next to the heel The shoe should not press upon the sole at all but should rest equally and exactâ— round the whole foot upon the horn which is about the thickness of a small â—ingâ— breadth takeing notice that if the shoe upon the outer edge of that side next the horst foot have any rising or unevenness in it and that you cause not beat it down 〈◊〉 make it level with the rest before it be set on it will rest upon the horn and certainly spoil his hoof for that raised edge being higher than the rest of the shoe theâ— will no other part of it rest upon his hoof but it which will certainly spoil it the horn round the foot is at most no thicker than a small fingers breadth which is also generally the thickness of the rest of the hoof If the shoe rested upon any other part of the foot but the horn it work cause the horse halt and then ye would be necessitate immediatly to take off his shâ—â— as it will often fall out when the shoe rests upon the sole especially if the sole be the and weak but if the sole be thick and strong although the shoe rest upon some 〈◊〉 of it yet the horse will not halt as you may remark in shoeing with the 〈◊〉 shoes hereafter described which shoes rest almost always upon the sole or upon the Corners of the frush and which being thick and strong is the reason that the horse but very seldom halteth with them Having thus fitted the shoe you shall drive two nails in it and then let his foot to the ground to see if the shoe be right placed then you shall drive the rest of the naâ— equally and not the one higher than the other which is called to drive nails by Mâ— sick or Mufically but you must drive them equally observing nevertheless that 〈◊〉 nails of the heels of the fore feet be low enough driven because you will there very 〈◊〉 meet with the quick which in the hinder feet is just contrary for in them the heels 〈◊〉 strongest The nails being driven and cut over with the Princers or Nippers before thâ— you rivet them you must take the Cutting-knife which is a peice of steel about 〈◊〉 a foot long having the one edge sharp and the other about the thickness of 〈◊〉 Crowns with which you must cut the horn that overpasses the shoe when it is â—â—â—ned by striking with the Hammer upon the back of the cutting-knife untill yâ—â— have taken away all the horn you desire the nails being driven and cut over before that you rivet them take the Cutting-knife again and cut away the small pieces 〈◊〉 horn which the nails have made rise in driving to the end that the rivets may 〈◊〉 equal with the horn for besides that it maketh the foot appear handsomer thâ— nails also fasten better so that the horse can never cut himself with the Rivets which will oftentimes fall out if you observe not this method especially upon the inside 〈◊〉 the foot and that the nails be big and thick for the rivets being too high above thâ— horn is the cause oftentimes of the horse's cutting himself and therefore the riveting of the nails well is of great consequence for the reasons I have been giving As the shoe weareth the nails by degrees sink into it so that the rivets loosen 〈◊〉 and appear more above the hoof and if people take not care to cut them they will 〈◊〉 the horse therefore people should take good notice that when a horse hath 〈◊〉 long shoed he do not cut himself with these long rivets There are some People who observe alwayes to shoe their horses at the change 〈◊〉 the Moon which is good if the horn be smooth tough and good and that there 〈◊〉 no other thing to be desired but the growing of the horn For to shoe after the 〈◊〉 or fourth day of the new Moon maketh the feet to grow but it is also true that 〈◊〉 the horn is not so strong and firm Those horses which have good and handsom feet should alwayes be sho'd at the hight of the Moon for then the horn is closs ' bright and handsome but the shoeing at that time doeth not make them grow so much for good feet I doe not much observe the age of the Moon but cause shoe
pastern-Veins and shoe them as I have told leting them rest only for a month to strengthen their feet and have the wounds healed up which were made in barring their Veins afterwards keeping their hoofs anoynted they will work and gain their expences and in six months or a year their feet will be so recovered that they will be in a condition for any kind of service and I also assure you that by this method such horses will in a years time have pretty good and well shaped feet which before had them as flat as an oyster shell of which I could give several examples I my self have had experience of in and about Paris Let this suffice for horses which have flat and bad shap't feet and also high or round soles CHAP. XL. How horses which are hoof bound or narrow heel'd should be shoed I shall begin this Chapter with feet which are hoof-bound CHAP. XL. How horses which are hoof-bound should be Shoed to which the light sized horses are most subject such as Barbs Turks Spanish Italian and English horses there are are also German horses and horses of this Kingdom which are sometimes hoof-bound but very rarely I have already shown that a hoof-bound horse is a horse whose heels so press the bone within the hoof or the Coffin boue that they either make the horse to halt or at least hinder him to travel easily To cure it people take out the horse's Sole and cleave his Frush which shall be treated of in the 50. Chap of the 2. part Sect. 2d or otherwise people remede it by the help of shoeing but when a horse is ill hoof-bound people oftimes gain time by taking out his Sole provided that they cleave his Frush to facilitate it but people who have not had the experience thereof can but with difficulty at first be persuaded to make tryal of it The causes of this defect in the feet are different horses which have either ill shaped or too long feet are subject to grow hoof-bound they also become hoof-bound when their hoofs are too dry and want nourishment to maintain the horn or if they be not right shoed their heels will grow narrow and so they will become hoof-bound after which they never go firmly because their heels paining them they endeavour to ease themselves as much as they can and therefore go upon their Toes which maketh the Back-sinews to shrink and their legs at the knee or pastern-joynt to bend forwards when they stand in their natural posture which are called in French Jambet arquées ou Boutées and which if you help not at the beginning will cause them halt to the ground It is discoursed at large in the 50. Chap of the 2d part concerning the cureing of feet which are hoof-bound To prevent and put a stop to this infirmity you must when you shoe such horses take the heels very much down without hollowing the Quarters and pare the Frust flat for all horses whose heels are very much taken down will not only never become hoof-bound but also they will have no Bleymes which is an inflammation occasioned by bruised blood within the hoof betwixt the Sole and the little-foot near to the heel where the matter gathereth and causeth the disorders which are explained in the 54 Chap. of the 2d part and also the Sinews of their legs will be preserved especially if they be horses which work in the Mannage upon soft ground You must also besides this precaution never open the heels with the Butteris as the Smiths do who weaken the Quarters by pressing the Butteris edge-wayes forwards they cut also the end of the said quarter or heel and take it away even within an inchâ—â— the hair and they call that to open the heels but they are so far from doing that that upon the contrary they take away the whole strength of the foot which should have been left altogether whole and which is done if you open not the heels nor wâ—â— the Butteris hollow the Quarters but that you leave the sole strong and let the he keep it 's full roundness I will have a great many people against me for maintaining this proposition because most part of persons at least all the Smiths say that the heeâ— are to be opened but that which they call opening the heels is down right to take away the strength of the heel to weaken it and put it in a condition to be sooâ— hoof-bound but I will inquire at those Gentlemen if their horses shoed after that fasâ— on do not become hoof-bound for I daily see of these horses hoof-bound whose heels have been kep't very open after their fashion and I maintain that of all the horses whose heels I caused take down reasonably and afterwards shoed causing the shoe follow the roundness of the foot just to the corner of the Fush and keeping their Soles strong not so much as one of them became hoof-bound The proof of it is easy and if you mislike it take you to your old method again but I am sure you will continue this manner of shoeing when once you have made tryal of it This which I affirm 〈◊〉 grounded upon reason for the horn followeth the form of the shoe because it is 〈◊〉 solid than the horn and forces it to follow it's shape when it grows But if there be appearance that the horse's heel will become narrow then the surest way is to cause shoe him with the half Panton shoe which is to turn the branch of the shoe in towards the horses foot as it is explained in the following Chap for that shoe will keep his Quarters in a condition to open and become wider the horn growing the heel openeth and therefore cannot straiten and so the foot will continue well shaped for the she which you caused put upon it will open the heel because either the hoof must not groâ— or the heel will open for the Spunge of the shoe must follow the roundness of the heel and go no farther than the end of the quarter seing then that the shoe gives the shape to the foot as without all doubt it doth and the shoe taking no other shapâ— than it hath already it being inflexible and the horn by it's flexibility being capable of receiving any form It follows necessarly that the shoe being a Half-panton shoe must force the horn outwards and so enlarge the heel which I shall explain in the following Chapter But above all you must take notice when you shoe after this method that is to say with Half-panton shoes that you keep alwayes the Sole strong Some people say that the Frush should not at all be pared because when it is entiâ—â— it keepeth out the quarters and preventeth their coming together Truely people should not make the sole hollow betwixt the Frush and the Quarters but should 〈◊〉 pare the top of the Frush with the Butteris which is called to pare the Frush flat If people did not at all
he will not halt with them although you travel him for I my 〈◊〉 have made long journeys with horses which carried them I have also made use of thâ— method for Mules which had narrow heels who found a great advantage in it for although they were Planch-shoes as people call those shoes made use of for Mules which are forged closs at the heels without any open at all yet I caused forge themsâ—â— that the Planch-shoe slopt at the heels as the Panton shoe and did therefore also opeâ— the Mules heels after the same manner If you have a journey to make with a horse which is hoof-bound but doth not â— yet halt with it you must not at all take down his heels when you shoe him although I heretofore ordered you upon other occasions to do it but upon the contrary you must keep his heels as strong as possible and drive the nails only in the Toe for the beâ— being high and narrow you will not easily get them driven there neither coâ—â—â— your horse suffer it and then your horse will travel with you as you please indeeâ— this will not be the way to help his hoof-binding for upon the contrary it will makâ— it worse but it is only to cause him perform his journey that you do it If your horse be so ill hoof-bound that he halteth to the ground with it the beâ—â— and readiest cure is to take out his soles and put shoes upon him which have lenâ— Spunges the way of taking out the soles is shown in the 50 Chap of the 2. parâ— Sect 2. This is not but that these kind of shoes which I have been discoursing of help and will through time open his heels but that will be in four or five month time whereas if his soles had been taken out he would have been cured in threâ— weeks or a month providing that you took care to open his heels when his sole wâ— out by cleaving the frush or by putting in a plate of iron betwixt his heels so that 〈◊〉 may keep them about two inches or thereby further asunder than they we before his sole was taken out and that by fixing that plate of iron betwixt the 〈◊〉 Quarters of the foot near the heel because the Frush which is softer than the 〈…〉 the foot will yeeld and open and so make the heels in a condition to become larght it is sooner done to give a stroak with an Incision-knife and so to cleave and 〈◊〉 the middle of the Frush down almost to the pastern to the end that that ouvertâ— may make the putting in of some rolls of linnen in the clift of the frush which must first dipt in the healing Charge the more easy to keep the incision very open these will grow again which will keep out the quarters the shoe which must be made laâ— to answer to the foot which is already made large will keep it so and the heels growing will not close or straiten if the horse be right shoed This which I show yâ— is founded upon several experiences I have made which succeeded very well 〈◊〉 me for the sole beginning to grow will keep out the heels and if there be need it you may afterwards cause shoe your horse with Half-panton shoes as in 〈◊〉 next Chapter There are some horses so very ill hoof-bound that although people have taken their soles yet they can scarcely force out their heels to get that plate of iron 〈◊〉 placed which should keep them open and asunder for those kind of feet you must at the sole is taken out force asunder the hoof at the heels with the Nippers or pinâ— so that by forceing them you may oblige them to seperate but there must be great 〈◊〉 taken in forceing the Quarters this way that you do not separate the horn from heel for then you would cause the horse cast his Quarters after you have thus for his heels open with the Pincers you must put in that plate of Iron which resemble somewhat the blade of an old knife which will keep his heels firm and open 〈◊〉 the soles grow again and so keep them out themselves But the absolutely shoâ— way is to cleave the frush down almost to the very pastern immediatly after you 〈◊〉 taken out his sole and after that the shoe is fastned on and the Charge or Appâ— for cure put upon the Sole you must fill that Clift very well with bolsters or rolls Linning first dipt in the healing charge and which must be put into it at the 〈◊〉 part of the pastern and afterwards tye all up with a Cloath to keep them fast aâ— keep alwayes that clift very open untill the Sole be wholly filled up again 〈◊〉 which if you cause shoe your horse with a half-Panton shoe it will make his 〈◊〉 become very large and well shaped which is easier done then to force the Quarters making use of the Plate of Iron abovementioned although that method be also â—e good CHAP. XLI How horses which have Clifts in their Quarters commonly called False-quarters and in French Des Seymes are to be shoed FOR horses which have cloven or false Quarters CHAP XLI How horses which have cloven or false Quarters are to be shoed you must cause make a shoes after the fashion which I call the Half-panton shoe the use of it being good I therefore thought fit to propose it to you this method of shoeing may also serve for horses whose hoofs begin to close and straiten at the heels for it cometh near to the figure of the panton shoe because the Branch is turned upwards which maketh the same sloap that the Panton shoe doeth but the side of the shoe next to the ground is not the same because there is but one edge of the Spunge to wit the outmost edge which toucheth the ground whereas the under side of the Panton shoe is quite flat these kind of Half-panton shoes do not force out the heels so suddenly as the whole Panton shoes and therefore are good to be made use of at first to cause the heel spread The shoe EF GH which is represented in the 11. Fig. of the 3 plate is a half Panton shoe which is to be put upon a horse which hath one or more false quarters and which consequently hath narrow heels you must cause then make especially the whole branches and also the Spunges FB DH stronger than ordinary afterwards turn them up so that AB CD may be higher than the outer edge EF GH so you will find that betwixt AB and EF the shoe will sloap outwards also the other branch CD GH will doe the same and the rest of the shoe FEGH will be altogether flat upon the ground as an ordinary shoe for I here represent to you the inner side of the shoe because the under side of the same shoe FEGH must rest upon the ground the whole compass of the shoe FEGH Now in vaulted shoes the Spunges are turned quite
