each half a pound of Gum-Tragacanth of Mastick of Myrrh of Sugar of Fitch Flower of each one Ounce let all these be beaten into fine Powder and then for a whole night infused in a good quantity of warm Water and the next day give him a quart of this Luke-warm putting thereto two Ounces of the Oyl of Roses use him to this ten or a dozen days and let grass be his food for that is best in this condition Cold or Pose the best way to cure it If to be had take one Ounce of the purest and finest paste of Elicampane which hath the strings at the roots taken from it if that cannot be gotten take an Ounce of the Conserve of Elicampane and dissolve it in almost a quart of Sack and so give it in an Horn to an Horse fasting and then ride him half an hour after and after that let him fast two hours do this three or four mornings feeding him as at other ordinary times Consumption This Disease is called the Dry Malady and indeed it is nothing else but an Ulceration of the Lungs proceeding from a sharp corroding humour ingendred by Cold or Surfeit Some would have this Malady to be the Mourning of the Chine but they are mistaken for the Dry Malady or general Consumption never evacuateth any thing at the nose but the Mourning of the Chine ever voideth thereat some filthy matter The signs hereof are Consumption of flesh and strength the Belly will be gaunt and the Back-bone hid he will offer to cough but cannot or if he doth it is but faintly This disease is incurable yet his life may be so prolonged with a competent strength to do a great deal of labour to the intent therefore that he may be serviceable you must purge his head then give him Cole-worts chopt small in his Provender and now and then give him the warm blood of a sucking Pig or the juice of Leeks mixt with Oyl and Wine But the best cure is to purge his body clean with comfortable and gentle Purges and then suffer him to run at grass a Winter and a Summer and he will either dye in that time or be restored to perfect health Colt-Evil It is a disease in the Yard Sheath and Cods of an Horse or Gelding by reason of heat and rankness of seed but to a Gelding it happens by weakness and coldness of Seed The too great abundance of Seed in an Horse causeth a stopping in the Pipe or conveyance of the Yard now a Gelding for want of strength and heat to send it forth his seed stops the passage and so his Yard and Sheath swell very much The best way to cure an Horse is to let him cover a Mare and after this ride him up to the Flanks in running Water against the stream If this will not do swim him against the stream five or six days following and then apply to the part this Plaister Take Bean-Meal and Mallows of each one handful Hogs grease half a Pound chop the Mallows small and so boyl them in a pint of White Wine when boyled put it into a cloth and wrap his Cods up close therein use this often and you will not only take down his swelling or continual erection of his Yard but heal any excoriation by sharpness of Seed If he shed his Seed much then beat Venice Turpentine and Sugar together and give him every morning a good round Ball thereof till you have stayed the running Clysters a general discourse thereof A Clyster or a Purgation is defined to be the emptying of superfluous humours which by their malevolent disposition do cumber and disturb the body now when nature is too weak to throw off these peccant humours then Art must be used either by Purgation Vomit Clyster or Suppository Clysters or Glisters and Suppositories contrary to the administration of other Physick are applied to the Posteriors whose natures are to purge the Guts to cleanse Ulcers to asswage the pains of Belly-ach or Cholick Now Clysters are not all of one nature for some are laxative some are restringent some cleansing some preparatory to other Physick for its better operation and therefore my advice is to all Farriers not to administer any Physick if the Horse be not soluble in body till having first breathed a vein and the next day give him a Clyster Now Clysters are made either of Decoctions or Drugs or Oyls and sometimes by the adding of Salt and the quantity of these is given according to the age strength greatness or corpulency of the Horse as for Example If an Horse be lean small weak and feeble then of a Decoction a quart is enough if on the contrary strong c. three pints of Oil half a pint and of Salt three drachms at most Of Drugs as Sena Cassia Agarick c. you must not exceed the quantity of three ounces at most in one Clyster and of Butter not four ounces and let your Clyster be never more than lukewarm Before he receive it let him be somewhat empty by raking c. and let him retain it half an hour and for the better effecting thereof let his keeper hold his Tail close to his Tuel for the space or time aforesaid the longer it is kept in the more effectual it will be to him observe to draw away the Clyster-pipe by degrees and not all at once Clyster against costiveness which causeth a loathing to meat drooping and languishing Take the fat of Beef-broth one pint and an half of good English Honey half a pint adding thereto of white Salt two drachms mix these well together and administer it blood-warm if it work not in half an hour after you have clapt his Taile close to his Tuel then ride him a little but not so much as to make him sweat then tie him up warm cloathed and littered for five hours in which time he will purge gently after this give him sweet Hay and white Water but let him not drink cold water in two days after This Clyster is most excellent for opening the body for purging offensive humours for removing obstructions and for cleansing the guts Clyster Restringent for an Horse that emptieth himself too much either by debility or Nature too much offended Take of Mellilot two handfuls or rather Pellitory and boil it to a Decoction of this take one pint adding thereto as much Cows milk coming warm from her and put also thereto the yolks of 3 new laid Eggs well beaten and well mixed with the said liquor and so give it your Horse blood-warm Clyster for a fat Horse or one newly taken from Grass Take Mallows three handfuls Marsh-mallow-roots cleansed and bruised and Violet leaves of each two handfuls Flax-seed three spoonfuls so many of the cloves of white Lilly roots as you may easily hold in your hand boil these in fair water from a Gallon to a Quart then strain it and put thereto of Sena one Ounce which most be infused or steeped in