standing in such uneven stables where their hind feet were constantly ill placed have at length rendered their hind Quarters so mishapâ—t that they appeared maimed There are some people who when they see a horse that treadeth only upon his hinder Toes say that he is Roosted or Pearched in French Juché To shoe a horse which stumbleth you must shoe him quite contrary to those which tread only upon the Toes of their hind-feet for you must take down his Toe very much and also shorten it to the end he may not meet so easily with the clods and stones upon the High-wayes But if those horses which stumble have their sinews troubled their legs spoilt or if their shoulders be weak then you must have recourse to another cure than Shoeing which you will find in the 33 Chap. of the 2d part and others following where you have receipts that are all very good If your horse Over-reach you must shoe him so that the Spunge of the shoe may follow the turn of his foot as I ordered you before It is commonly a sign of Weakness when a horse is subject to Over-reach which is when with his hind-feet as he is riding he overtaketh the heels of his fore Other people after the Spanish fashion turn up their hind-feet shoes at the Toe as I told you they did the Pack or Sumpter horses Fore-feet shoes in Hilly Countreys which method is not bad for when horses over-reach they do not so easily with these pull off their fore-feet shoes it is certain that the rider is oftentimes the occasion of a horse's over-reaching because through his ignorance he knoweth not how with his Bridle-hand and by the fear of his Spurs to keep his horse Together and firm under him it 's true that an action which is constrained cannot endure long and far less the whole time of a long journey when wearyness seizeth a horse but a man should alwayes now and then Advertise his horse and if that prevent not his over-reaching you may then freely say that he wanteth Reins and Strength or that he is quite spoilt CHAP. XLV How to shoe horses which have been Foundered in the feet THere are few Horses that have been oftner foundered in the Body than once CHAP XLV How to shoe horses which have been foundered in the feet which have not some of the humour which occasioned the foundering fallen down in their feet some more and others less therefore it is necessary to cause shoe them after some certain regular method which may help and recover their feet as much as possible I shall discourse to the full of Foundering in the body in the 86 Chap. of the second part of this Work where the cures for it shall be set down at large and therefore shall in this place only offer to you one single remedy for it which is as good as it is easie and all the vertue of this cure consisteth in the hair and skin of an Ermin which is a little four footed Creature all white except the tip of its tail which is black just shaped like a Weasel only their colours differ People take the skins of those 〈◊〉 Creatures which they dry without Tanning or dressing them and whenever a hâ—â— foundered they take about the bigness of a farthing at most of the skin and hair â—â—ther and cutting it in five or six pieces make the norse swallow it in Wine 〈◊〉 or other liquor afterwards they keep the horse bridled three or four hours often times the horse with one drench will be cured also when horses have been 〈◊〉 Fatigued and that People fear their foundering they must give them amongst 〈◊〉 wet Bran or Oats when they are unbridled a dozen of the haires of a dry'd 〈◊〉 skin and that will preserve them and prevent the disease But it is to be observed that the Ermins skins which are taken in France have much vertue you must therefore get of those Ermins skins which come 〈◊〉 Muscovy undressed they are easily known because of their length for 〈◊〉 are considerably longer than the French ones these in Germany are also better 〈◊〉 the French but not so good as those of Muscovie and the further North that tâ— Ermins are taken the more vertue have their skins to cure foundered horses Oâ—â— times also although people have good enough Receipts yet if they be not time 〈◊〉 applyed before that the foundering hath seized much upon a horse's body it seldâ—â— faileth but that the humour at least a part of it by a natural propensity falleth downâ— to the Feet more or less according to the time that the horse hath been foundered 〈◊〉 fore he was taken notice to sometimes also receipts not methodically given have 〈◊〉 had a successful effect so that the whole Foundering hath fallen down into tâ—â— Feet Now the Feet into which the Foundering humour is fallen are commonly missâ—â—â— and diffigured because the point or that part of the Coffin-bone or little Foot whâ—â— is most advanced falleth down and presseth the sole and the middle of the 〈◊〉 above the Toe shrinketh in and becometh flat because of the hollowness beneath it ocasioned by the falling down of the end of the Coffine-bone and when the boneâ— the Little-foot hath fallen down after this manner and presseth the sole out wards people then say that the horse hath Crescents although that those Crescents be really the bone of the little-foot which hath left its place and fallen downwards and the under part of the Foot to wit the sole at the toe appeareth round like tâ—â— segment of a Ball and the hoof above shrinks in neither can it be otherwayes 〈◊〉 it is empty and hollow therefore a part of the Coffine-bone or Little-foot hath 〈◊〉 said fallen down and left that space wherein it stayed empty and being empty hoof at that place is not supported by any thing and therefore must of necesâ— shrink or fall in The very same happeneth to horses which have had a great Numness in the Coâ—â— called in French Petonnement du sabâ—t which is when the same Coffin-bone or Liâ—â— foot I was just now discoursing of becometh loose at the Toe and quiteth its â—â—tural situation and place The flesh which surrounded it and joyned it to the Coâ—â— dryeth up and there remaineth a void and Empty place and seing the little-Little-foot loose and detatched at the end next the Toe it falleth down and forceth the 〈◊〉 which covered it downwards so that the fore part of the hoof appeareth like a Câ—â—â—cent and the sole as if there were another little bone grown below the Little 〈◊〉 which pressed it downwards where there is no such thing for that Crescent 〈◊〉 thing else but the bone of the Little-foot which hath quit its natural situation 〈◊〉 the Toe and having fallen down it goeth beyond its natural bounds and make the hoof at the Toe appear of the shape of a Crescent more or less according as 〈◊〉 bone of the
Little-foot is more or less loosned or fallen down Now the causes of the disease are almost the same as of foundering in the feet at least these two infirm 〈◊〉 give the same Symptoms which are the Crescents and the horses tread only upâ—â— their heels so that in travelling they set down their toe a pretty while afâ—â—â— their heel and by their very walking you will perceive that their toe is altogether weakned and without nourishment for they can rest upon no part of their foot 〈◊〉 their heel and that also but Creasily I shall discourse at large of this infirmity â—â—led l'etonnement du sabot in the 2d part of this Book Cap. 120. Now for all these infirmities of the Feet where the foundering hath fallen dowâ— them or that there be a numness in the Coffin especially if it be come a great lengâ—â— the horses are a long time of recovering so that a years time will produce but liâ—â— amendment therefore the best and surest way is if you cannot get such horses 〈◊〉 to give them away But I here write only for such horses as have not been 〈◊〉 foundered in the Feet and therefore for them you shall observe the preceeding directions People should never pare a horse much at the Toe that is foundered in the feet because the sole in that part should be alwayes kept strong to the end that if there be any appearance of a Crescent it may be prevented from coming any greater length and so may be taken away by nature which will not I assure you be done in a sudden and also you must not take down his heels much for all the strength of these kind of feet lyeth in the heels and so soon as the horse is shoed pour into his sole of the Oyl of Bays without any mixture scalding hot with hards or course flax above it and splinters of wood to keep all fast and continue it for seven or eight times once every other day to pour the foresaid Oyl into his Feet Horses which have great founderings fallen down in their feet should never be longer of having their soles taken out than three Months at most after their foundering and when People have out their soles the whole Crescent should be fired that is to say burn the whole end of the bone of the Little-foot which is loose that so it may fall away but I think it by far more proper not to take out such horses soles at all but to keep the Sole alwayes strong and to pour into it the Oyl of Laurel or Bays be careful also to buy the true Oyl of Bays for that which People sell commonly in most shops in Paris is worth nothing CHAP. XLVI Of Calkins THere are many Towns both in France and England CHAP. XLVI Of Calkins where the streets are so uneven that none of the horses which draw in them can keep their Feet from slipping without being Calked in Germany all the Horses are calked as well in the Countrey as in the Towns without so much as excepting the Mannage horses A German would not suffer a horse in his stable without being Calked whereas upon the contrary a French man would not suffer one in his that were so If you are necessitate through the unevenness of the streets or because of some other motive to calk your horses as I shew'd you when I spoke of low heel'd horses you must for to make the Calkin turn down the inner corners of the Spunge upon the corner of the Stithy or Anvill and so fashion a Calkin after the shape of the point of a hares ear in French en Orielle de lievre the great square Calkins spoil a Foot strangely and occasion Bleymes as the French call them which is an inflammation occasioned by a corrupt or bruised Blood within the Sole at the Quarters whereof we shall treat in the 54 Chap of the 2d part whereas these after the fashion of the point of a Hares ear do little prejudice if people take but the paines to pare the horn a little low at the heel The use of these kind of Calkins is tollerable when there is a necessity for having any because of two evils the least is still to be chosen This opinion it 's true appeareth somewhat problematical although really it be not for those who approve of Calkins say that when a horse is travelling upon a way which is but a little slippery such as those high-wayes which are fat and full of Clay or that it hath been but a little rain he fretteth and fatigueth himself extremely to prevent his slipping when he is shoed smooth or without Calkins and that such horses employ all their vigour to that purpose and also that a horse which will not at all sweat in his ordinary travelling yet let people but step him as softly as possible upon a slippery high-way in the summer time and he will sweat more in riding one hour if he be smooth shoed than he would doe in three were he travelling in a Countrey wheâ—â— he iâ— not in hazard of slipping which is a certain sign that he wearieth and fatigued himself Whereas if a horse were calked he would as they say perhaps sweat less becaâ—â—â— he would not be so apprehensive of slipping and therefore would not fret so much which would be easier both for the horse and rider and so both would be the beâ—â— of it Those who approve of Calkins look upon this reason as unanswerable whereas I think it but of little force Indeed there is not the least doubt but People should Calk their Horses in tâ—â—â— of Frost without considering whether or not it will be prejudicial to their Legs 〈◊〉 Feet for Necessity hath no Law and it is better that the horse spoil his Legs than the the Rider should be in a continual hazard of breaking his Those who are of the right opinion that is who disapprove of Calkins maintain the they trouble and spoil the feet and in my opinion they are in the right for besides the they cause the back sinew to shrink and make horses have their Legs in a streighâ— line from the knee to the Coronet their Pastern bends forwards as if they were out 〈◊〉 joynt and make them tread only upon the toes of their hind Feet and Triâ—â— they also say and it is most true that horses so Calked do not walk so at the ease they also affirme that Calkins benumme and ruine the Foot if it be weak or the at least they are the occasion of Bleymes which is a bruised Blood within the Coffin 〈◊〉 the heel that they also trouble and spoyl the back sinews and are altogether the ruiâ—â— of a horse This is also the opinion of the Steur Caesar Fiescht a Gentleman of Ferrara in his Treatise concerning horses where he disapproveth of all kinds of Calkins My opinion is that Calkins spoyl the feet trouble the heels and ruine the back sinews nevertheless in Winter and in the
very hard about the bignessâ— ones Arm and a foot in length which should be moistned in a little water thâ— which are made of Hay are the best for horses which have a thin and tender skinâ— with this he shall pass and repass the horses whole Body particularly his legs for it â— upon them that he is to continue this work for a quarter or half an hour to dive himself by rubbing the nerves of the legs above and below with and against the 〈◊〉 within the pasterns and upon the joynts that so no dust or foulness may remaâ— upon them and that their hair may remain as bright and shining as that of the Maâ— he shall also with another wisp if the first be much worn with rubbing Chaffe the whâ—â— nerves of the legs from Top to Bottom and from Bottom to Top to render 〈◊〉 Supple disobstruct them and facilitate the passage of the animal spirits which give them their motion so that a Groom cannot rub too much a horse's legs in the â—â—â—ing and a good Hard-hay-wisp is an excellent Stable-moveable the Hay of thâ—â— wisps which have served a long time if it be open'd out dryed and given to hoâ—â— to eat will give those which are disgusted a good appetite because of the saltâ— the dust which hath adhered to the Hay and penetrated it I make frequently useâ— them provided their hay have neither a rotten nor musty smell there are mâ—â— Grooms who will not make use of a Hard-wisp as in Germany where it is not practied but that is to dress well the body and badly the legs and a Body without 〈◊〉 is in my opinion of no great use Some again after they have gone over them with a moist wisp have a peice green Freize that they moisten with water and with which they pass and reâ— the whole Body to render the skin more Smooth and Glossy this is good hower few French people make use of it it was the Germans that introduced this methâ— which is a very excellent one The English have Whisks of hair called Hair-clâ—â—â— that are very good they are woven of gross hair threed as the countrey peoples course cloath is made of that of wool with this they wipe theirhorses and take away all the dust rub them very well betwix the legs thighs and all other parts of the Body whereat the Curry-comb and Brush cannot come after which they wash them in a pail of water and so hang them up to dry I admire that the use of them has not been brought into France especially seeing they are both good and cheap for in England they are very common There are some horses so very sensible and ticklish that they will not suffer the Curry-comb yea with difficulty can they endure the Brush these require to be drest only with the palm of ones hand which is kept a little moist with water and past flat alongst the horle's Body as if he were Brush'd when the hand is sufficiently charged with dust then it is to be washt and half dryed and they continue thus to pass it with and against the hair until they can take away no more dust and then at last they smooth down the hair to make it appear the more Glossy This method of dressing a horse is Tedious but good because it renders the skin very beautiful and keeps the body alwayes clean there is not a better for this purpose and those who have horses of a very tender and delicate skin should never suffer them to be drest otherwayes For large horses which have a fine skin a Groom should make it his business to dress them more with the Brush and palm of his hand than with the Curry-comb because as they have a desicate Coat so the Curry-comb scratches and galls them which makes them oppose their keeper and fret and torment themselves to no purpose whereas with a little more time the Brush and hand as I have directed would keep them more clean and neat without giving them so much trouble with the Curry-comb When a horse is well drest after this manner his sweat when he is warm will come from him clear as Water if he be exactly well drest the first day with the hand the next morning there will be almost nothing to do but the first time he is drest after this fashion it will take near three houts to make him very clean but afterwads one hour a day will be sufficient After all this the Groom should Comb and Gently disentangle the hairs of his Mane beginning alwayes at the lower parts of them and not at the roots then he shall take his Tail in a full handfull about a foot from the lower end and shall likewise gently rid and disentangle it with the Comb ascending alwayes by degrees untill it be all very well separate there are some people who will never suffer their horses Tails to be Combed for fear they be pulled out and shortned by it The Comb being charged with dust is to be washed and every Groom when he is dressing a horse should have a pail of Water by him after he hath as I have ordered unreveled and separate the hairs of the Mane and Tail he must then take a piece of sponge dipt in water into the left hand and the Mane-comb in his right and shall comb down the Mane beginning at it's root and wetting it with the spunge after each stroak of the Comb next he shall comb the Tail beginning also at it's root and alwayes smoothing down the hair upon the upper part of his dock with the wet sponge after which he shall wipe down the Mane and Tail with a dry Hair-cloath to remove any superfluous moisture When the Tail is foul and dirty which frequently happeneth to white horses then it should be dipt and soak't a little in a pail of Water and afterwards well scoured and rubbed betwixt ones hands there are some who make use of black soap or white in its place when it cannot be had others again cause wash their horses tails once every day and then truss or tye them up neatly that they may be preserved clean when they either go to the City or Countrey and if it be in the summer time they also cause wash their horses Legs very exactly with a wet spunge They likewise cause make for that purpose Brushes which are about four fingers broad and somewhat more then half a foot long that with these they may wash and scour their horses Legs and clean them of all the dust that cleaves to them these Brushes should be made of Wild-Boar bristles and well pitched and rozen'd upon the top that so the Water may not rot the pack-threed which fixes the bristles to the wood and those who will not be at this expence although small take the half of any old Brush wherewith they serve themselves as with the former after this manner they first wash very well the horses Legs then rub them with the