the liquor three hours standing over the hot embers then add thereto half a pint of Sallet-Oyl give your Horse this blood-warm four days before the full and change of the Moon Clyster for any desperate sickness Take of Oyls of Dill and Camomile of Violets and of Cassia half an ounce of each and of brown Sugar-candy powdered three ounces of Mallow leaves half an handful boil the Mallows first to a Decoction in fair water then strain it and put therein all the aforesaid ingredients This Clyster is a sovereign help against all Feavers the Pestilence all languishing Distempers or Surfeits and will corroborate and strengthen in a very short time Clyster for the Plague or Pestilence Take half an Ounce of the pulp of Coloquintida the seeds and skins exempted three quarters of an ounce of Dragantium of Centaury and Wormwood of each half an handful a quarter of an ounce of Castoreum boil all these in three quarts of water to a quart then strain it and dissolve into it three ounces of the broth of Gerologundinum and of white Salt three drachms of Sallet-oil half a pint and so administer it being blood-warm Clyster lenitive against Convulsions Cramps Costiveness Surfeit or Foundring Take four ounces of Butter or half a pint of Sallet-oil and put it to the Decoction of Mallows and give it him Clyster-wise blood-warm it is a great Cooler of the body and doth infinitely asswage pain Clyster for the Cholick Take salt water or new made brine a quart dissolve therein a pretty quantity of Soap and so blood-warm administer This Clyster is not only good against the Cholick Griping of the Guts but any other distemper Dropsie This disease is known by an universal swelling of all the body in general but especially the legs through the abundance of water lying between the skin and the flesh the Belly will swell like to a Mares with Foal a swelling also betwixt the great Bag and the Kell this disease is farther known by shortness of breath loss of natural colour want of appetite and a continual christ This disease which is an evil habit of the body is engendered by surfeits and unreasonable labour and is cured by taking two handfuls of Wormwood and boil it in Ale or Beer a quart or better and give it the Horse to drink luke-warm morning and evening at noon let him drink his own water But the best and most approved remedy is to take a Gallon of strong Ale and settling it over the fire scum off the froth which ariseth then take a handful of Wormwood with the stalks and put them therein and let it boil to a quart then take it off and strain it well then dissolve into it three ounces of the best Treacle and put in also an ounce and a half of long Pepper and Grains beaten to a fine powder then brew them together till it be luke-warm and so give it him to drink the next day let him blood in the Neck-vein and anoint his Fore-legs with Traine Oil then turn him into good grass and do not doubt his recovery Drenches general for all Diseases in Horses If for colds take half an ounce of the powder called Diapente the way how to make it I have already discovered in a Chapter foregoing and brew it with a pint of Sack if for sickness at heart brew it in Muskadine and give it the Horse fasting in the morning give him this to drink as soon as ever you see him begin to droop and so continue doing for three or four mornings Another Drench you may make by taking two handfuls of Celandine root and leaves chop them and bruise them then take of Rue red Sage and Mint as much of Aloes half an ounce boil these in a pottle of Ale to a quart and give it the Horse luke-warm Or take four ounces of Diapente and mix it with four ounces of Honey clarified and keep it close in a Glass then take a pint of sweet Wine and put half an ounce thereof into it and it is an excellent Drench Take of Liquorish an ounce of Anniseeds Cumminseeds and Elecampane roots of each half an ounce of Turmerick and Bays of each a quarter of an ounce of long Pepper and Fenugreek of each two drachms beat these small and sierce them and put five spoonfuls into a quart of Ale warmed with a little Butter or Oyl The powder of Brimstone mixt with sweet Wine is a very good Drench The root of the Sea-onion the roots of Poplar mingled with common Salt given in water preserveth health a long time Garlick and Housleek beaten together in a Mortar and then boiled in Ale from a pottle to a quart and mixt with Liquorish Anniseeds and Sugar-candy with a pretty quantity of Sallet oil is an incomparable Drench for any internal maladies proceeding from hot causes Of Drenches and their uses let this suffice Diseases commonly infesting the Spleen The Spleen is the receptacle of Melancholy and the dregs of blood there is no part of the body more subject to diseases than this is for through its Sponginess it is inclined to suck in all manner of filth and communicate it to the whole body The diseases of the Spleen usually afflict Horses in the Summer most proceeding from the greedy eating of green food The signs of these Maladies are Heaviness Dulness pain on the left side hard swellings short breath much groaning The speediest way to cure him is to make him sweat then take the leaves of Tamarisk bruised a good quantity of Cumminseed beaten to powder and boil them in a quart of white wine and so give it him luke-warm This last is not the least nor a despicable remedy Take Cumminseed and Honey of each six ounces of Lacerpitium as much as a Bean of Vinegar a pint and put all these in three quarts of water and let it stand so all night in the morning give him a quart to drink having fasted all the night Diseases of the Gall. If the Liver be troubled with many diseases so is the Gall which is a long slender little greenish Bladder fixed underneath the Liver which receiveth all the Cholerick bitter moisture which would otherwise not only be offensive to the Liver but likewise the whole body Now if the passage of this necessary Vessel be stopped there will certainly follow many diseases as the Lax Bloody-flux Yellows and the like Or if the way whereby such Choler should issue forth of the Bladder of the Gall down into the Guts and Excrements is closed up and so aboundeth with too much Choler hence proceedeth Suffocation heat thirst and a disposition to rage and fury and for certain in any beast there is not a more dangerous disease than the overflowing of the Gall. The Symptoms of these Maladies are yellowness of the skin yellow Jaundice with costiveness of body The Cure is to boil good store of Saffron in Milk or Ale Saffron and Anniseeds mixt together But I am of the opinion