the method I have before prescrived is better After you have then brought them from the water you shall give them fresh Hay and suffer them to eat of it till Eleven or Tuelve a clock at which time you are to make clean the Manger and give each of them two measures or two French pecks of clean sifted Oats which is somewhat less than two English quarts which you are to suffer them to eat at their own ease others again give them only two such measures heaped of wet Bran which is a very good method for horses of mannage because it refreshes and cools them after their violent exercise and your larger siz'd horses stand also in need of moistning being generally of a hot constitution and full of fire After they have eaten their Oats or Bran you are to put them upon a snaffle or a vering-bit their Tails being turned to the Manger and let them stand thus till four a clock in the After-noon People do not only put horses upon the Snaffle or Slavering-bit which is more proper to prevent their eating but also to discharge their brains this method causing them voyd a considerable quantity of watery Flegm which cannot but be prejudicial were it not evacuate and which is a thing very well worth observation for notwithstanding that there was of old so many knowing Anatomists they never discovered till of late the Vessels by which the Saliva or Spittle is conveyed into the mouth The Spittle falls from two small conduits which take their rise betwixt the Parotide Glands and are insert between the two neither jaw-bones below the Crotaphite Muscle from whence by the motion of this Muscle and the Tongue the humour or Spittle falleth by degrees into the mouth not so much as one Author hath mentioned these Salival Ducts or passages their discovery being only made lately at Paris This time that horses are suffered to stand upon the Slavering-bit produceth a very good effect for it helpeth the aliments which are frequently in too great abundance in the stomack especially being swallowed down with greedyness to digest and giveth also an appetite to those horses which want one If the Groom in turning the horses from the Manger upon the Snaffle observe that they have not eaten all their Oats without any manifest cause then it is a token that they are either disgusted or sick he is therefore to put these upon the Masticadour or Slavering-bit iustead of putting them upon a Snaffle this Slavering-bit is a kind of Snaffle which hath two large Asses treads the one a little shorter than the other and which are put into the horses mouth to cause him Slaver and thereby discharge his Brain I have given the shape of it in plat 3. Fig. 13. If a horse which eateth not his Oats be simply disgusted without any appearance of sickness and that he have his head heavy his Eyes swelled or his Mouth foaming and that there falls from the Bit a great deal of driveling Slaver which ropes almost to the very ground you are then to take half an Ounce of Assa-faetida and wrappâ—â— it up in a peice of linnen cloath tye it to the middle of the Slavering-bit which 〈◊〉 cause him throw out a great deal of those watery phlegms and give him a good 〈◊〉 petite about four a clock or between four and five turn your horse again 〈◊〉 the Manger suffering him to eat his Hay till about Six at which time 〈◊〉 must take him again to the water as in the morning at Seven a clock you 〈◊〉 give him two more of the above mentioned measures or three if you please 〈◊〉 according as you find the horse to need it these measures as I have said contain 〈◊〉 very near two English quarts after he has eaten his Oats give him what wheat-Sâ—â—â— he can eat till next morning observing alwayes to give him his Oats and water â— near together as you can for the observation of this Rule or method is extreâ—â—â— porfitable At nine a clock at night put a good deal of Litter beneath him shaking it 〈◊〉 well forwards towards his fore-legs because horses do commonly in the night-time thrust it too far back and almost behind them with their feet People give Wheat-straw to horses rather in the night time than in the day to 〈◊〉 end that when they have ate the empty heads or Ears of it and that which is beâ—â— the rest being pulled down among their Feet may serve them for Litter for if the got it in the day time it would not be possible to keep their stable neat seeing theâ— would be alwayes some straw lying amongst their Feet besides that the coolâ—â— of the night obliges them to eat it better and the hay which is given them iâ— the day time causes them to drink the more heartily and therefore it is very proper to give them alwayes a little quantity of it in the day time to keep them plump and fat although the Spanish horses in their own Countrey are not suffered to taste it their straw there is sweeter and more juicy where also the Barley which they 〈◊〉 supplyes the want of a little hay which People are necessitate to give them in 〈◊〉 as well as their other horses although it should be but six or eight pounds a day to some moreand others less I am here discoursing of Spanish horses Barbs Turks and other horses of Manage of a light size and I cannot understand why many people give to their horses 〈◊〉 in the day time and hay in the night because besides what I have said it were 〈◊〉 tainly very much to be wished that horses slept in the night-time which they 〈◊〉 not so readily do if people give them good hay upon which they are a great 〈◊〉 more greedy and bent than upon straw and whereof if they eat too much it willâ— be the better for them indeed horses which are journeying would be but badly 〈◊〉 dered having travelled the whole day if people at night gave them only straw in plâ—â— of good hay and it is not for these kind of horses that I write this Chapter but 〈◊〉 for extraordinary horses such as fine Hunters and delicate horses of Mannagâ— which labour little and only for their Masters divertisment and pleasure For Coach-horses which stand commonly all day upon the street or before a gâ—â— as they have no time allowed them to eat hay but in the night being bridled 〈◊〉 greatest part of the day it is most proper to give them hay in the night tiâ— and straw in the day Tye your horses in the night time with two bindings that so they may not 〈◊〉 with those which stand next them and the Ropes or Longes are to be so long as 〈◊〉 they may easily lye down with them the Cross-barrs which are between the hoâ—â— should be of a good height that is a little higher then their hams with Ropes fastend to the ends of them whereby they are to
is through time quite lost and the heat of the Grease which enters into 〈◊〉 composition Surmounts the refrigerating quality of the other ingredient it provokes sleep is good for feaverish persons and for Head-akes proceeds from heat if the fore-head and temples be Anointed with it It is also very goe to be given for cooling in Glysters useing betwixt two and four Ounces 〈◊〉 it at a time As for the refrigerating Ointment of Galen it is mighty refreshing as cooling There are also other Emplasters and Ointments much in use for horses to 〈◊〉 the Diachylum Magnum which mollifies hardnesses and either resolves Swelling or brings them to maturity The Nutritum otherwayes called Tripharâ—â—â— which is good for the imperfections of the skin and to dry up Ulcers The Unguentum De Belo which Cools Binds and Strengthens it is good in the beginning of hot defluxions especially for Erysipelys The Pompholix for pricks and Street-Nails and besides it also dryes up Ulcers The Stiptick Ointment for horses whose fundaments fall out by reason of the violence occasioned by some effort or stress Sect. 2. Of other Ointments and Emplasters made use of for Horses THe Emplast of Melilot Mollifies all hardnesses and dispells wind Sect. 2. The Basilicon Ripens by cleansing and drawing The Vnguent Rubrum incarnates Asswageth pain and healeth up wounds The Vng Egyptiacum cleanses Ulcers and Fistulaes removes Corruption and eats away the Dead-flesh more powerfully then the Vng Aposlolorum as also it dryes up wounds The Emplast Divinum is good for Malignant Ulcers it consumes their putreâ— faction and advances the ripening of Tumours I shall here give you the Receipt of a Plaister An approved receipt for Corns in mens feet for easing the pains occasioned by Corns in Mens feet which I have alwayes found succeed very well Take three Drams of Emplast Divinum and puting it into a little glazed earthen pot melt it over a gentle heat adding to it a small spoonful of Olive Oil to keep the plaister from burning as it melts being melted take it from the fire continually stirring it about and when it begins to cool add to it one Dram of good sweet Sublimate in fine Powder and continue still stirring it off the fire until it be perfectly cold Take a little of this Plaister and spreading it upon either a piece of fine Linnen cloath or Cambrick apply it to the Corns and let it continue at them for 24 hours at the end of which time as you are going to bed remove the Plaister and with your Nail scratch as much from your Corns as you can conveniently take away after which apply the very same Plaister again and I assure you within two days you will scarcely feel any pain after four dayes apply a fresh plaister continueing still to scratch your Corns at the end of every 24 hours as you go to bed and at last you will take them wholly away but after the second day you will have no more pain The Emplast Oxycrotium mollifies hardnesses and removes pains proceeding from a cold cause The Emplast Aureum is good for agglutinating incarnating and easing pain as also for making the hoofs grow The Emplast De Betonica is good for wounds and Ulcers in the head The Diapalma which the Apothecaries call Diacalcitios a strange and hard word only to amuse people stops Defluxions and heals Ulcers The Ointment of Montpelier for Swellings and to strengthen The Dukes Ointment for Tumors and hot Inflammations The Vng Oppodeldoch for dryed up and torn or rent shoulders The Hermits Ointment is admirable for Horses Wounds Monsieur Curty's Plaister for pricks in the feet and Street-Nails The Ointment of Plantane for Brittle-hoofs and to make the horn grow These six last Compositions are those most made use of for horses and are described in the 2d Part of this Book as may be seen by the Alphabetical Table which is at the end of the said part I shall here also set down Black-Soap although it is properly neither ranked amongst Ointments nor Plaisters but seeing it is a powerful resolver of Tumors and Swellings and also that it is excellent for drying up the white corrupt and stinking Humors in Horses Legs I thought it deserved to be set down in this place There are many other Oyntments and Plaisters in the 2d Part which are almost all of my own invention there are likewise a great many Descriptions of Oils Ointments Plaisters c. In Bauderon Du Renou Scroderus and in the Works of la Franaboisiere as also in the new Dispensatory of Zwelfer and several others who all of them show their Compositions and Vertues Sect. 3. Of the Oyls commonly made use of for horses THe Oil of Sect. 3. Violets takes away Inflammations tempers the heat of Impostumâ— and eases pain The Oil of Lillies heats resolves and digests humors which occasion pain The Oil of Iris removes akes proceeding from a cold Cause and advances the ripening of Tumors it penetrates more powerfully and is a greater Resolver than the Oil of Lillies but is less Anodyne The Common Oil of Roses is good for inflammations it keeps back Defluxions aâ—â— is good for stopping the impetuous motion of humors The Oleum Rosarum Omphacinum is more cooling than the former and is excellent for akes or pains proceeding from a hot Cause it also fortifies the Stomack and other intestines and is astringent The Oil of Camomil or Melilot heats and resolves indifferently it also eases pairs proceeding from a cold cause and strengthens wonderfully the Nerves The Oilof Hypericum which we call St Johns Wort is the true Balsam of the Nervous parts it cures Burnings and pricks with Nails or Stubs and is also Anodyne and Diuretick The Oil of Laurel or Bayes I mean that which is true and not that which is commonly sold in Parts in which there is not above the fourth part of the Oil of Lâ—â—â— and the other three only of Swines Seam to which they give the true Colour by a little Verdigrise in fine powder it is not I say this kind of it which I here mean but theâ—e and unsophisticate Oil of Laurel which resolves powerfully and gives ease 〈◊〉 indispositions of all the parts proceeding from a cold cause but especially to those 〈◊〉 the Nerves and Joynts The Oil of Dwarf-Alder-Seeds asswages all kind of Akeings in the joynts and 〈◊〉 sipates gross Phlegm The Oil of Earth-worms is good for the Nerves all pains in the joynts and is 〈◊〉 Anodyne or softning The Oil of Rue is a great Resolver it heats and attenuats gross humors expâ— wind and is good for the Colick and Convulsion The Oil of Marjoram is good for the Nerves and the cold affection the Brain The Oil of Gabian is an Oily juice or rather Bitumen which comes forth 〈◊〉 the Water in a spring near Besiers in Languedock it is hot as are all the Petrolaus 〈◊〉 Bitumenous Oils proceeding from Rocks whereof Dioscorides discourses at large
to the end first that they may give no displeasure or trouble to the horse and next because a long and gentle Branch such as this in a manner brings a horse who hath a mouth too tender and delicate to endure a hard and firm hand and also assists and supports him in the action of Stopping without suffering him to precipitate his force for that purpose because this Branch comes easily to his Counter so that both his Mouth and Barrs are thereby eased This Branch may serve to bring in or raise a horse's Head according as the Curb is either lengthned or shortned these two effects 't is true will not be performed with the same ease and advantage wherewith they are by Branches whose shoulders and other shapes are particularly designed for that purpose but because this Branch is that which must gain a horse's consent with ease and pleasure therefore People commonly make use of no other untill this hath first somewhat habituate him to them This Branch is commonly joined to a simple Canon Mouth for as that Mouth is the most gentle of all Bit-mouths therefore is it joined with this Branch which as I have said is also most Gentle but if you horse because of his having a too sensible tender or ticklish mouth will not suffer the pressure of a Canon simple because of the inequality of its Appuy which renders such horses uncertain then you are to join to this Branch a Mouth à Trompe which will bring the horse to a firm Appuy especially being assisted by a good hand and the judicious conduct of a skilful Rider 2 Vne Branche à la Conestable See Plat. 3. Fig. 2. THis Branch à la Conestable Or after the Duke of Mommorancy Constable of France his fashion is round as those will have it who understand not what belongs to good Work for there is no cut work upon round Branches as people make them now a-days so that a good Workman cannot thereupon show his skill it is left to every one to please their own fancy but as to my own particular round Branches seem very ridiculous This Branch is upon the line of the Banquet and so will be proper for a horse which naturally carries his head well and in as becomeing a posture as possibly he can for without much Philosophy a horse that Carries exactly well should have alwise given to him a Branch upon the line of the Banquet because it is to no purpose to subject him by the means of a firm Branch if he immediatly yeeld what is required of him by one that is more gentle This Branch may be adjusted or join'd to any Bit-mouth a man pleases but as its use is to preserve a horse in his naturally beautiful Posture there is appearance that his mouth is good and therefore for the most part you are not to join any other Bit-mouth to it but a simple Canon or Scatch however it is not but when you are obliged for certain Reasons to give your horse a rude Mouth you may join to it this Branch only with a design to weaken or diminish the strength of the Bit-mouth for it is a Maxim that a man may either strengthen or weaken the effects of a Bit-mouth by means of the Branch From whence it follows that a man can give to a horse either a rude or gentle Branch without any intention of either bringing in or raising his head but only of fortifying or weakning the operation of the Bit-mouth What I have here said shall not be repeated lest it should trouble the Reader and therefore he is to apply it to all Branches whatsoever 3 Vne Branche à Gigotte See Plat. 3 Fig. 3. THe Branche à Gigotte Or Branch after the form of a Gigot or Leg and pretty well kneed and also bruised forwards at the Jarret or Ham is upon the line of the Banquet but as it is hardy the matter of sixteen lines or an inch and four lines at the Ham and that it is also bruised or set forwards by a false Ham therefore it will be proper for Horses which naturally carry well and as such horses many times either through the weakness of their Reins or weariness may come to fall from such a beautiful Carriage and even to carry low therefore I fancied this Branch would be proper for such in respect First that it is upon the Line of the Banquet and therefore capable to maintain them in their good Carriage And Secondly The hardiness or strength of it at the Ham together with the help of its false Ham will raise their heads in case they have either of these imperfections I mentioned I also think that a man can commit no great fault in giving a horse who has his head naturally well placed this Branch which we call à Gigotte because he may come of this Branch will oblige him to continue in his becoming posture this Branch may be joined to a gentle Bit-mouth for the very same Reasons I gave in discoursing of the preceeding Branch and People commonly join it to Canon or Scatch-mouths It is not but that there are horses who have naturally their Heads and Necks well enough placed and yet have bad and hard Mouths and who therefore require a firm Bit to stop and conduct them in this case you are not to hesitate but to give immediatly a Bit conform to the inward parts of the Mouth and disposition of the Horse who perhaps may afterwards discover that his mouth is only bad through too great Ardour or an excessive desire to go forwards to such a horse as this a rude Bit would produce no other effect but the ruine of his Mouth 4 Vue Branche à Genouil See Plat 3. Fig. 4. THis Branche à Genouil Or Branch very much kneed at the Jarret or Ham after the Form of a beut knee is after the model of those Branches which raise a Horse's head and is proper for horses which Arm themselves against the operation of the Bit so that I cannot recommend to you a better for that purpose it appears at first view ridiculous being of an extraordinary shape but it is it alone hath discovered to us that there was no other means to raise a horse's head but by the help of a hardy Branch although it be only between the Ham and Sevill-hole that it raiseth the Touret or Sevill-hole being placed upon the outside of the Line of the Banquet it therefore follows that the Branch is hardy and yet notwithstauding of this it also Raiseth This Branch is only hardy a few Lines at the lower end of the Branch but at the Ham it is full three Inches hardy and that to give strength enough to the lower part of the Branch to Raise so that it will be proper for a horse which arms himself after either of the manners I shall immediatly explain horses Arm themselves most commonly for having their necks too slender and easie which they make use of to shun