rise again The Symptoms of this disease are holding down his head staring up of his hair coughing staggering behind trembling after water loathing his meat stiff-going and disability to rise when down but the most remarkable of all signs is his belly will cling up to his back and his back will rise up like a Camels The first thing you are to do in the curing this Malady is to rake his Fundament then give him a Clyster finding the Horses belly emptied then take a quart of Malmsey of Sugar half a quartern half an Ounce of Cinamon of Liquorish and Anniseeds of each two spoonfuls beaten into fine powder which being put into the Malmsey warm them over the fire adding thereto some Honey which being molten give it the Horse luke-warm which done walk him up and down an hour if the weather be tolerably warm then let him fast upon the bit two hours being well cloathed and litter'd and when you give him Hay let it be sprinkled with Water and give him his clean sifted Provender by a little at once his drink must be warm Mashes of Malt and Water upon his recovery draw blood from him in the Neck-Vein and moderately exercise him often Feaver I have in a Chapter foregoing treated of several sorts of Feavers however I must not in this place omit speaking something more thereof An Horse that is Feaverish may be known by his suddainly falling ill his heaviness and gauntness of his Belly when it first seizeth him he will quake exceedingly The Cure Take half an Ounce of Diapente one Ounce of Bay-berries half an Ounce of long Pepper beat these together then take half an Ounce of Diascordium and put all these into a Pint and half of strong Beer and making it luke-warm give him it any time of the day to drink but take no blood from him in any case it is death if you do only cloath and litter him warm the Diascordium will cause him to sleep Now after the Drink hath done working and the Horse left off sweating then give him half a Pint of White-Wine and two Ounces of Honey mixt together and made luke-warm then air him and four hours after give him a Cordial made of three pints of stale Beer and a quarter of a Pint of Honey and a quarter of a pound of Butter and a good piece of Houshold bread boyl them a little together and give it him luke-warm and so set him up for that night Next morning fasting give him the Cordial again and at ten of the Clock give him warm Water and Bran at three of the Clock White-Wine and Honey and at night warm Water and Bran. Thus do with airing him sometimes and as you see him mend you may air him oftner at which time take some blood from his Spur-Veins and never question his cure Flux in Horses A Flux proceedeth from cold or from drinking too much after eating too plentifully of Provender for the Water coming thereunto causeth it to swell whereby crudities are bred in the Stomach and so carried down to the Guts and this occasioneth the Flux It proceeds sometimes from too soon travelling after Provender it being not well digested before or from drinking cold Water when he is too hot or from eating Hens-Dung or a Spider Be not over hasty in stopping this Flux unless you perceive he purgeth too much and over violently for then undoubtedly Nature is highly offended and then give him a laxative Clyster which I prescribed before in the Chapters of Clysters and that will carry away from him whatever within offends him a day after give him this Drink made of Bean Flower and Bole-Armoniack Powder of each three Ounces mix them with a quart of Red-Wine give it him Blood-warm and afterwards keep him warm in the Stable giving him Hay and Oats a little at a time Another way Take of wood-Ashes finely searced and of Bole Armoniack made into a fine powder of each a like quantity put them into the water that he is to drink and let him drink thereof morning and evening and this will stay his Flux Glaunders I shall wave what the Ancients have said of the Glanders imagining that it comes from the Latin word Glandulae and say that it is a running Impostume engendred either by cold over much fasting or long thirst or by eating foul meat or else by infection of other Horses It is a Flux or Rheum which sometimes runneth at one Nostril sometimes at both now he that would perfectly cure this disease must consider the matter which issueth from the Horses Nose If the humour be clear and transparent then it is not very dangerous if white it is worse yet with no great difficulty cured If it be yellow it is infectious yet curable and therefore separate him from your sound Horses If that yellow be mixed with red or if the colour of the matter be like Saffron the Horse is in a manner incurable He ought to consider whether the matter hath an evil smell if so it is the sign of an Ulcer if it stink not at all it is a certain sign of death To facilitate his cure you must give him warm Mashes of Malt and Water with purging his head by sneezing you may then give him any of these several drinks First you may take a pottle of Urine an handful of Bay Salt and a good quantity of brown Sugar-Candy then boyl it to a quart after this adde Anniseeds and Liquorish beaten to fine powder and give it him blood-warm to drink Secondly you may take Swines Grease and boyl it in Water then take the fat from the water and mingle it with a little Oyl Olive and a good quantity of Urine and half as much White-Wine when it is luke-warm give him a quart thereof to drink Thirdly take a quart of Ale an Ounce and half of grated bread the Yolks of two Egges of Ginger Saffron Cloves Cinamon Nutmegs Cardamomum Lavender Galingal and Honey of these an indifferent quantity mix these together strain it and give it him to drink But if the Glaunders be of the worser sort which will be known by the aforesaid Symptoms then take half a pound of Swines Blood adde to it a pound of the juice of Beets with three Ounces of Euphorbium finely beaten and when it hath boyled some time take it off from the fire and put thereto another Ounce of Euphorbium keep this Oyntment and anoint therewith his Nostrils by dipping two very long feathers or little rods therein and so rub them to and fro his Nostrils then walk him abroad and do thus four days together and this by experience hath been found an excellent cure Gargel Murrain Plague and Pestilence Blood-letting is very dangerous in these Pestilential diseases The signs when to know an Horse afflicted with this distemper are Gumming thick at the eyes hanging down of the head staggering as he goeth swelling of his head falling away of his flesh notwithstanding a good appetite
Castle-Soap scraping it thin and putting it in two Ounces of Dialphera bray them in a Mortar together and make them up into balls as big as an Egge and lay them by till you have occasion to use them one of these balls you must dissolve into a pint and half of strong Beer scalding hot and give it him luke-warm one of these balls will effect the cure for it will soon cause him to empty himselâ— by Urine and scouring Purgations their nature and manner of Administration There are five several ways by which an Horse may be purged First by Pills and they are principally for the head drawing down all peccant humours from thence into the body and carrying them off with the Excrements Secondly Potions which do cleanse the Stomach Belly and Guts throwing off all ill humours which are there offensive Thirdly Clysters and they are of several sorts some to bind some to loosen some to heal Ulcers and others to mitigate the sharpness of peccant humours Fourthly Suppositories which are more mild and gentle than your Clysters are and may be administred when they cannot Now it is very requisite that the expert Farrier know how to make choice of his Ingredients and when gotten how to compound them and lastly for what diseases or maladies they are most applicably proper and that you may not be ignorant of the nature of some Simples know that Colliquintida Scammony and Elebore are strong Manna Cassia and Prunes are more gentle those which hold a mediocrity in their operation are Rhubarb Agarick Aloes and Sena Now there is a fifth way of purgation and that is by Grass that which will scowr most is a new mown Meadow for that will not only rake his guts but keep him from gathering flesh and therefore it will not be prudence to suffer him to run there above twelve or thirteen days and then away with him to some other Grass untouched by thy Sithe and in a little time he will belly and recover flesh But as for Purgations in the Stable you must heedfully follow their precepts who have travailed far in this Art and Mystery and first of all the Seasons of the year must be duly considered For if you are to give your Horse in Winter a purge you must first prepare him by breathing a Vein keeping him in a day or two from feeding on any meats that are hard of concoction as Hay or Straw To this intent therefore let his meat be for three or four days before Wheat or Rye Bran prepared Beans Pease or Oats well sifted and let him take his purgation fasting If you will purge away his ill humours engendred by surfeits filth and slime then take a pint of White-Wine or a quart of strong Ale and put herein as much of the powder of the best Mechoacan as will lye on a shilling at four times having given him this luke-warm trot him out a Mile or more and having stood upon the Trench till noon give him a warm Mash Whether in Summer or Winter if you perceive your Horse surfeited full of colds or generally indisposed first phlebotomizing him give him a purge in this manner Take two Ounces of Aloes Succotrina pulverized and with sweet butter make it up into Pills give them to him over night having fasted the day before and the next morning give him a sweet Mash which will make the Pills work the more kindly and so let him fast till towards the Evening and in that time they will clear his body wonderfully some Horses are of so strong a constitution they will not purge till the second day and therefore be careful in the mean time how you order him When you think he hath done purging give him a sweet Mash then Oats and Bran and for all night Hay sprinkled with Water If you will purge the body of an Horse newly taken from Grass first rake him and then give him this Clyster Take of Mallows three handfuls Marsh-Mallow roots cleansed and bruised and Violet leaves of each two handfuls Flax seed three spoonfuls so many of the Cloves of white Lilly roots as you may easily hold in your hand boyl all these from a Gallon to a Wine quart then strain it and put thereto of Sena one Ounce infusing it in the liquor three hours over the Embers and put thereunto an half pint of Saliet-Oyl which being blood-warm administer Clyster-wise The next day after give him this drink Take a quart of the strongest Ale wort a quarter of a pint of ordinary Honey two Ounces of London Treacle mix and brew all together very well There are several other sorts of purgations which for brevity sake I shall omit referring you to the ingenious indeavours of Mr. Thomas Grey in his Expert Farrier Piss how to make an Horse vent his Vrine that is troubled with obstructions or otherwise You must first draw out his Yard and bathe it well with White-Wine and left it should be stopped with dirt pick it and scowr it well then put a little Oyl of Camomile into his Yard with a little Wax Candle and a bruised Clove of Garlick if that will not effect your purpose then take this course to force