this manner following 2ly Of the Form of the True Tramel BUT before I come to the Use and Vertue thereof I will shew you the Form and Substance whereof it ought to be made because nothing hath ever done this device more injury then false substances and false shapes therefore some make these Tramels all of leather and that will either reach or break the first marrs the work by uncertainty the other loseth the labour Another makes it of Canvass that galls A third makes it of strong streaching lists that hath all the faults of both the former for the stiffness will not let it ly closs the gentleness makes it stretch out of all compass or break upon every stumble And as these so there are a world of other useless Tramels for you must understand that touching the true Tramel the side ropes must be firm without yeelding a jot the hose must be soft lye closs and not move from its first place and the back-band must be flat no matter how light and so defended from the Fillets that it may not gall and this Tramel must be thus made and of these substances First For the side ropes they must be made of the best finest and strongest pack-threed such as your Turkie threed and twisted by the Rope maker into a delicate stronge cord yet at the utmost not above the bigness of a small Jack-line with a noose or loop at each end so stronge as is possible to be made Neither must these side ropes be twisted too hard but gentle and with a yeelding Quality for that will bring on the motion more easily and keep the tramel from breaking now these side ropes must be just thirtie six inches in length for a Horse of an ordinary stature and so longer or shorter according to the size of the horse and so equal one with another that no difference may be perceived For the hose which must be placed in the small of the fore legg and the small of the hinder legg above the pastern joints they must be made of fine girt-web which is soft and pliant and loined with double cotton over the girt-web must be fastened strong tabbs of white Neats leather well Tallowed and suted to an evenlength and stamped with holes at equal distance which Tabbs shall pass through the nooses of the side ropes be made longer or shorter at pleasure with very strong buckels which Hose are to be made fast about the horses leggs with small buckels now these hose of girt would be four inches in length and the long tabbs with the large buckels ten The back-band being of no other use but to bear up the side ropes would if you tramel all the four leggs be made of fine girt-web and loined with cotton but if you tramel but one side then an ordinary tape will serve being sure that it carries the side ropes in an even line without either riseing or falling for if it rise it shortens the side rope and if it falls it endangers tangleing Thus you see what the true tramel is and how to be made See Plate fifth figure ninth Now touching the use of it it thus followeth 3ly How to make use of the true Tramel WHen you have brought your horse into an even smooth path without Rubs or Roughness having the Hose made fast about his Leggs you shall there untye the long tabs of the near ferelegg and the near hinder legg then put to them the side rope and see that he stand at that just proportion which Nature her self hath given him without either straitning or enlarging his natural situation and in that even and just length stay the side Rope by a small Tape fastned up to the Saddle then with your hand on the Briddle straining and pulling his head put him gently forward and if need be have the help of a Bystander to put him forward also and so force him to Amble up and down the Roade with all the Gentleness you can suffering him to take his own leasure that thereby he may come to an Understanding of his Restraint and your will for the performance of the Motion and though he snapper or stumble or peradventure fall now and then yet it matters not do you only stay his head give him leave to rise and with all Gentleness put him forward again till finding his own fault and understanding the Motion he become perfect and Amble in your hand to your contentment And that this may be done with more ease and less amazement to the horse it is not amiss at his first Tramling that you give your side Ropes more length then ordinary both that the twitches may be less sudden and the Motion coming more gently the Horse may sooner apprehend it But as soon as he comes to any perfectness then instantly put the side Ropes to their true length for an inch too long is a foot too slow in the Pace and an inch too short causeth Rouling a twitching up of the Leggs and indeed a kind of Plain halting 4ly When to alter the Tramel WHen the horse will thus Amble in your hand perfectly being Tramled on one side you shall then change them to the other side and make him Amble in your hand as you did before and thus you shall do changing them from one side to another till with the half Tramel he will Run and Amble in your hand without snappering or stumbling both readily swiftly when this is attained unto which cannot be above two or three hours labour if there be any Tractableness you may then put on the whole Tramel with the broad flat Backband Tramling both sides equally See Plate fifth figure Ninth And so Run him in your hand at the utmost length of the Bridle up and down the Roade several times then pause cherish and to it again and thus exercise him till you have brought him to that perfection that he will Amble swiftly truly and readily when where and how you please then put him upon uneven and uncertain wayes as up hill and down hill where there are Clots and roughness and where there is hollowness and false treading 5ly When to Mount his Back WHen he is thus perfect in your hand upon all these you may then adventure to Mount his Back which if you please you may first do by a Boy or Groom making the horse Amble under him whilst you lead stay his head to prevent danger or to see how he striketh then after Mount your self with all Gentleness Lenity encrease his Pace more more till you come to the hight of Perfection thus as you did before in your hand so do now on his back first with the half Tramel then with the whole and change the tramel from one side to another also alter grounds till you find that Exquisiteness which you desire and this must be done by daily Exercise and Labour as twice or thrice in the day 6ly When to
I say that if you have Field-room when ever you find him begin to run let him go by slacking the Bridle and giving him the Spurrs continually sharply and soundly until he begin to slack of himself and so be contented to stop and so often as he begins to run use him alwayes after the same manner and I dare undertake that at last you will cure him for there is no Remedy I assure you like this for a Runaway Horse But if you have not Room to run him straight out and are circumscribed and confined in a narrow bounds then make him run circularly until he be weary but if you have only a very little space then the absolute best way is to put him to the single Pillar with a good strong Rope which a second person must keep fast about the Pillar with his hand both which will hold him and there he can run no way but round and circularly neglect not to give him the Spurrs soundly until he be weary and willing to stop and this at last will no doubt cure him ELEVENTHLY Of a Skittish Horse and to assure him for the Warrs WHen a Horse is Skittish and apprehensive of Noise there are many Inventions made use of by unskillful people to help him which are none of the best such as to stop his Ears with Wâ—ol that he may not hear that is to make him deaf as well as Skittish for the Vice still remains and if the Wool should fall out you would find it to be so but you may be also deceived as to the sense which occasions this Vice for perhaps it may not be from the Sense of Hearing but seeing that his Skittishness proceeds and should he be afraid of the Fire when Guns are shot would you cover his Eyes with Lunettes or Spectacles of Leather to make him both deaf and blind these are all but great follies therefore the only sure way is to accustome him by little and little to shot and the noise of Drums Trumpets and Colours and the practice of this will make him endure them and go upon any of them yea even upon a Sword or Halbert for as Custome prevaileth with Men so does it also with Horses it is also very good to teach a Horse to leap hedge ditch and Rail for all these things are useful especially for a Souldiers Horse as also to Swim well is very necessary and hath saved many a Mans Life TWELFTHLY Of a Horse who is Vitious by Biting Stricking or Rising so high before that he is alwayes in danger of coming over upon his Rider WHen a Horse Bites at his Shoulders and at the branches of his Bitt or at his Riders leggs and also rises and turns round ready to come over the best Remedy that I know is to ride him with a Gentle Bitt and without a Cavezon offending and hurting him as little as possible and to tye the Nose band of the Bridle strait as also to have another Nose band below where the Bitt is fastened and to draw that so very hard that he cannot open his Mouth and when the Horse finds that he cannot Bite he will in a little time quite those Jadish Tricks Now because the giving him the Spurrs out of time appears to be the cause of his Vitiousness Therefore do not give him them of a great while but only walk and Trot him upon large circles quietly and peaceably and when you have gained him to this point then Gallop him gently now and then making but just feel that you have Spurrs and no more and this Method continued will cure him or else nothing Yet I must tell you that for Vitious Horses who endanger the Company by Kicking or Stricking out behind there is no better way then to cause geld them for if that cure them not nothing else in the World will But the worst of all Vices or rather Defences and which puts a Rider in most danger is when a Horse Rises so high before that he is ready to Renverse or come over upon his Rider those Horses which are firie and weak in the Gambrels are most subject to it and put frequently their Rider in peril of his Life and therefore I call it a troublesome or dangerous Defence now those Horsemen who teach their Horses to rise before or upon pesates before they be settled upon the bond and answer the heels teach them this Defence so that upon the least pull or holding fast of the Bridle when the Horse rises he is brought over upon his Rider besides what I have already desited you to do in this Case which is to keep a gentle and light hand and to trouble your Horse as little as possible yet here is an infallible way without any kind of hazard for the Rider to cure a Horse of this Vice even when he hath had it so long that it is convetted into a kind of habit Tye therefore your Horse very short between the Pillars with a Rope Cavezon without any person upon his Back and with a Stick about six foot long pointed at one end with an Iron Punchion or Needle prick your Horse upon the outside of his Thigh to make him strick out and when he doth it make much of him continue thus to make him strick out untill he do it easily and without any kind of difficulty which will be in two or three Dayes at most if you continue it for half an hour each Day when you find that he stricks out when ever you offer to prick him although you do not touch him with the Needle then take his Back still between the Pillars and keeping the Bridle a little long in your Left Hand help him behind the Saddle with your Right in which you must have a short Punchion another person upon foot at the same time helping with the Stick upon his Thigh and if he strick out easily with you upon his Back then Caresss him and continue for several Dayes this Lesson until you find him strick out by the help only of the Punchion which is in your Right hand without the assistance of the Stick upon his Thigh which will be in four or five Dayes at farthest then take him from between the Pillan and put him to the single pillar with a long Rope which must be kept about it by the Person who is a foot and there make him strick out in one place with the help of your Right hand and of the long stick upon his Thigh if need be afterwards make him go forewards two or three Steps and then make him strick out three or four times upon end and thus continue first Stepping or VValking him and then making him strick out untill he perform it a whole Round without making one Step or VValk but alwayes stricking out when he is brought this length then Gallop him about the Pillar and as you stop him make him strick out without raising him at all before and if he should offer to rise
bloody But perceiving at the end of five Weeks that the Cure was so little advanc'd that the Horse would not put his Foot to the Ground I thought 't wou'd be convenient to use some other Defensive which might not only allay the Pain more effectually but also bind and strengthen the Part. I took then two Pounds of Turpentine to which being heated I added by degrees a sufficient quantity of Soot well beaten stirring the Matter about without intermission till it was reduc'd by boiling to the thickness of a Charge which I apply'd not only about the Cronet but also round the Joint as far as the Swelling reach'd rubbing the Leg with the Duke's Ointment Over the Defensive Charge below I laid Flax with a cover and above that on the Cronet I fitted Splents with another Bandage to keep all sure After two Applications the Horse was able to lean upon his griev'd Leg and at length was cur'd by the continu'd use of the last mention'd Remedy But perceiving that the Part continu'd still swoln and that the Foot was very much dry'd I caus'd the Sole to be taken out and four Days after the whole length of the Leg to be sear'd drawing the Lines from the bending of the Hough to the Cronet and besides I order'd a good Plaister to be apply'd to the burnt Parts and cover'd with Hurds or Flocks till the Scabs fell away and then the Sores were heal'd with the usual Remedies and the Sole also After which the Horse was led every Day thro' till'd Grounds for a Month together At last he recover'd his Flesh the nourishment return'd to his Hip and Leg his Sinews grew vigorous and were extended to their natural length he became fit for Service and after four Months was compleatly cur'd of this grievous Distemper which I thought fit to describe that it may serve as a Model in all cases of the same Nature I believe this Horse could not have been preserv'd if he had not during the whole progress of the Cure continu'd to lie down and rise with the help of his three sound Legs and kept a good Appetite to his Meat As often as we perceiv'd a Beating or Heaving in his Flank Clysters were not spar'd no more than the Duke's Ointment and that of Montpelier for his Thighs and Legs And if he had not been both a fine and a good Horse his Cure would have certainly cost more than his real Value To conclude he was not suffer'd to eat Oats during three Months but was fed with moisten'd Bran good Hay and Straw he was always well Litter'd and lodg'd in a little Stable by himself CHAP. LXXXII Of the Third sort of Scratches commonly call'd Quitter-Bone THE Quitter-bone is a Swelling on the Crown or Cronet which is greater or less according to the length of time from its first appearance It proceeds from corrupt Matter generated between the Hoof and the Bone of the Foot which rotting and infecting the Tendon or Gristle under the Cronet draws the Humours thither that occasion the Swelling Nature in pursuance of her wonted Methods to resist and endeavour to expel every thing that is corrupted opens a Hole in the Tumour which is wide enough to let forth part of the Matter but not to give a passage to the Gristle And therefore since the Cure depends on the utter extirpation of the rotten and infected part of the Gristle you must perform that Operation either with a Razor or red-hot Knife This Distemper is easily known but the Cure is difficult You must in the first place search with your Probe how far the Hole reaches for if it enter deep into the Hoof under the Cronet that part which lies beneath the Swelling shrinks and dries up and oftentimes the Horse halts right down but if as it sometimes happens the Foot be not dry'd or shrunk under the Tumour the Horse halts little or not at all Before I proceed to the Cure it must be observ'd that between the Hoof and the Bone of the Foot there is a white Gristle call'd a Tendon which is insensible 't is about half an Inch broad extending in length from the Heels almost to the last Nail of the Shoe both in the fore and hinder Feet There are two of those Tendons in every Foot one on the inside and the other on the outside which begin and end over against each other and at the Toe or that part of the Foot which first touches the Ground there are more than three Finger's breadth between the ends of the Gristles Now the Tendon being infected by the Matter that is generated near it the Neighbouring Parts discharge their Humours upon it which occasions the Swelling and the Infection spreading by degrees the Corruption encreases and seizes on the whole Gristle if its progress be not prevented by cutting out that part for the putrefaction cannot otherwise be stopp'd and part of the Tendon must be extirpated to preserve the rest Over-reaches or Attaints on the Cronet proceed from an external Cause but they produce the same effect for when the Cronet of one of the Horse's Feet is hurt by the Shoe of the other Foot or any other way the bruis'd Flesh usually turns to Matter which touching the Tendon corrupts it or the Tendon is immediately hurt by the Blow in both which cases the same Disorders are occasion'd that accompany the Quitter-bone neither is there the least difference in the cure It happens not unfrequently that the Cure of those Attaints which reach the Tendon is extreamly fallacious even after the Hole is clos'd up and the Sore heal'd Thus a Man is apt to imagine that the Horse is perfectly sound when he cannot perceive the least appearance of any Hurt or Lameness for by reason of the insensibility of the Gristle many Horses do not Halt tho' the Part be hurt But in the mean time the Humours gather in it and by degrees breed a large Attaint which may lurk six Months because the Horse hardly feels it and the Matter that corrupts the Tendon is neither sharp nor malignant during all that time These Sorances are more dangerous and difficult to be cur'd when they are on the inside of the Foot than when they breed on the out-side and the deeper they reach the Cure will advance more slowly For the Gristle lies deeper under the Cronet in some Horses than in others and the Probe passes sometimes between the Hoof and the Bone of the Foot to the part beneath the Sole The Cure is perform'd either by giving the Fire or by the Razor and the application of Cauteries Both these Methods are good but if the Grief be old you must immediately and without losing time rip up the Sore or Tumour with a Razor to the very bottom sparing neither Hoof nor Flesh but cutting out all that is corrupted either under the Hoof or in any other part of the Foot If the Hurt be newly taken you may chuse which Method you please but