him to stale viz. Take two handfuls of Parsley of Coriander one handful stamp them well and put them into a quart of Wine wherein was dissolved an Ounce of Cake Soap and give it him to drink luke-warm but some of none of the least skilled in what appertains to an Horse give only White-Wine Cake Soap and Butter well mingled together making him drink it luke-warm But Mr. Markham by his own experience finds nothing for this distemper more soveraign than to take a quart of strong Ale and put it into a pottle pot then take as many keen Radish roots clean washt being slit through and bruised as will fill up the pot then stopping the pot very close so that it cannot admit of Air let it stand so four and twenty hours then strain the roots and Ale very hard into a clean vessel and give it the Horse in a morning fasting then ride him but not violently and having done this several times your Horse will be so freed from those stoppages or obstructions that he shall piss very freely Pissing of Blood This disease happens several ways either by the Stone or exposing an Horse to a leap beyond his ability or by over hard riding I need not describe the signs since they will be very visible to the eye we are then only to take cognizance of the Cure which is thus performed Take of Blood-wort and Shepheards Purse of each three Ounces stamp them well and boyl them in fair water and when strained and the liquor blood-warm give it the Horse to drink follow this course five several mornings together Or thus having cleansed his Sheath and Yard from all manner of filth with broken Beer and Butter then let him blood in the Neck and Mouth then having steeped green Onions in water
not cut in sunder any Master-Sinew or main Tendon then tent it two or three days with Hogs-grease to the intent the hole may be the more dilated This being done make this Injection Take of Sublimate and Precipitate of each as much as will lie upon a groat Alom and white Coperas of each three ounces burn all these in an earthen pot but let not the bottom burn which you may prevent by first rubbing thereon some Oil then take two quarts of fair water and having boiled it alone and scummed it put therein having first taken it from the fire as much of this powder as will lie on a Crown-piece inject of this water in a Syringe and it will not only kill but heal the Fistula in a very short time Some not inferiour in skill to any take this course for the Cure viz. Take one pint of the best Honey of Verdegriese one ounce made into fine powder and so boil them together near an hour upon a soft fire having so done strain it into some Vessel that is clean and preserve it for your use this is an incomparable Ointment wherewith to tent any Fistula or Polevil for it descendeth to the bottom and speedily eateth away all dead flesh whereby that which is carnifying may heal the better If the matter or corruption be plentiful then dress him herewith twice a day but continue so doing no longer than one day then dress him after this manner Take of Turpentine Swines-grease Sheeps-suet of each a like quantity and being molten together make a Salve thereof and dress him therewith six days together observing to make your tent of very fine soft linnen cloth and fine flax not making your tent too big after the second dressing then lay upon and about the sore this Pultess First take two gallons of fair water and having boiled it scum it well then take three handfuls of Mallows and the like of the leaves of Violets with two of Oat-meal or more put these into the former water with Hogs-mort and fresh Butter of each a pound and let it boil till it become thick like paste and so apply it hot to the sore Now some on the other side will make use of no other thing for the cure of a Fistula than this Take the outermost green shells of Walnuts and put them in a Tub strowing three or four handfuls of Bay-salt upon them on the top midst and bottom and so keep them all the year and when they have occasion to use them they take a pint thereof with a little Bay-salt two ounces of black Soap half a spoonful of May-butter or instead thereof fresh Butter and incorporate them well together and with this they tent or plaister the Fistula anointing the Sorrance with Turpentine two hours before they lay on the Plaister observing thus to do till the Fistula be perfectly healed Lastly let me prescribe you two Remedies more not inferiour to any afore-recited and I have done Take Verdigriese Butter and Salt mingle and melt these together having so done pour it scalding hot into the sore and thus use it till all the flesh be red after this tent it with Verde-griese burnt Allom Wheat-flower and the Yolks of Eggs well beaten and mingled together and lastly skin it with Barm and Soot mixt together Take a pint of the strongest Vinegar you can get and having made it hot on the fire add thereunto of the Lome of a Clay-wall which hath no lime in it but pick not out the straws therein and so boil them together till they become a Salve being indifferently hot spread it over the Sorance especially such places as feel hard do thus twice a day and it will not only ripen but heal the Fistula this is also a sovereign Cure for any galled or bruised back how grievously sore soever Frets A Fret is not much unlike an Ulcer only it is more hard and knotty not spreading but residing in one place sometimes between the skin and flesh Faâ—cy like and will not break The best and most approved Cure is to make a strong Lye with old Urine Ash-ashes and green Copperas and bathing the knots herewith it will not only kill but heal them Others take a Snake and throwing away the head and tail roast the rest of the body cut into pieces and preserving the grease that droppeth anoint the place aggrieved healing thereby this malady in a short time but in anointing the sore they always are very cautious they touch no sound place therewith for the venenosity thereof will poison Now if your Horse be fretted or galled under the belly as it frequently happens when the Girths are crumpled or knotty and there withal drawn too strait then take of Oyl de Bay and Oyl of Balm two ounces of Pitch two ounces of Tar two ounces and one ounce of Rozin mingle these well together and anoint the fretted place therewith then take chop'd Flax and lay thereon not removing but letting it fall off of it self this will infallibly cure him Gravelling An Horse comes to be gravelled by sand getting in between the sole and the hoof or the sole and the shoe sometimes on the inside sometimes on the outside and sometimes on both sides of the heel settling at the quick and there fretteth and festereth Sometimes it happeneth by the calking or spong of the shooe which by much labour and travel doth eat through the hoof into the quick of the foot and so much the sooner by how much the Horses heels are soft and weak or that the shooe lying too flat to his foot the gravel getting in can in no wise get out again His grief will be soon discovered by his halting and complaining on the same foot which as soon as you shall discover take up that foot he endeavoureth to favour and you shall find it more hot than usual and warmer than the rest of his feet Then take off his shooe and with your Drawing iron draw the place till you come to the very quick and having pickt forth all the Gravel and crusht forth the blood and corruption then wash your sore clean with this Copperas-water Take two quarts of fair water and put it into a clean Skillet or Posnet then put thereto half a pound of green Copperas and of Salt one handful of ordinary Honey one spoonful and two or three bunches of Rosemary boil these together till one half of the liquor be consumed a little before you take it from the fire add thereunto of Alom the quantity of a Wallnut taking it from the fire let it stand till it is cold and then put it in some Vessel for your use After this pour on your sore Sheeps-tallow and Bay-salt molten together scalding hot then stop up the hole with Hurds and so set on the shooe again Dress it thus twice or thrice and it will be whole but let his foot be throughly well before you either travel him or let his foot touch water Now you
keeping the nether part of the Boot close about his Leg but letting the upper part be open and wide then take your Composition as hot as the Horse can suffer it into the Boot fastening the Boot so about the Mane that the Mixture may be about the shoulder before and behind thus do every day till you have expelled the grief which will be in a short time Shoulder splat I have already discoursed of the Shoulder-wrench and Shoulder pight it now falls in my way to treat of the Shoulder-splat but first give me lieve to give you the difference between them The Shoulder-wrench commonly is occasioned by some slip or by making the Horse to make too sudden a stop upon false ground or by some fall or by too short turning Shoulder-pight cometh by some brush strain or fall which the Horse received by a leap stroke or bruise against some hard thing whereby the member is dislocated Now the shoulder-splat is when by some dangerous slip or slide upon some slippery or yielding ground the horse hath his shoulder parted from the breast tearing the flesh from the Brisket leaving an open cleft in the flesh not in the skin which causeth a balk to be underneath the body which will afterwards swell hereupon the Horse will not only halt but draw his leg after him that is a sufficient Symptom to know the Shoulder-splat by Now as to the Cure first put a strait pair of Pasterns on his forefeet then take of Dialthea one pound of Sallet-oil one pint of Oil de Bay half a pound and of fresh Butter half a pound melt all these ingredients together in an earthen pot and anoint the Sorrance therewith and also round about the inside of the shoulder about three days after at farthest both the Sorrance and all the shoulder will swell then with a Lancet prick all those swoln places you may use a sharp hot Iron and having so done anoint it again with the Ointment aforesaid but if you see the swelling will not be asswaged but that it cometh to suppuration then lay it open in that place where is the greatest swelling and is softest having so done tent it with Flax dipt in Turpentine and Hogs-grease melted together you must renew the tent twice a day if you will have a speedy Cure Shoulder pinched This Sorrance in the shoulder differs from the former for this commonly cometh when the horse is two young and at that age laboured and strained very much or forced to carry too great a burthen The Signs are his breast will be very narrow and by reason of the consumption of the flesh the sore part of the Shoulder-bone will stick out and be much higher than the flesh Several men several opinions as to the Cure of this Malady as for my own part I shall only make mention of what I have a long time experienced and that is first Rowel your Horse then lay this Charge or Plaister all over his Breast Shoulders and Withers it is thus made Take of Pitch and Rozin of each a pound of Tar half a pint boil these together in a pot then take it off and when it is indifferently cooled take a stick and bind thereto some Flax and dip it into the Charge and daub all the shoulder over therewith after that take Flax as near as you can of the same colour of the Horse and lay them on the Charge observing every other day to take out the Rowels and having cleansed them place them as before thus you must do for at least sixteen days at the expiration of which time take away your Rowels quite and heal up the wounds with tents dipt in Turpentine and Hogs grease molten together Sinew-sprung Sinew-sprung is when the Sinew is broken and severed from the flesh The Cure Take of the leaves and roots of Solomons-seal and of great Cumfry an equal quantity pound them small and infuse them in white Wine a day and a night then boil it and when it is indifferent warm bathe the place grieved therewith and after that bind thereunto the herbs and roots also do this once a day till the grief be remedied Sinew-grieved If the Horse complain only of the Sinew by being grieved some way or other without laceration or cutting then take a good quantity of Mallows and boil them in water till