mix'd with Spirit of Wine must be aply'd to the Scale and Schmit's Ointment laid over it till the Scale be separated and the Horse walk upright after which the Sore may be heal'd like a simple Wound 'T is frequently observ'd that about the End of the Cure the Hoof shrinks under the Sore and pinching the quick-Flesh makes the Horse halt in which Case you must pare away that part of the Hoof which bruises the Flesh and apply convenient Remedies to dry the Flesh But this Inconveniency may be prevented by moistening the Hoof with proper Ointments for the Feet The End of the Cure is not unfrequently the most difficult part of it for usually there remains a Sore on the Cronet which cannot be dry'd with Powders and therefore you must have recourse to the following Ointment I am not ignorant that Farriers endeavour always to dry up Sores with Powders but that is a tedious and oftentimes unsuccessful Method and therefore I advise you to persist in the Use of Ointments to the End of the Cure An Ointment to dry up Sores on the Cronet Beat a red-hot piece of Charcoal in a Mortar with half the weight of Salt then pour in by degrees a sufficient quantity of Oil-Olive stirring with the Pestle till the Matter be reduc'd to a very black Liniment which must be apply'd cold with Flax and a Bandage and the application renew'd till the Sores be heal'd It dries and resists Putrefaction and the Countess's Ointment produces almost the same effects How to cure Quitter-bones by giving the Fire I thought fit to give the precedency to Caustics because the Foot is not so much disfigur'd by those Medicines as by the Fire which always spoils the Hoof. The most skilful Farriers are deterr'd by this consideration from giving the Fire in the Cure of these Sores nevertheless this is certainly a very effectual Method and even requires less dexterity in the Undertaker than that which is perform'd by Caustics Since as I intimated before the Cure depends on the utter extirpation of the corrupted Part of the Tendon after you have search'd the depth of the Sore with your Probe you must give the Fire all over the Swelling beginning above and drawing the Lines very near each other to the Hoof under the Cronet so deep as not only to pierce the Skin but to reach and burn the Gristle quite through which lies deeper in some Horses than in others for if the red-hot Iron pierce only one half of the thickness of the Tendon the Operation will prove wholly ineffectual Then anoint the whole Sore with an Ointment compos'd of Hog's-Lard and Verdigrease or of Turpentine Tar and Honey heated and mixt together and apply'd hot with Flax and a convenient Cover and Bandage to secure the whole Application from Slipping About five Days after unbind the Dressing cleanse and wipe the Sore and renew the Application till the Scab fall quite away This Operation is attended with so much Pain that the Horse who endures it usually forsakes his Meat and is seiz'd with a Beating in his Flank And therefore you must administer Clysters with Liver of Antimony such as were prescrib'd to be us'd in the like case when the Cure is attempted by Caustics After the Scab is fall'n put your Probe into the Hole that reaches under the Hoof and search whether any part of the Gristle be left If you can find none 't is so much the better for all your Task will be to dress the Sore with the Doctor 's Ointment and wash it once in two Days with the second or the yellow Water But since there remains almost always a Hole you must put a Tent into it besmear'd with the same Ointment And if you perceive no Matter on the end of the Tent when you take it out you may conclude that the bottom of the Hole is sound and that the Cure will neither be tedious nor difficult if you dress the Sore with the Ointment Apostolorum or that of Schmit But if after all the Horse continue to halt right down 't is a certain sign that the corrupted Tendon was not wholly extirpated and therefore you must give the Fire again to the very utmost borders of the Swelling towards the Cronet piercing deeper than you did at first with your Probe in your Hand to direct you and applying the above-mention'd Composition hot or the Ointment of Hog's-Lard and Verdigrease to the burnt Part till the Scab or Escar be separated If your Horse continue still to halt considerably and the Hole be deep put in a Tent with the Ointment Apostolorum and if it bring forth abundance of Matter you may conclude that the bottom of the Sore is corrupted and that the root of all the Mischief lies there And therefore you must immediately proceed to the taking out of the Sole if that was not done at the beginning When you remove the Dressing of the Sole thrust your Probe into the Hole of the Sore somewhat strongly endeavouring to make it penetrate to the bottom of the Foot and if you can perceive the Part under the Sole that is opposite to the bottom of the Hole pierce it quite thorow with a red-hot Iron to open a free passage to the Matter and put in a Tent besmear'd with Hog's-Lard mixt with Powder of Verdigrease which will hinder the Flesh from growing too fast on the Cronet After the Scab is fall'n off dress the Hole with the Doctors Ointment Aegyptiacum or the Ointment Apostolorum If notwithstanding all your care some extraneous or preternatural Substance breed in the Hole or get into it such as Felander scale of the Foot-bone or any thing else that ought not to be left in it you must bring it forth by touching it with the Vulnerary Water or Spirit of Salt and tenting the Hole with the Ointment Apostolorum continue after the same manner for two or three Days together If these Applications be not sufficient to separate the Felander speedily you must touch it with a Searing-Iron then apply the Ointment and the Felander will fall away leaving the Horse in a state of Recovery The cutting or burning of the Piece between the bottom of the Sore and the Sole ought not to be attempted in several Cases as besides some other Instances which might be alledg'd when the space that must be pierc'd is too thick or when the Sore is too near the Bone call'd the Pivot which governs the Foot for since that Bone never scales its foulness or corruption must be taken away by scraping which is very troublesome and painful and weakens the Bone so much that it can hardly ever afterwards recover its former strength And therefore in such cases the best way is to pare away so much of the Hoof as to uncover the bottom of the Sore that you may be able to burn the rest of the Gristle and if there be any Scale or other Substance to be separated you may proceed according to
is to beat down their Heels almost to the Quick but without opening 'em as often as you set on a Shooe and to take all possible care to prevent their growing high-heel'd You must also anoint Feet and stop 'em with Horse's-Dung well moisten'd twice or thrice every Week I 'm perswaded that if this Method were generally us'd as 't is by some with admirable Success this Distemper would never appear in our Stables whereas for want of a due observance of this Caution almost all Horses are troubl'd with this Infirmity In the first place you must pare the Foot so that the Shooe do not touch the Hoof for the space of an Inch about the Chink and remember afterwards to anoint the Foot from time to time If your Horse continue to halt and the Rift remains still open and apt to be fill'd with Dirt or Gravel you may give the Fire drawing four Strokes or Lines on the Cronet without touching the Hoof or Coffin-Bone and without piercing the Skin then apply Black-Pitch melted with a Pensil laying over it shavings of Cloth or stuffings of a Saddle till the Scab fall and in the mean time charge the Foot with a good Remolade or with Turpentine and Honey mixt and heated together and after the Scab is fall'n off dry the Part with burnt Allom or some other convenient Powder keeping the Foot always moisten'd with the Ointment for the Feet When the Foot is cleft in the middle like an Oxe's-Foot heat a Bodkin or crooked Aul and thrust it thro' the thickness of the Hoof then put a thread of Copper Wire thro' the Hole and fasten it with Pincers Repeat the same Operation in two or three places according to the length of the Foot drawing the sides of the Clift together but the Wire must not penetrate into the Foot but only into the thickness of the Hoof. And either after or before this Operation you must draw three or four Lines with a red-hot Iron upon the Cronet length-wise without piercing the Skin applying Black-Pitch and Saddle-stuffings before and drying the Part after the Scab is fallen off Then you may ride your Horse or Mare as formerly for after the Sore on the Cronet is heal'd the Cleft wears away by degrees if you take care to keep the Foot moist This Method is certainly very effectual but you must carefully examine the thickness of the Coffin-Bone that you may neither pierce too deep nor take too little hold of the Hoof. You must not be afraid of this Operation for 't is not at all dangerous since by reason of the thickness of the Hoof which amounts to half a Finger's breadth you may thrust in the hot Bodkin or Aul to a considerable depth without piercing to the Quick This Method is commonly us'd in Spain Those who cannot be perswaded of the safeness of this Operation may use a piece of Iron made very narrow with two Points rising upwards and sharpend like Nails for a Horse-Shooe This Iron may be plac'd under the Foot to keep it close and prevent the widening of the Cleft and the two Points may be fasten'd to the Hoof or even rivetted on That you may the more easily comprehend my Meaning you must know that the piece of Iron must be put under the Foot and clench'd or rivetted at the two ends as if it were design'd to hinder a board from cleaving It must be applied to the Hoof without touching the Sole and may be fram'd exactly like the Iron that hinders the Latch of a Door from rising too high or falling too low but it ought to be a great deal smaller and thinner for there is no more strength nor thickness requir'd than what is just necessary to keep the Foot close and prevent the further widening of the Cleft This is an excellent Invention and has perfectly cur'd several Horses that were downright Lame and unfit for all manner of Service by reason of those Clefts resembling an Oxe's-Hoof After the piece of Iron is apply'd and exactly fitted to the Hoof you must set on the Shooe above it for tho' your Horse may complain for some Days after he is new-Shod he will go upright if you suffer him to rest two Days Sometimes the Fore-Foot cleaves in the middle of the Toe in which case you must take care in setting on the Shooe that it may neither touch the Cleft nor the Hoof about it and besides you must anoint the Foot You may also draw two or three Lines with a hot Iron above upon the Cronet without piercing the Skin laying a Plaister over it and covering it with Hurds or Saddle-stuffings then suffer the Scab to fall off and dry the Sore with convenient Powders or Ointments CHAP. LXXXVIII Of Narrow Heels THE Horses that are troubl'd with this Distemper which is usually attended with Lameness have their Frush almost always too narrow and the Quarters of the Foot are narrower near the Shooe than towards the Cronet so that for want of the due roundness and out-bowing of the Foot the Bone within is streightn'd and the Flesh that surrounds it bruis'd which occasions the Horse's Lameness There is no roundness about the Heels and the Feet seem rather sharp-pointed and long than round as they ought to be for those Horses who have the roundest Heels are least subject to this Distemper Sometimes this Infirmity affects only one quarter of the Foot and almost always on the Inside which is weaker than the other because the Hoof is thinner there than on the outside if the Disease appear on both Quarters the Cure will be more difficult tho' the Lameness may be as great when only one of the Quarters suffer by reason of the narrowness of the Heel This Infirmity may be occasion'd by ill Shooing as it may be cur'd by setting on the Shooe with due caution according to the directions laid down in the Chapter of Shooing it may also proceed from the driness of the Foot when the substance of the Hoof is spoil'd and full of Wrinkles and sometimes it is an effect of the Carelesness or unskilfulness of those who either open the Heels or suffer them to grow too much and weaken the Quarters of the Foot by pairing then too deep Fleet and Light Horses are more subject to this Infirmity than strong German Horses and therefore Turkish Spanish and Barbary Horses ought to be shod with great Care and an exact observance of the best Rules nor must you intrust the Shooing of these Horses to common Smiths or Farriers if they be not very Skilful in their Profession which is a Character that belongs to a very small number of them Yet there are some fine Horses who have such excellent Feet and so tough Hoofs that the unskilfulness of the Farrier can never be attended with such dangerous consequences but great care must be taken in Shooing German Race and Coach-Horses who are subject to this Distemper If you perceive that the Pantofle-Shoes and the Remedies
prescrib'd for the Cure of the Distemper are not attended with the desir'd Success you must proceed to the taking out of the Sole which is the last and oftentimes the best and speediest Remedy Assoon as you have unsol'd him cleave the Frush with your Fleam and fit a Splent of Iron to the Part placing it so that it may open the Heels or rather keep them open an Inch or two wider than they were before the Sole was taken out The Heels are open'd by the Splent because the Frush being cleft or divided yields or opens in the middle and I have sometimes caus'd Horses to be unsol'd who had so narrow Heels that we were forc'd to open the Hoof at the Heels and afterwards fit a Splent to the Part thrusting it in violently that it might keep the Heels much widen'd After you have taken out the Sole lay on the Dressing about the Foot to moisten it and make the Sole grow again keeping on the Iron Splent all the while and after the Sole is grown you will find the Heel widen'd and reduc'd to its former and natural shape for this Infirmity is rarely a natural Defect but occasion'd either by some accident or ill Shooing or proceeds from the driness of the Foot and for want of its being kept moist with convenient Ointments When a Horse is troubl'd with this Infirmity in an Academy the usual Remedy is to set on Moon Shooes And it must be acknowledg'd that this Method is useful but besides that I have oftentimes with very good Success given the Fire from the Hair to the Shooe searing five or six Lines piercing the Hoof about the thickness of a silver Crown and repeating the same Operation on the other side of the Heel which instantly softens the Hoof and makes it yield and give way to the Bone of the Foot that was too much straightn'd to resume its former place afterwards you must moisten the Foot with often repeated Applications of Remolades or Ointments for the Feet CHAP. LXXXIX Of Taking out the Sole THis Operation is usually perform'd for the Cure of Ring-Bones False-Quarter Pricks with a Nail Narrow Heels Scratches in the Cronet Figgs Surbating Stubbing and several other Distempers The Sole is under the Foot and applied to it almost like the Sole of a Shooe and the Hoof that surrounds both the Sole and the Foot helps to keep it fast to the Bone of the Foot which it covers 'T is a dangerous Error to imagine that the unsoling of the Horse requires the plucking off of the Hoof for the Value of a Horse is not at all lessened by taking out the Sole whereas a Horse that has lost his Hoof is hardly worth keeping When ye design to take out the Sole you must in the first place beat down the Heel to make the Sole thin and slender then provide a Shooe half a Finger's breadth longer than an ordinary Shooe and having tack'd it on with four Nails stop the Foot with a warm Remolade or softening Pultiss covered with Flax and Splents and if the Bone of the Foot be very dry you must renew the Applications of the Remolade to nourish and moisten the Foot that the Sole may be taken out with less difficulty and Pain for you must never undertake to unsole a Horse without such a due and regular Preparation The Sole being well moisten'd with Remolades or for want of those with Hog's-Lard according to the usual Custom of Farriers you must open the Heels and with the Horn of your Buttress separate the Sole from the Hoof and when you find that Instrument insufficient make use of the Renette which is a common Instrument among Farriers and used also by Sadlers for the stripeing of Hungary Leather Having loosen'd the Sole from the Hoof you must begin to separate it at the Toe with a Sole-Lifter which is only a worn Buttress half an Inch broad and flat at the end then separate it at the sides with the Pincers and if it stick so fast that you cannot separate it at the side divide it underneath with the Buttress and afterwards separate it on the other side with the Pincers If it stick to the Heel cut it off with the Buttress then raise it up at the end with a Sole-lifter and taking hold with the Pincers you may pull it out entirely without the least violence After which if the Heels be too narrow tho' the Horse be unsol'd for some other Distemper in his Foot you must cleave the Frush quite thro' the middle with your Fleam from the inside of the Pastern till you come within three Fingers breadth of the end of the Frush Then consider whether there is not part of the old Sole still remaining which you must also take out and suffer the Foot to bleed abundantly When you perceive that 't is time to stop the Blood tie a Cord about the Pastern and as soon as 't is quite stop'd set on the Shooe which must not be taken off again only you must leave an empty space at the Toe to drain the superfluous moisture in the Foot but if there be some other Sore on the inside Quarter which the Shooe covers you must not set on the Shooe so fast for otherwise you would be oblig'd to Shooe and Unshooe him at every dressing to the extreme prejudice of the Horse's Foot and therefore you must only tack it on with four Nails After the Blood is stopt dry the Foot with Flax and if there be no Sore in it stop it with a Composition of equal quantities of Honey and Tarr melted over the Fire and poured in hot covering the Sole with Rolls of Flax moisten'd in the same Composition then lay on some Splents of Wood and one of Iron and set on the Shoe after which stop the Frush with Bolsters moisten'd as before and thrust 'em into the Cleft to keep it open that the Heel may be sufficiently wide when the Sole grows again tying a Bandage about 'em to keep 'em from slipping out of the Cleft of the Frush Or instead of the former Composition you may use one made of common Turpentine and Soot which is a very good Astringent and both asswages the Pain and is endu'd with a dissolving quality 'T is the common Opinion of Farriers that a straight Bandage by squeezing the Part prevents the growing of Proud-Flesh but that Method would certainly produce a contrary effect for such a hard binding of the Part must necessarily be attended with Pain which draws down Defluxions and hastens those Inconveniencies which they endeavour to avoid And therefore you must only keep the Dressing from falling off without tying the Part too hard for so the Sole will grow more speedily and with less danger of raising too high Experience will convince all those who observe these Directions of the Truth of this Assertion for this is the only proper Method of unsoling a Horse When that Operation is perform'd for any Infirmity in the