they grow tender then drain the water from them and so stamp them very well and apply them to the member thus grieved let the application be hot and if you do thus over night he will be well the next day however give him five or six days rest afterwards Sinew strained If you would corroborate a sinew strained by an over-reach or otherwise then take tried Hogs-grease Horse-grease May-butter and Sallet-oil five ounces of each of new Wax two ounces and of Comphire a third part to all the rest melt and mix them together and so make an Ointment thereof and so therewith anoint the part grieved You may double the quantity of your ingredients or treble them so that you preserve your composition in a Gally-pot it will keep a twelvemonth Sinew-spong Take a pint of Linseed-oil and boil it then add thereto a quartern of Aqua vitae and stir them together anointing your Horses leg therewith he will be perfectly cured If you would cure a Sinew-strain in the fore or hinder-leg growing above the foot-lock-joint upon the back part of the fore-leg and much about the Ankle-bone upon the back part of the hind-leg this over-straining will cause a great swelling and knotting For the Cure Take Nerve-oil and Turpentine of each a penniworth mix these together and you need use it but four several times and it will be well let there be an intermitting day for his dressing Sinew strain new or old a most excellent and speedy Remedy approved of by most Farriers The Shackle-veins in the Pastern you must first take blood from then take a very fat Puppy-dog of two months old or less kill him and with all expedition fley him then bruise his flesh and bones together and lay them upon a cloth and bind it close to the Sinew strain as warm as you can but be mindful to take out all the Guts before you bruise the flesh and be sure that after blood-letting you bathe the sinew-strain with Aqua Vitae bathing it in with your hand and then lay the aforesaid flesh thereunto wind a cloth two or three times about the leg to keep it on Some are of opinion that a fat Cat thus killed and bruised is much better because it draws more and knits better I shall leave it to your discretion to make choice of which you please Scratches The Scratches may be as well called by other names as this viz. Mules Kibes Rats tails Crepanches Pains c. they being almost all of one and the same nature and disposition of all which I have particularly discourst however I would not have you judge me either tautological
in a vessel closely stopped eighteen hours take of the liquor one pint and adde thereunto a pint of White-Wine then tumble them together till they appear slimy and so give it him to drink this given him eight mornings together will not only stop his flux of blood but reduce his Urine to its pristine colour Pursiveness how cured There are some Horses naturally troubled with this distemper as being Cock-throppled that is to say the Wind-pipe is over long and so thereby becoming crooked his wind is obstructed and vents it not but with great difficulty but as this infirmity is natural so I judge it incurable and therefore we shall only treat of that pursiveness which cometh accidentally and that is when the Thropple is too much filled with fat or over strained upon his water which often happens by the watering course as they call it of an over confident Ignoramus or it happens sometimes by much Galloping on a full Stomach and lastly it comes by Colds and Glanders You need no symptoms they are so apparent but as for the remedy take of new Milk one pint of Sallet-Oyl half as much give him this blood-warm and then thrust down his throat two new laid Egges let his Hay be sprinkled with Water and his Oats washt in Ale and by doing this four or five mornings you will find an amendment If you find this doth not answer expectation for the best of Remedies cannot plead Infallibility then take of Barley two gallons steep it in Water two days and shift the Water every day then take it clean from the water wherein it was first steeped and boyl it in three gallons and an half till it burst adding thereto of Anniseeds Liquorish and Raisins of the Sun of each a pound but let the Raisins be stoned so let it boyl one hour then take it from the fire and strain it every dry then put to the liquor one pint of Honey and of Sugar-Candy powdered six Ounces then put your liquor into a clean Earthen bottle keeping it closely stopped and four mornings together give your Horse thereof to drink blood-warm not much above a pint at a time lay the Barley before him and if he will eat he may if not put some thereof into a bag and perfume his head therewith this Medicine hath been approved of by the most experienced Farriers in England Rot in Horses It is one thing for an Horse to be said he is rotten and another thing to say he hath the Rot for to be internally rotten is incurable but to have the Rot is to be afflicted with the Dropsie or some other disease of near a kin This disease happens to Horses frequently very young as when Colts feed in Marshy and wet grounds or when but newly backt and over-ridden their blood becomes inflamed thence comes putrefaction and corruption thence Pustuls ingender in the Liver which produce either Dropsie Feltrick or Rot. The most remarkable signs of this distemper is after a journey a swelling and burning in his legs and having prest the part with your fingers there will remain a dint or pit he will pant much lift and beat in the Flanks with a swelling under his belly c. The method of the cure must be first to bleed him under the Tail then take of Mares Milk or Red Cows Milk two quarts then take a lump of Arement and then if you can get the sweat of a young black Horse and mingle the Arement with the Sweat and Milk mix these well together and divide it into three parts giving him one thereof each morning but let him not drink after it in eight hours if the Season will afford them give him after this the green blades of Rye if not Barley steeped in new Milk But after this if you feel him cold in the Pasterns and Joynts and that he ever and anon stumbleth as you lead him