the Shooe and binding it on at the other end for 't is always safest and most convenient to dress an unsol'd Foot without taking off the Shooe But in some cases that method is impracticable and after you have taken out the Sole you must only tack on a Shooe with four Nails that you may examine the bottom of the Sore as often as you dress it It happen'd once as I was taking out a Sole that the Horse struggl'd so violently that the Ham-string or Sinew was strain'd and the Farrier concluded that his Thigh was broken This accident hinder'd me from removing the Dressing that was already apply'd to the Sole and from taking off the Shooe for fear of hurting the Hoof by lifting up the Foot to dress it and therefore I suffer'd it to remain without renewing the Application for the space of six Weeks after which we found the Sole so well grown that if I had not seen the Operation perform'd I should have concluded that the Sole had never been taken out and this good effect was produc'd by one application of a Remedy consisting of equal Parts of Turpentine Honey and Tarr This Example may undeceive those who imagine the Cure of an unsol'd Hoof to be very difficult for certainly if there be no other Distemper in the Part it may be perfectly heal'd with one Application But all the above-mention'd Directions are design'd for the Cure of those Distempers that occasion the taking out of the Sole CHAP. XC Of Figgs growing in a Horse's Foot AFigg is an excrescency of spongy and fibrous Flesh sometimes resembling a Wart which grows on strong high and hollow Feet that have large Heels and seldom or never on those that are weak slender and flat These Tumours are almost always seated on the top or at the side of the Frush and seldom appear in any other place if they be not occasion'd by the Farriers neglect for if they be suffer'd to grow old or dry'd with strong Ointments they take another course and spread to the corner of the Sole at the Heel the side Quarters or Toe The same Inconveniency happens when they are unskilfully dress'd in which case they stick to the Gristle or to the Bone of the Foot and afterwards rise to the Hair appearing on the Cronet and are always attended with rottenness and stink They are moisten'd and nourish'd by a Humour deriv'd from the Sinews which being destitute of the Spirits that preserv'd it in its natural Condition while it remain'd in the Sinews degenerates into a very noisome Putrefaction that can hardly be stopt for the most perfect Matter when it degenerates and is corrupted is infinitely more dangerous than another less perfect Matter and the Cure is so difficult that unless the fatal Consequences of its virulencies be prevented by well chosen and seasonably apply'd Remedies the Horse grows irrecoverably Lame The Figgs that appear on the Frush rarely occasion Lameness in the beginning but if they be either unskilfully drest dry'd or too long neglected they spread under the Sole and penetrate to the Hair sticking to the Gristle on the Bone of the Foot where they are attended with Pain tho' at the first they were free from that symptom The Cause of those Excrescencies as I intimated before is the Nervous Juice which also generates and nourishes Warts They appear either in the form of Warts when they grow on the Frush or are only distinguishable by that fibrous and spongy Flesh that appears under the Sole and corrupts part of it by the wise contrivance of Nature to discharge by that opening a part of the Matter that offends her The Figgs are usually the Sink that drains all the corrupt Humours in the Body which flowing thither in great abundance encrease the Malignitie of those Excrescencies tho' they are not the original cause of the Distemper The redundancy of those Humours is sometimes so excessive that 't is impossible either to exhaust the Source of them or to divert the Stream that flows from it so that the Figgs encrease to a prodigious bigness infecting and corrupting the whole Part and even sometimes spoiling the Bone of the Foot I have seen Gourdy Legs full of Watry Swellings and Warts which being dried were immediately succeeded by Figgs in the Foot and as soon as these were extirpated the Leg was again seiz'd with those running and noisome Sores that were cur'd with so much difficulty before The Cure was a second time attempted and no sooner perform'd but the Foot was again cover'd with Figgs and those successive Revolutions of these different kinds of Sores are peculiar to old Horses whose Legs are Gourded and cannot be reduced to their natural Shape or to those who have a Swelling in their Legs occasion'd by some remainders of the Farcin for since the corrupt Humours of the whole Body are discharg'd by the Gourdy Leg if their passage be stopt they bend their course to the Foot where they produce Figgs When a Horse has been troubl'd for some considerable time with this Infirmity his Foot becomes deform'd and grows visibly larger than the other The Figgs that appear on the Frush and are not fastn'd to the Gristle or Bone of the Foot do not make the Horse halt unless they accidentally touch the Ground so that unless the Part be carefully examin'd a Man may be easily deceiv'd Thus at Paris the Horse-Coursers never buy a Horse for Service till they lift up his Feet to see whether he be troubl'd with Figgs especially on the hinder Feet tho' all this Caution cannot save 'em from being cheated sometimes since there are some Horses that seem to be cur'd of the Figgs which at the end of three Months return with as much violence as ever Remedies for the Figg in a Horse's Foot Before you apply any Remedies to the Figgs if there be watry Sores or Swellings in the Leg you must endeavour to Cure 'em with a white Honey-Charge which will asswage the Swelling remove the Pain and dissipate the Humours that nourish the Figg and hinder the Cure To proceed with order I shall consider in the first place the Figgs that grow on the Frush which may be sometimes cur'd without taking out the Sole Pare the Foot cutting away so much of the Hoof that there may be a convenient space to reach the Sore with your Fleam or Lancet then cut the Sole about the Figgs and extirpate the very Roots of them for if you take away only the Tops the Cure will be imperfect because tho' they appear small on the out-side they are larger under the Sore but in the mean time I suppose that they are not fasten'd to the Gristle or Bone of the Foot Having laid open the Sore take two Pounds of Honey a Pint of Aqua-vitae six Ounces of Verdigrease in very fine Powder searc'd thro' a silken Sieve a like quantity of White-Vitriol beaten small four Ounces of Litharge reduc'd to very fine Powder and two Drams
will be long and troublesome because of the Sole that must be separated from the Bone and the surest way is to take it quite out tho' the Cure may be perform'd by making a large Incision In such cases you must regulate your Proceedings by a careful observation of the Symptoms For Example If the Horse cannot set his Foot to the Ground or if you perceive that he treads very softly and only upon his Toes you must without delay take out the Sole twenty four Hours after for if the Operation be neglected the Matter might spread to the Hair and the Pain which the Horse suffers before the Sole be taken out does almost always occasion a Fever You may also judge of the depth of the Wound by the length of the Nail and when you draw it forth you may observe whether it enter'd streight or sloping for even the taking out of the Sole is not always attended with the desir'd Success when the Nail pierces very deep and breaks the Bone of the Foot If the Cure of a Prick with a Nail or Stub be not perfected in the space of ten Days by the regular use of the Vulnerary Water or the Oils de Merveille and of Gabian you may certainly conclude that either part of the Nail or Stub remains in the Foot or that the Bone is cleft or shatter'd especially when you take out the Tent if after the running out of a little Matter there follows a great quantity of Blood which is almost always a certain sign of the approaching Separation of a Scale if not of the falling out of the whole Bone To leave no room for a doubt put in your Probe and search the Hole gently and if you find that it reaches to the Bone of the Foot you must immediately make a large Incision to ease the Pain and promote the Cure dressing the Wound with Sugar Aqua-vitae and Aloes and binding it up hard to prevent the growth of the Proud-flesh for so long as the Blood continues to flow abundantly 't wou'd be in vain to apply any Ointment or Oil. At the second Dressing separate all your Flesh with your Fleam to discover the bottom of the Sore nor must you be surpris'd at the great Flux of Blood but endeavour to stanch it with a hard Ligature Continue after the same manner to dress the Sore once a Day with the above-mention'd Remedies resisting the Corruption with all possible diligence applying proper Remolades to the Sole and charging the whole Leg and Thigh once a day as before If the Dressing of the Wound be attended with a great Flux of Blood tho' the Tents be drawn forth gently without bending the Pastern-Joint I know no better Method to prevent that troublesome symptom than to put off the next Dressing for two Days and if the Blood continue still to flow plentifully you must dress the Wound once more with Aqua-vitae and Sugar and suffer the Application to remain untouch'd three Days If there happen a Flux of Blood the third time let the Dressing lie on four Days and if the Blood still continue to flow out interpose five Days before the next Dressing after which the Flux of Blood will be stopt and you may dress the Wound every Day or once in two Days according to the variety of Circumstances I have us'd this Method with good Success to stop the Bleeding which hinders the Operation of the Oils Ointments and Powder In all Diseases and Sores of the Feet 't is safer and more convenient to make an Incision with a Razor or Fleam than to consume the Flesh with Cauteries for besides the Pain occasion'd by those Applications the Matter is frequently repell'd and lodg'd in some other Part as about the Pastern but after you have made one or two Incisions you have a full view of the bottom of the Sore and may easily stop the Bleeding with Turpentine apply'd warm with soft Flax and a good Ligature then removing the Dressing at the end of forty eight Hours you will have the conveniency of discovering the whole Sore which must be dress'd and heal'd according to the above-mention'd or following Directions Sometimes instead of one Hole made by the Wound two or three break out at the side of the Frush reaching even to the Pastern in this case you must cut the whole Gristle that forms the Frush penetrating to the bottom of the Foot that you may see the root of the Sore for the taking out of the Sole is not always sufficient to perfect the Cure if the Sore reach under the end of the Frush to the Bone of the Foot and therefore you must cut off that end or even the whole Frush to lay open the bottom of the Sore When you have occasion to cut the Gristle that forms the Frush to prevent a dangerous Flux of Blood you must make a strong Ligature about the Pastern to stop the Veins that convey the Blood to that part after which mix a great quantity of Salt with your Digestive made of Turpentine and Yolks of Eggs and apply the whole to the Wound with Flax laying over it a good black Restringent made with Soot Vinegar and Whites of Eggs with Flax above all and Splents to keep on the Dressing If the Blood continue still to flow from that part of the Frush that ends at the Heel besmear a little Flax with Turpentine and apply it warm to the Part with convenient Ligatures Forty eight Hours after remove the Dressing and you will see the bottom of the Sore after which proceed as before washing the Sore with the second Water and dressing it with Digestives Oil of Gabian and Sugar or some other Ointment As soon as the Scale or any other extraneous Substance left or generated in the Wound is separated from the Bone the Horse leaves off halting unless there be more than one piece to fall away but the Exfoliation of the Bone proceeds slowly and it has been sometimes observ'd that the separation of a Scale could hardly be perfected in thirty twenty eighteen or fifteen Days according to the nature of the Part. And therefore you must resolve to persist with Patience which at last will certainly be crown'd with Success 'T is true we are sometimes oblig'd to cut out a Scale when it sticks too long for 't is impossible to compleat the Cure so long as it remains in the Part. The usual Method of Farriers for the separation of a Scale from the Bone consists in the application of Digestives but these Remedies nourish the Part instead of drying it tho' 't is certain that the Scale never falls away till the Part be dry'd And therefore 't wou'd be better to apply some Powder of Sublimate mixt with Aegyptiacum or Spirit of Vitriol which will quickly separate the Scale But the surest and speediest Method when practicable is to Sear the Bone with a hot Iron which brings away the Scale immediately I have also observ'd that an equal mixture
a Day with the Balsam cold having first heated the Sinews by rubbing 'em very hard with a wisp of Hay 'T is also very proper for Bruises and cold Pains for Sinew-Sprains and Wounds This Balsam may be also us'd by Men with very good Success for it heals green Wounds as speedily and effectually as natural Balsam 't is also good for Weakness and Pains in the Joints for cold Pains Rheumatisms Sciatica's and Strains and generally in all other cases for which the Queen of Hungary's Water is commended and even is much more effectual nor can you find the description of it in any other Book if it be not borrow'd from this If it be duly Prepar'd it will be of a bright and lovely Gold colour If there be a Scale to be separated this Balsam will quickly bring it away but you must first take out the Sole and then apply the Balsam cold till the Scale be loosen'd Note That by how much nearer the Scale is to the Nut or Pivot it will require the longer time before it can be separated and therefore you must not blame the Remedy for the tediousness of the Cure for 't is to be observ'd that if the Nut or Pivot that is the Bone which is joyn'd to the Bone of the Foot be prick'd with a Nail or otherwise 't will never throw off a Scale and the Cure will certainly be very long because the Bone must be scrap'd to take away the blackness To conclude Experience will convince those who use this Balsam of its wonderful efficacy in all cases and even for Men 't is a rare Secret for Wounds Bruises cold Aches Defluxions c. If the curious Surgeon labour to discover its Virtues with a sufficient degree of Application he will find 'em to exceed his Belief if the Medicine be duly Prepar'd CHAP. XCVI Remedies for an Imposthume in the Hairy part of the Foot SOmetimes when a Prick with a Nail is neglected the Imposthume rises above the Hoof for the Matter being retain'd in the Sore below and not being able to find a Passage by reason of the hardness of the Sole or Hoof it ascends between the Bone of the Foot and the Coffin-Bone and appears under the Cronet This is usually the Case of those Horses who have weak Feet and is always very dangerous because the Hoof may be entirely separated from the Bone of the Foot or at least the Matter may harden about the Cronet and corrupt the Gristle tho' the danger be not so great in this case as in the former And even after the Horse is cur'd there may remain Swellings on the Cronet which encreasing may contract and dry the lower part of the Foot to prevent which Inconveniency you will find some Remedies at the end of the Chapter As soon as you perceive the Imposthume the usual Remedy is to take out the Sole but before you proceed to that Extremity you may try the following Medicines by which I have seen several Horses cur'd These Swellings are more dangerous in Mules than in Horses because they have tenderer Feet In the first place you must pare the Foot to open a Passage to the Matter downwards and endeavour to discover where it lies by loos'ning the Sole a little from the Hoof then dress the Sore with the Vulnerary Water or for want of that with the burning Balsam or the Oil de Merveille apply'd warm charging the Cronet with a Restringent made of unslak'd Lime mixt with the Second Water especially the Part where the Imposthume appears for there cannot be a more powerful Restringent Or you may apply a Composition of Soot Whites of Eggs and Vinegar to repel the Matter downwards promoting the Operation of the Remedy with a convenient Bandage If you pour hot Oil into the Foot it will appear on the Cronet at the top of the Foot and so Cure the whole Wound and heal it to the bottom but if after the first or second Application of the Restringent the Hoof be not re-united to the Hairy-Skin you must have recourse to the Countesses Ointment The Countesses Ointment to heal and close up the Sores occasion'd by Imposthumes in the Hairy part of the Foot Take half a Pint of Aqua-vitae and a Pound of Honey boil 'em over a very small Fire in a clean glaz'd Pot stirring 'em with a Slice till the Honey be throughly heated and incorporated with the Aqua-vitae then add Verdigrease Gall and Venetian-Borax of each two Ounces strain'd thro' a fine Searce with two Ounces of White-Vitriol beaten boil 'em all together over a gentle Fire stirring 'em till they be well incorporated and keep the Ointment for use in the same Pot well cover'd Apply this Ointment cold on a little Cotton or Flax and above that charge the whole Foot with a white or black Restringent Thus the Sore will be heal'd and the Hoof fasten'd to the Skin after the first or second Application In this case the main scope of the Cure should be to strengthen and bind the upper Parts or to drive the Matter downwards This may be done by applying the Ointment above with the Restringent Charge over it and dressing the Hole made in the Foot with the Vulnerary Water the burning Balsam or the Oil de Merveille or of Gabian If those Cautions be neglected the Matter will harden and form a great Callus on the Cronet which will occasion the shrinking or drying of the Foot by stopping its usual Supplies of Nourishment and if the Gristle be infected the Swelling will be almost as dangerous as the Quitter-bone But all these Inconveniencies may be prevented by a seasonable observance of the above-mention'd Directions before the Disease grow inveterate If there be only a simple Swelling observe the following Directions To asswage and resolve hard Swellings on the Cronet If the Tendon or Gristle be Infected as you may conclude it is when the Probe that is put into the Hole reaches to that Part you must use the same Method as in the Cure of a Quitter-bone but if the Infection do not reach so far and there is only a hard Swelling whether it obstruct the Nourishment of the Foot or not mix unslak'd Lime with the Second Water or for want of that with Aqua-vitae tho' the former is better and apply it to the Swelling with Flax laying a Plate of Lead over it to keep on the Dressing and binding it about very hard Repeat the Application every Day and in three Days the Swelling will be asswag'd But if by reason of the extream hardness of the Swelling this Remedy prove wholly ineffectual you must take out the Scale and cleave the Frush to enlarge the Quarter under the Swelling four Days after shave away the Hair as close as you can and heat the Part by rubbing it with the back of a Knife or some other Iron Instrument till the Skin grow very red without Bleeding Then anoint it with the best Oil of Bay cold with Flax and
and at last the Horse sinks under the violence of the Distemper The same Disorders may be also occasion'd by the first sort of Foundering if they be not prevented by timely Remedies So that it may be truly said that both kinds are very dangerous and if they be accompany'd with a Fever and melting of the Grease for the most part fatal There is a third sort of Foundering which usually seizes on Horses in the Army by reason of their eating green Corn but it may be easily cur'd in twenty four Hours and is oftentimes remov'd by Bleeding or some trivial Remedy Foundering in the Body is very frequently accompany'd with Melting of the Grease in which case the Horse is seldom or never free from a Fever This Complication of Distempers which Farriers call Chest-Foundering is almost always fatal When after violent Exercise and plentiful Sweating Horses are suffer'd to cool of a sudden either by the coldness of the Place or Season or for want of walking them after Riding they are almost always Founder'd and since the Legs are more violently exercis'd than any other part of the Body they are also more furiously attack'd by the Distemper and expos'd to the Defluxion of the Humours To prevent these Disorders you must walk your Horse gently for some time after long and violent Galloping and even after any hard Labour that the Humours which are fall'n upon the Legs already weaken'd by Riding may be dissipated before they be condens'd into a Liquor and that into a sort of Jelly which is the true cause of Foundering It will not appear strange to those who consider the danger of a sudden alteration or remove from extream Heat to excessive Cold that Horses usually become Founder'd when they are Water'd and ridden up to the Belly in cold Water immediately after violent Exercise A Horse that has been already Founder'd and has acquir'd an infirm habit of Body may relapse into the same Distemper if he be suffer'd to remain too long in the Stable and eat too much Oats and even after violent Exercises which wou'd not have produc'd any ill effect if he had never been Founder'd before Those who by reason of some Distemper in one of their Fore-Feet are forc'd to lay the weight of their Body upon the other are obnoxious to this Distemper in the Stable which is almost always occasion'd by too great a quantity of Nourishment For the Crudities that are generated by the redundancy of Food occasion a preternatural Heat and the Ebullition or Fermentation occasion'd by the Heat rarefies the most subtle Humours into Vapours which are afterwards condens'd to Water as I intimated before A Horse is very apt to be Founder'd if he be ridden while his Feet are Sore or his Legs stiff And the Cure of this kind of Foundering is extreamly difficult by reason of the Defluxion aâ—ready fall'n upon the Lame Foot I cou'd never comprehend the reason of their Opinion who pretend that a Horse may be Founder'd by riding him thro' a River or Pond when he is very Thirsty without suffering him to Drink For in very hot Weather if you suffer your Horse to Drink in the Evening after violent Sweating while his Body is still hot he may be easily Founder'd whereas if you had hinder'd him from Drinking the Danger wou'd have been certainly prevented Sometimes after a great Heat the Sinews are stiffen'd by cold without any Defluxion of Humours upon ' em This Infirmity differs from Foundering it seizes for the most part only in the Fore-Legs and is easily Cur'd The most dangerous kind of Foundering is that which is accompany'd with a Fever in which case the first and main scope of the Cure must be to remove the most urgent Symptom that is the Foundering For tho' the Fever is very dangerous and may kill the Horse 't is purely accidental and disappears as soon as its Cause is taken away When the Foundering falls upon the Feet the Cronet swells and is separated from the Hoof and therefore as soon as you perceive those Signs make several Incisions lengthwise along the Cronet with a sharp Lancet piercing the Skin to open a passage to the Humour which will come forth in form of a Reddish Water After the voiding of these Scrosities apply a Restringent Charge made of Bole-Armenic Vinegar and Whites of Eggs or unslack'd Lime set in a convenient place till it crumble into Powder and reduce it to a Paste or Dough with the Second Water and Spirit of Wine which is the most excellent Astringent that can be prescrib'd Then dress the Sores with Vinegar and Salt For if that Caution be neglected the sharp and malignant Humour which is of an acid and penetrating Nature like Aqua-Fortis will certainly loos'n the Hoof and make it fall off by the acrimony of the corrosive Salt of which 't is full and oftentimes it separates the Bone of the Foot from the Coffin-Bone about the Toe for the Bone of the Foot being dry'd by that corrosive Acid and afterwards relax'd that part which is depriv'd of Nourishment must necessarily fall away You must not take out the Sole till the dry and sapless part of the Bone of the Foot be ready to fall that is till it burst the Sole In the mean time the Hoof is dry'd spoil'd and full of Circles and the Horse becomes unfit for Service since he cannot Travel without excessive Pain The Humour flows chiefly to the Toe which usually suffers most by these Disorders and therefore the Horse treads on his Heels after he is cur'd of the Foundering WHen you perceive that the Foundering is fall'n upon the Feet and that the Bone of the Foot presses the Sole you must delay the taking out of the Sole as long as you can endeavouring to preserve it that it may contain the Bone of the Foot in its proper place you must not open the Heel but rub the Hoof near the Cronet with a quarter of an Onion every Day till the Juice penetrate the Hoof. But in the general as soon as the Foundering falls upon the Feet and the Bone of the Foot appears to be dry'd and to press the Sole you may reckon your Horse entirely lost and unfit for all manner of Service unless for labouring on soft Ground You will find a Remedy at the end of this Chapter to prevent these fatal Disorders and to remove the remaining Pains in the Foot that hinder the Horse from walking boldly and easily after the Cure of the Foundering The taking up of the Pastern-Veins as soon as the Disease falls upon the Foot may produce a very good effect but the Operation must be perform'd before the Bone of Foot appears visibly to press the Sole I think my self oblig'd to give you an Advice upon this occasion which perhaps few Persons will esteem it their Interest to follow Whoever is Master of a Horse of no very considerable value that has been once Founder'd in his Feet tho' the
and hinder Parts To conclude This is a very dangerous Disease and even incurable if it be suffer'd to fix and take Root But the Danger may be prevented by a timely Application of Remedies CHAP. CLV Of Pains in the Feet after Foundering THE Pains that frequently remain after Foundering hinder the Horse from walking steadily and from setting his Foot flat upon the Ground for he treads only upon his Heel to ease the Toe The Humour that caus'd the Foundering falling down from the Leg slides between the Bone of the Foot and the Hoof and the natural Heat being as it were stifl'd by the sharp Humour the fore-part of the Foot is depriv'd of its appointed share of Nourishment and consequently is hardend dry'd and weaken'd The End of the Bone next the Toe falls down upon the Sole and shrinks so that it must necessarily be separated from the sound Part of the Bone This Separation is not the Work of one Day but notwithstanding the extreme Difficulty which attends it it may be at last happily perfected if Nature who is the best Judge of the Time and most skilful Performer of the Operation be assisted by a seasonable and regular Observance of the following Method If your Horse tread only on his Heels so that you have reason to conclude that that the fore-part of the Foot is wither'd or dry'd up and if you perceive its Hollowness by knocking upon the Hoof pluck off the Shooe and having par'd the Foot a little set on a Pantofle-Shooe such as you will find explain'd in the Chapter that treats of the Shooing of Horses that have Narrow Heels and apply the following Remedy Note That when you shooe a Horse in this Condition you must always leave the Sole as firm as may be for the Success of the Cure depends chiefly upon that and on the falling away of the dry part of the Bone which may be also promoted by the use of the following Decoction or Broth. If your Horse be troubl'd with Pains in his Feet without any Sign of the Dryness or Separation of the Bone you must only pare the Feet set on very easie Shooes and apply the following Broth. A Broth or Decoction for Pains in the Feet remaining after Foundering Take Brandy a Quart strong Vinegar a Pint and a half Oil of Bay a Pound Add a sufficient quantity of Bean-Flower and boil to the Consistency of a thick Broth stirring it perpetually over a gentle Fire Then pour it boiling hot into the Foot laying on Tow and Splints to keep it in and apply the same Broth assoon as you can endure to touch it with your Hand to the Cronet with Tow. Renew the Application thrice every twenty four Hours and if the Pain be not very inveterate the Horse will certainly recover If the fore-part of the Bone of the Foot be dry'd and fall down upon the Sole 't will be very convenient to take up the Pastern-Veins after the Application of the Broth that the Humour which is carry'd to the Foot with the Blood may be the sooner exhausted besides several other Reasons already intimated If the Foot be so extremely shrunk and dry'd up that the Horse cannot go nor almost stand you must take out the Sole and sear the End of the Bone of the Foot suffering it to fall quite away after which the Sole will grow again and the Horse may recover if you set on a Pantofle-Shooe and give the Foot time to gather strength but you must never expect that it will be good handsome or fit for Service CHAP. CLVI Of the Mange Itch or Running-Scab THis is a Disease of the Skin which makes the Hair peel and fall away and the Hide grow thick hard dry rough and even wrinkl'd in several Places Vegetius in the seventy first Chapter of the third Book of his Ars Veterinaria defines it in these Words The Scab or Mange is a loathsome and unseemly Distemper of Cattle But this is no true Definition since it explains not the Nature of the Thing defin'd Unwholsome Nourishment may occasion this Distemper which proceeds from a sharp burnt and salt Humour that is from an Acid full of sharp and corrosive Spirits and Salts The same Acid may be generated by Hunger and Fatigues and by keeping company with mangy Horses It may also be communicated to those Horses that are rubb'd with the same Curry-Combs and Brushes or Dusting-Cloths that were formerly made use of for Horses infected with this Distemper and to conclude The Mange may be an Effect of the Carelesness of the Groom in dressing his Horse or of the Neglect of seasonable Bleeding We may conclude that a Horse is troubl'd with the Mange when he rubs one part of his Body more than the rest as for Example his Joints Legs Tail and Mane in which Case you must feel the Part and if you perceive that the Hide is thicker than usually 't is a Sign that your Horse is Mangy Sometimes this Distemper is universal but for the most part it comes by degrees and appears sometimes in one Part and sometimes in another This Disease may be divided into two Kinds the dry and ulcerated Mange In the first there appears nothing upon the Skin but a sort of mealy Scales which make the Hair fall quite away The Cure is extremely difficult and usually the Cause is either Cold or Hunger The other Kind breaks out into little Swellings and Scurfs which being separated the Part remains sore and raw This is more easily cur'd than the former Kind unless when 't is seated in the Mane or Tail where it sticks very fast and can hardly be rooted out because the Hide in these Parts is so thick that the strongest Remedies can scarce force their Passage thro' it Both Kinds are cur'd with the same Remedies A Remedy for the Mange You must begin the Cure of this Distemper with the Preparation of the Humour that causes it For you must never proceed to anoint your Horse's Body till you have remov'd the internal Cause of the Humor that is driven outwards by Nature lest by inclosing and concentrating the corrupt Humour in the Body the Entrails be heated and the Noble Parts vitiated Bleeding is almost always necessary in this Case to allay the Heat of the Blood and promote its Circulation Vegetius has very prudently order'd the chusing of fit Places for letting of Blood according to the Variety of Cases and the different Parts of the Body where the Humour is lodg'd Thus for Example if the Mange appear in the Head or Neck you must let your Horse blood in the Head if in the Shoulders Breast or fore Legs bleed him in the Brisket if the Back be infected in the Flanks and if the hinder Legs or Hips be mangy you must open a Vein in the Thighs But I cannot approve the Purgation appointed by the same Author for the Roots of wild Cucumbers or Elaterium which he prescribes to be mixt with Oats leaves
or Gristle So that Nature endeavouring to expel what offends her bursts the Hoof in the middle of the Quarter and the Matter finds a Passage thro' the Cleft near the hairy part of the Foot This Disease is cur'd by the Method I prescrib'd for the Quitter-Bone for the corrupted Tendon must be separated since 't is no more to be reckon'd as a part of the Foot I do not say that these Clefts in the Foot are always accompany'd with Crepances but only that these Distempers are sometimes united in which Case you may reckon your Horse to be in a very dangerous if not desperate Condition CHAP. CLXXXIX Of the Numness of the Hoof. THE Name of a Distemper usually gives us a confus'd Idea of the Nature of it but the Word introduc'd by Custom to express the Disease treated off in this Chapter seems not to have the least Relation to what it signifies However I will not quarrel about Words but rather proceed to a brief Explication of the Distemper commonly known by this Name to which I shall subjoin an Account of its Signs Causes and surest Remedies after I have told you that the Cure is extremely difficult or at least very tedious In the first place you must know that there is a Bone in the Middle of the Coffin-Bone which is almost of the same Figure with the Foot but much smaller since 't is contain'd within it This is that which we usually call the Bone of the Foot Now a Horse is said to be troubl'd with this Distemper when the Bone of the Foot by reason of a Relaxation at the End opposite to the Toe leaves its Place and natural Situation and the Flesh that surrounded it and united it to the Hoof growing dry there remains a hollow or empty Space Besides the Bone of the Foot being loosen'd at one end falls down and pressing against the Sole that covers it appears in Form of a Crescent as if there were another Bone fasten'd to the Outside of the Bone of the Foot whereas it is only that Bone it self fall'n down out of its natural Place and appearing in the Figure of a Crescent which is greater or smaller as the Bone is more or less loosen'd This Bone is seldom loosen'd towards the Heel to which 't is fasten'd by two great Sinews that pass thro' it in two several Places and bind it so fast to the Foot that unless it be loosen'd by some violent Accident it never descends but towards the Toe in which Case there remains a void space that was formerly fill'd with the Flesh that surrounded the Bone before it was loosen'd so that the Coffin-Bone and the Bone of the Foot were in a manner one continu'd Body so closely were they united whereas in this Case there is a hollow Space along the Hoof towards the Toe and the Extent of that Hollowness is proportionable to the Relaxation of the Bone This Distemper may be known by these Signs The Horse halts right down he trots and even walks upon his Heels and brings down his Toes softly to the Ground without laying any stress upon 'em The Fore-part of the Foot sounds hollow when you knock upon it with your Shooing-Hammer at last it shrinks in the Middle and the Foot loses its natural Shape This Disease has some Affinity with Foundering in the Feet but is less malignant and more easily cur'd The Effects are almost the same in both Cases for when a Horse is founder'd in the Feet the Bone of the Foot is loosen'd before and forms Crescents like those describ'd in this Chapter only they are greater and appear usually on both Feet whereas this Distemper rarely attacks more than one These Crescents in either Case are only the Bone of the Foot relax'd descending from its natural Place and appearing like a Crescent without the Flesh that formerly us'd to cover it So that you must not give Credit to the Opinion of certain Farriers who imagine it to be a Bone or bony Excrescency growing upon the Bone of the Foot This Bone thus relax'd and appearing in the above-mention'd Form is at last depriv'd of Nourishment and grows as it were one extraneous or preternatural Body and consequently must either fall away or be cut out These things were necessary to be premis'd in order to a clearer understanding of the Distemper but since I have hitherto only explain'd the Effect of the Cause I shall in the next place consider the Cause it self When a Horse by reason of vehement labour is over-heated the Humours are put in Motion by this Impression of Heat and the Agitation is encreas'd by other more subtil Humours which being out of their natural Place and besides thin sharp and spirituous ferment the grosser Humours with which they are mix'd This Ebullition occasions the rising of very sharp Vapours full of a volatile and corrosive Salt which insinuating into the Parts where they find least Resistance and in their way passing thro' some places where the natural Heat is moderate being no longer agitated nor supported by the Fermentation that rais'd 'em they are condens'd into Water which is carry'd by its own Weight to the Foot where they find an easie Admittance into the spongy Flesh between the Hoof and the Bone Now this Water or Liquor retaining the sharp and corrosive Nature of its primitive Vapours and in many Respects resembling Aqua-Fortis it consumes all the Flesh that united the Hoof and the Bone and at the same time dries up and separates a vast Number of little Nerves that proceed from the Bone of the Foot and fasten it to the Hoof So that the Bone being no longer sustain'd or kept in it places by the Flesh or those little Nerves falls down towards the sore-part of the Foot forms a Crescent under the Sole and leaves the fore-part of the Hoof empty and hollow Having already explain'd the Nature of Fermentation and illustrated that Explication with clear and proper Examples I know no reasonable Objection that can be made against the Account I have given of this Distemper Only methinks I hear some confident Wou'd-be-Wits enquire who told me all these fine Stories and whether I or my Informers were ever Witnesses of those Transactions in the Body But a very moderate stock of Sense wou'd enable 'em to conceive that tho' neither I nor any Man else can pretend to have seen those internal Motions and Revolutions 't is not at all impossible that a studious Enquirer into Nature may discover the Causes by their Effects And withal I assure 'em that if they can produce a more probable Hypothesis and confirm it with more or better Experiments I will receive it in such a Manner that they themselves shall acknowledge that I am neither of a very obstinate Nature nor over-fond of my own Notions 'T will not be improper in the next place to examine the Difference between the Humour that causes this Distemper and that which causes Foundering The latter of
these Humours is more subtil and penetrating the Nerves obstructs their Motion and occasions Pain whereas the Humour from whence this Distemper proceeds takes its Course thro' ways unknown to us without causing those Disturbances that are observ'd in the other Case And perhaps I may venture to say that the Cause is the same tho' the Effects be different according to the various degrees of the Acrimony of the Salt of which these Spirits are full In order to the Cure of this Distemper you must endeavour by all means to strengthen the Sole about the Toe for Nature may perhaps in time dissolve the Crescent And to assist her in the Execution of that Work 't will be convenient to pour a sufficient quantity of the finest Oil of Bay into the Foot without paring it or cutting the Sole after which you must stop the Foot with Flax and lay Splents over all At the same time anoint the Cronet especially about the Toe with the same Oil covering it with Flax and a convenient Bandage Note That the Oil must be apply'd cold to the Cronet and pour'd boiling-hot into the Foot After you have contiunu'd for some time in the Use of this Method without any considerable Sign of Amendment if the the Horse be still very lean you must take out the Sole and if you find the point of the Bone of the Foot separated from the Hoof with an empty Space between 'em you must burn all that part of the Bone that seems to be separated both above and below to hasten its falling away Then apply Aegyptiacum to the burnt Bone and charge the whole Sole with a Mixture of Turpentine Honey and Tarr melted together Continue to dress the Bone with Aegyptiacum or Schmit's Ointment till it fall out after which dress the part of the Bone from which the Piece that fell away was separated with Monsieur Curty's Ointment apply'd cold or only with Flax dipt in Brandy renewing the Application every two Days which will make the Flesh grow again and cover the Bone After which the Sole will grow again also To promote the Growth of the Sole and make it firm and vigorous you may observe the Directions in the LXXXIXth Chapter Concerning the Method of taking out the Sole Assoon as you perceive that the Sole is grown strong you may begin to walk your Horse on soft Ground and by degrees accustom him to travel If by looking into the Foot you perceive that the Crescent is not great and have reason to conclude that the Disease is not very dangerous you ought not to take out the Sole without Necessity but rather endeavour to strengthen it by pouring boiling Oil of Bay into the Foot as I order'd before and continuing after the same manner till the Cure be compleated This may be justly reckon'd a dangerous Distemper the Cure is long and difficult and very frequently the Horse continues lame for the space of a Year and longer Several Farriers confound this Infirmity with Surbating and other Diseases in the Feet But the Easiness of the Cure in these Cases ought to convince 'em of their Errour The END of the FIRST PART A TABLE OF THE DISEASES A. ANticor page 212 Appetite lost 8 12 Arrests 287 Attaint 109 B. BAck swoll'n or hurt 173 Sway'd 261 Barbs 6 Biting of a mad Dog 179. Of a venomous Beast 181 Bleeding 54 167 Bleymes 153 Bones broken 85 Bots. 257 Breath short 181 Burstenness 266 C. Chest-Foundering 197 Chops 289 Clefts ibid. Cods swoll'n 265 Cold 22. with a Cough 23. with a Beating in the Flank 24 Colic 59. First Kind 60. Second 62. Third 64. Fourth 66. Fifth 69. Sixth 74 Cough 192 195 Cramp 277 Crepances 297 Cronet swoll'n 150 Crown-Scab 155 Curb 283 D. DIseases of Horses in general 1 Biting of a mad Dog 179 E. EYes their Diseases 42. Rheums 44. Blows or Stroaks 46. White Films 48. Lunatic or Moon-Eyes 49. Haw 51 F. FArcin 224 227 229 230 231 234 235 236 237 238. How to fatten a Horse 209 Feet surbated Feet 125. decay'd and wasted 158 Fevers 216. Simple 217 219. Putrid 217 220. Pestilential 217 221. Causes and Signs 218 Fiery-Evil 39 Figs. 134 Fire how to give 283 Flanks 185 186 Flux 268 270 Foundering 247. In the Feet 252 Fret see Colic Frush scabbed 154. Fleshy Excrescencies 156 Fundament fall'n down 271 G. GAngrene 166 Glanders 28 31 33 35 Gripes see Colic H. HAemorrhagy 54 Hair falling off 242 Halter-cast 296 Head its Diseases 37 38 40 Heels narrow 130. scabbed 154 Hide-bound 207 Hips strain'd 78. Hipshot 263 Hoof-cast 151 Houghs strain'd hurt or swoll'n 272 Hough bony 277 Hungry-Evil 297 I. JArdon 280 Impostume in the Feet 149 Itch. 253 Blood-running Itch. 241 K. KErnels to ripen 22 To dissolve 32 L. LAmpas 6 Lask or Looseness 268 Leanness 207 Legs broken 85. Stiff tyr'd decay'd 86 106. Swell'd gourdy 87 89. Old Swellings 91. Stiff and tyr'd 93. Spoil'd by travelling 94. Sores and Swellings in the Legs 287 291 Lungs obstructed 199 M. MAdness 179 Malenders 95 Mange 157 242 253. In the Tail 257 Molten Grease 243 Morfounding 22 Mules 288 N. NUmness of the Hoof. 298 O. OVer-Reach 109 P. PAins 289 Palpitation of the Heart 214 Palsie in Jaw 56 Pastern-Joint strain'd or dislocated 103. Swell'd or gourded 107 Hurt or wounded 177 Pissing of Blood 72 Pricks in the Foot 137 139 Pursiveness 181 185 187 189 190 Q. QUarter false 127 Quitter-Bone 116 118 R. RAt-Tails 287 Retreats 137 Rheum 22 Ring-Bone 121 Rupture 266 S. SCab 253 Scratches 110. Simple ibid. Sinewy 111 Selenders 95 Shoulder-wrench Shoulder-pight or Shoulder-splait 76. Strain'd or hurt 77 78 80 83 Signs of Sickness in Horses 5 Sinew-sprain 106. Relax'd or strain'd 273 275. Sole to take out 131 Spanish Evil. 40 Blood-Spavin 282 Bone-Spavin 281 Splents 95 98 Stag's Evil. 56 Stavers 75 Stones drawn into the Body 73. Swoll'n 265. Bruis'd or hard 266 Strangles 15 19 False Strangles 20 String-halt 281 Stubs in the Foot 137 139 Surbating 125 T. TIck 6 Truncheons 257 U. VEin to take up 294 Vives 57 Urine to provoke 68. To stop 71 W. WArts 288 289 Wind short or broken 181 Wind-Galls 98 100 278 Withers wrung or hurt 167 Wolves Teeth 7 Worms 67 257 259 Wounds 159 Y. YEllows 37 AN INDEX OF THE PRINCIPAL REMEDIES Describ'd in this PART A. ALoes prepar'd 53 Golden Sulphur of Antimony 208 Arman for a sick Horse 10 B. BUrning Balsam 16 Chewing-Balls 11 Cordial-Balls 25 Green Balsam 146 Basilicum 148 C. CAtholicum for Clysters 224 Liquid Caustic 114 Perpetual Caustic 292 Clysters 24 55 59 63 69 204 215 216 219 221 269 270. Crocus Metallorum 202 Crystal Mineral 241 D. DEcoction of China 236 Decoction of Guaiacum ibid. Lieutenant's Decoction 201 Decoction of Sarsaparilla 237 E. FLectuary of Kermes 17 Emetic Wine 36 Essence of Vipers 61 Eye-Waters 44 45 F. FEbrifuge 220 H. HOney-Charge Red. 81 White Honey-Charge 293 L. LApis Infernalis 292 Lapis Mirabilis 47 Lime-Water 165 M. MErcurius dulcis 233 O. OIl for Clysters 63 Oil of Gabian 145 Oil of Lead 50 Oil de Merveille 145 Purging Oil. 65 Oil of Rue 213 Ointment Aegyptiacum 163 Ointment Baron's 78 Ointment Bartholomew ' s. 148 Ointment Basilicum 16 Ointment of Beetles 98 Ointment Coachman 's 291 Ointment Connestable ' s. 124 Ointment Countess's 150 Ointment Curtis ' s. 147 Ointment Doctor 's 118 Ointment Duke's 90 Ointment Hermit's 165 Ointment Hunter's 175 Ointment Mercurial 294 Ointment of Montpelier 78 Ointment of Naples 231 Ointment Neat-herd's 256 Duke of Newburg 's Ointment 278 Nerve-Ointment 106 Ointment of Oldenburg 291 Ointment Oppodeldoc 83 Ointment of Plantane 124 Ointment of Portugal 230 Schimt 's Ointment 152 Ointment Sicar ' s. 147 Ointment of Worms 99 Orvietan 60 P. PIlls for the Stomach 12 Cinnabar Pills 162 English Pills 197 Stinking Pills 245 Treacle Pills 25 Yellow Pills 190 Plaister of Walnuts 108 Angelic Powder 189 Uuniversal Cordial Powder 24 Cordial Powders 27 Powder for a Cough 193 German Ptisan 235 Purging Medicines 41 52 65 67 213 254 259. R. REmolade of Bohemia 104 Retoirs 102 Rue-water 50 S. SAl Polychrest 205 Sal Prunellae 241 Scammony prepar'd 42 Second Water Sublimate 233 T. TIncture of Sulphur 191 Treacle Diatessaron 72 U. VUlnerary Water 170 Vulnerary Potions 175 Y. YEllow Water 165 FINIS
of superfluous Blood to the lower part of the Foot it happens very frequently that the Blood is chang'd into Corruption and Matter and therefore by taking up the Vein the Nourishment of the Figg is Intercepted and the danger of a Relapse prevented tho' the Cure may be perform'd without that precaution Many Farriers endeavour to discredit this Operation because they are not accustom'd to it but 't is not attended with any dangerous Consequences for tho' the Skin is very thick in those Parts 't is impossible to Lame a Horse by taking up the Veins unless it be done purposely and therefore if your Farrier endeavour to perswade you that 't is either useless or dangerous to take up the Veins you may certainly conclude that he does not know how to perform the Operation When the Cure is perfected the Flesh every where clean and sweet no Roots nor Corruption appearing and only a great hollow or void place remaining in the Foot opposite to the Frush or in any other part of it by reason of the great quantity of Flesh that was either cut out or consum'd strew the whole Part with Rosin mixt with Flax or an old Rope sliced small which will fill up the Wound with Flesh if it be kept on with Bolsters of Flax and renew'd every two Days If the Flesh grow too fast as sometimes it does after one or two Applications wash the Part with the second Water and strew it with chopt Flax and Powder of Rosin covering it with dry Flax and Splents I have often observ'd in those Horses that are troubl'd with four Figgs one in each Foot that three of 'em may be easily cur'd but the fourth is almost always incurable because the Humours that fed all the rest is discharg'd upon this alone When the Part is fill'd up with Flesh 't will be convenient to dry it with Powder of calcin'd Tartar which will produce a Scurf that must not be remov'd till it fall away of it self then apply a Restringent Charge about the whole Foot made of Powder of unslak'd Lime mixt with the second Water or Aqua-vitae and reduc'd to a Paste or for want of that a black Restringent Charge which will compleat the growth of the Sole and Frush and the natural shape of both those Parts may be restor'd by the help of Iron Instruments after which the Horse will quickly be in a condition to endure Labour But during the whole progress of the Cure you must observe with extraordinary exactness and Judgment all the above-mention'd Cautions and Directions concerning the change and due Application of the Remedies After you have cut off the upper part of the Figg you may burn the rest with a red-hot Knife which prevents bleeding and then apply Bolsters with Oil of Bay to take away the Pain occasion'd by the burning and bind on the Dressing and Splents as before Two Days after take off the Dressing wash the Sore and wipe it very clean with dry Flax then endeavour to remove the Scab with a Slice and apply Oil of Bay as at first When the Scab is fallen off after two or three Dressings burn the Figg again continuing after the same manner till the Flesh appear clean sound and natural after which dry the Part as before Some preferr this Method before the use of Ointments and it must be acknowledg'd that it performs the Cure more speedily but the Figgs return and besides the Gristle that keeps the Frush firm is so spoil'd by the Fire that the Disease can never afterwards be Cur'd either by the Fire or otherwise as I have oftentimes observ'd in my Practice and for that reason have left off the use of Fire which I prescrib'd for the Cure of this Distemper in the preceeding Editions of this Book They who make use of violent Cauteries or Caustics will never be able to perform the Cure with Success for the Humour is only translated or repell'd to another side and when the Figg seems to be extirpated on one side it breaks out on the other and sticks to the Gristle or Bone of the Foot which inconveniency might be prevented by a due Application of the Ointments for stopping the course of the Humours of which Nature there are several Compositions in this Book and by mixing Aqua-fortis with 'em when they are too weak If the Figg be fasten'd to the Bone of the Foot you must promote the separation of the Scale and afterwards apply the Ointment Apostolorum or the Doctor 's Ointment dressing the Sore below and endeavouring always to close it above I might produce several Instances of the Cure of this Distemper but shall content my self with what I have said already on that subject CHAP. XCI Of Retraits or Pricks with Stubs or with a Nail in Shooing or in the Street IF a Prick with a Nail be neglected it may occasion a very dangerous Sore and fester so into the Flesh that the Horse's Foot cannot be sav'd without extream difficulty and therefore such fatal Consequences ought always to be prevented by a timely Cure When a Farrier perceives in Shooing a Horse that he complains or shrinks at every blow upon the Nail it must be immediately pull'd out and tho' Blood follow there is no danger only you must not drive another Nail into the same place such an accident seldom makes a Horse halt and he may be ridden immediately after it When a Horse halts presently after he is Shod you may probably conclude that some of the Nails press the Vein or touches him in the Quick To know where the Grief lies lift up his Lame Foot and knock with your Shooing-Hammer on the sound Foot for some skittish and unruly Horses will lift their Foot when you touch it tho' it be not Prick'd that you may be the better able to judge whether the Horse be Prick'd when you touch the Lame Foot Then lift up the sound Foot and knock gently upon the top of the Clenches on the Lame Foot and when you perceive that he shrinks when you strike any of the Nails you may conclude him to be Prick'd in that place Horses are usually Prick'd at the Heel in the Fore-foot and at the Toe in the Hinder-foot Then you must pluck off the Shooe pressing round the Foot with the Pincers and when you come to the place that is Prick'd he will endeavour to draw back his Foot and shrink extreamly As you draw forth the Nails you must observe diligently whether they are bow'd or whether there be any Flakes or if the Hole send forth Blood or Matter for a bow'd Nail may occasion Lameness by pressing the Vein and a Flake may either press the Flesh or the Vein and even sometimes you may perceive by the Nail that the Flake remains in the Foot which is a bad sign for you can hardly ever pull it out and so long as it continues in the Foot 't is impossible to perform the Cure Blood or Matter issuing out of
the Hole is an evident sign of the griev'd Part which being discover'd you must search the place to the bottom with the Horn of your Buttress then with your Renette search the Hole penetrating to the end of it where the Nail was rivetted on the Hoof if in the mean time you find that it does not pierce to the Quick nor causes any Pain thrust a Nail into the Hole and press the point of it on that side where the Vein lies and if you perceive that the Horse complains proceed to the application of convenient Remedies without any further tryal If the Horse does not complain when you search the Hole you may certainly conclude that he is not Prick'd in that place since you have examin'd the whole length of the Hole without finding any Matter and without occasioning the least Pain It happens not unfrequently that those Horses who have fleshy Feet slender Hoofs and weak or narrow Heels are always Lame when they are new Shod and sometimes to such a degree that they are hardly able to stand upright but they recover without the use of any Remedy And 't is to be observ'd that English Horses are usually most subject to this inconveniency Narrow-heel'd Horses are usually Lam'd if the Nails are riveted too high for tho' they be not Prick'd the Nails pierce too near the Quick and occasion a Pain that requires no other Cure but rest If a Nail be bow'd in a fleshy Foot it frequently makes the Horse halt tho' he be not Prick'd and if it be neglected too long 't will cause a Sore which must be cur'd as if the Horse were really Prick'd If the place be Imposthumated after you have procured the evacuation of the Matter inject boyling Oil with a little Sugar and stop the Hole with Cotton then tack on the Shooe with three or four Nails and stop the Foot with a Remolade which will draw the Heat into the Sole hinder the Matter from rising up to the Hair and take away the Pain Besides you must apply a black white or red Restringent Charge about the Foot keeping it from moisture and continue to dress it every Day till your Horse be sound The following Remedy is good for Pricking with a Nail As soon as you have open'd the Sore inject the Vulnerary Water cold stopping the Hole with Cotton the application must be renew'd the next Day which will compleat the Cure If you cannot procure the Vulnerary Water dress the Sore every Day with Unguentum Pompholygos and in few Days the Cure will be perfected If neither of these Medicines can be had take a sufficient quantity of Milfoil beat it and boil it with Vinegar in an Iron-Spoon or Ladle stirring it two or three times then pour the Vinegar very hot into the Hole made by the Nail and lay the Herbs upon it continuing after the same manner till it be heal'd I could make a very numerous Catalogue of Remedies for a Prick in a Horse's Foot but there are none more excellent than the Vulnerary Water Unguentum Pampholygos and Oil de Merveille which are known to be admirably effectual in this case Some Horses have their Heels so low that they knock 'em against the Ground as they go so that they halt down-right and in the mean time the Farrier searches about the Foot Pastern-Joint Shoulder and other Parts never imagining that the Lameness is occasion'd by a Bruise in the Frush If you perceive that the Frush trembles when you touch it and that there is Matter form'd underneath you may conclude the Seat of the Grief to be there in which case you must dress the Sore like a Wound made by a Nail and make the Remedies penetrate thro' the Heel between the Frash and Bone of the Foot applying proper Restringents of Lime and the Second Water or of Soot Vinegar and Whites of Eggs about the Frush The Knowledge of these Sores or Imposthumes is more difficult than the Cure All Vulnerary Herbs are good for Pricks in the beginning as Savin Vervain Birthwort Speedwell Agrimony Zedoary Adder's-Tongue Arsmart Ladies Bed-straw Dragons and several others which must be applied with Vinegar according to the Directions already prescrib'd in the use of Milfoil I thought fit to mention a considerable number of 'em that as soon as your Horse is Prick'd you may easily find one or other but those who know none of 'em must make use of proper Ointments In the beginning before the Wound be Impostumated you may with good Success observe this Method after the Hole is discover'd pour some Spirit of Vitriol into it stop it with Cotton and set on the Shooe if your Horse grow Lame again take off the Shooe dress his Foot with Spirit of Vitriol as before and in few Days he will be perfectly sound The Ointment of Pompbolix is also an excellent Remedy for Oxen that are hurt in the Feet with the Plow as sometimes it happens by the unskilfulness of the Plow-man in which case you must open the Sore wash it well with warm Wine melt some of the Ointment into it stop the Hole and continue after the same manner till the Cure be perfected CHAP. XCII Of Pricking with Stubs or Nails in the Streets IN great Cities the Streets are usually full of Nails which frequently Prick the Feet of Horses and therefore assoon as a Coach-man perceives his Horse begin to halt he ought immediately to alight and pluck out the Nail lest the Horse by continuing to tread upon the Stones drive it into the head as it happens very often Horses are also Prick'd with Stubs or Splinters of Wood which pierce the Sole and sometimes reach to the Bone of the Foot And both these Accidents are frequently the occasion of dangerous and stubborn Sores Assoon as you perceive that your Horse is Prick'd with a Nail or Stub you must pluck it out and if it be follow'd with Blood 't is a good sign If no Blood appear you may continue your Journey if your Horse does not halt but if he be Lame the safest way is to apply a present Remedy After the Nail or Stub is drawn forth melt some Spanish Wax and let it fall into the Hole to keep out Gravel or Dirt and thus you may without danger ride your Horse to some place where you may be able to procure convenient Remedies as the Vulnerary Water and Spirit of Vitriol which must be applied Cold or for want of those Unguentum Pompholygos I have often observ'd that the application of Spanish Wax has heal'd the Wound without any farther trouble but if your Horse continue to halt you must apply the above-mention'd Remedies or good Oil de Merveille or any other proper Ointment and stop the Hole with Cotton Apply also a good Remolade to the Sole and if the Wound be large a Restringent Charge about the Coffin-Bone at the Toe continuing to dress it after the same manner till it be heal'd If these Directions be