look upon him as lost and irrecoverable Strangury or Strangullion The bladder of an Horse according to the opinion of the skilful is troubled with three very dangerous distempers viz. the Strangury Pain-piss and Stone The Strangury or Strangullion is when the Horse hath great inclination to stale and yet cannot void his Urine unless it be by drops It commonly proceeds either from sharpness of the Urine occasioned by over much travail or else by exulceration of the Bladder or finally some Aposthume in the Liver and Kidneys which breaking and the matter falling into the Bladder the sharpness thereof causeth a continual desire to piss without ability For his Cure bathe the Horses hinder loins with warm water then take bread and Bay-berries and tempering them with May Butter convey down his throat two balls thereof for three mornings together or take a quart of new Milk and a quartern of Sugar and brewing them well together give the Horse to drink thereof five mornings together Otherwise make a strong Decoction by boyling your first quantity of Water to half a pint three times over with keen Onions clean pilled and Parsley then take a quart thereof and put thereunto a spoonful and half of London Treacle and as much of the powder of Egge-shells finely searced and give thereof to the Horse to drink several mornings Lastly take this incomparable receipt which hath been by divers tryed with great success You must get Saxafrage Nettle-roots Parsley-roots Fennel-roots Sperage-roots of Dodder of each one handful bruise all these Ingredients together and boyl them on a gentle fire with White-Wine until a third part be consumed then put to it of Salt one handful of Sallet Oyl and the lard of Goats of each three Ounces of Honey half a pound when all these are boyled strain and wring them very hard and of this liquor give your Horse one pint every morning tasting blood-warm But if in the standing or boyling it become thick dissolve it again with White-Wine and after the first boyling it must be only warmed Shedding of the Seed This shedding of the seed is no more than what among men is called the Running of the Reins the general cause from whence this infirmity doth arise is from either the abundance and rankness of the seed or from the weakness of the seminal vessels which are not capable of retaining the seed till it is arrived to its proper thickness but there is yet one more probable cause than what is already alledged and that is by over much covering Mares or by some great strain in leaping There are some that take this way to cure him by riding the Horse up to the belly in cold water so that his Stones may be covered therewith bathing his fundament with Water and Oyl then covering him warm give him every day to drink Red-Wine and Hogs-Dung but if you will be better advised and that by long experience take my counsel get a quart of Red-Wine and put therein a little Acatium the juice of Plantain and a little Mastick and give it him to drink after
distemper which would have indanger'd his life The signs are palpable to the eye viz. a rising of the flesh or swelling and therefore in the first place it would not be amiss to anoint it with Acopum The Cure is to take of Pitch and Virgins-wax of each three ounces of Rozin half a pound of the juice of Hysop and of Galbanum of each half an ounce and of Mirrah-secondary half a pound Bdellium Arabicum Populeon and the drops of Storax of each half an ounce and of Deer-suet half a pound boil these together in an earthen pot when it is cold take Bitumen half a pound Bole-armoniack and of Costus of each one ounce and a half make all these into fine powder then mingle them with the former boiled Ingredients and boil them over again very well then take it off the fire and pour this commixture into cold Water and afterwards make it into rowls like ordinary Salves When you have occasion to make use of this Salve spread hereof on Leather proportioning the piece so that it may cover the swelling all over and so lay it on this will not only asswage the swelling but corroborate the Nerves and Sinews let it stick on as long as it can If this will not do I know not what will having tried this medicine often and having always found it to work its cure in bringing a swoln horses Leg to its pristine smalness when all other applications proved ineffectual The French take this course for Legs that are troubled with swellings They take a piece of strong Woollen cloth very course and thereof make an Hose to the shape of his Leg a pretty deal larger so that it may reach from the lower part of his Pastern up to the Cambrel making it strait at the Pastern but wide above at the Knee they then take a pottle of Wine-lees Beer-lees will serve and boil them well then put to them a pound of clarified Hogs-grease when melted and well stirred together adding thereunto as much Wheat-bran as will thicken it reducing it to the body of a Pultess as hot as the Horse can suffer it having filled the hose or hosen herewith they then close it a top thus letting him stand two days and on the third they open the hose at the top and pour therein molten Hogs-grease very hot as much as it will hold because they say this will renew the Pultess then close up the hose again and let him stand three days more after this having rubbed the Horses leg down very well if they find the swelling is not quite gone they will let him stand other two days otherwise the Cure is effected Now the hinder legs of an Horse are occasioned to swell many times by the uneavenness of his standing the floor being higher before than behind or else by setting up the Horse in the Stable too hot and then taking cold the blood grease and humours fall down into his hinder legs For this I shall propound a cheap Cure Take Train-oil and warm it on the fire and therewith twice a day that is morning and evening anoint his Legs but if there happen to be a stiffness with the swelling then take Violet-leaves Strawberry-leaves and Primrose-leaves of each an handful boil all these in new milk till they become very soft then taking it off the fire add thereunto of the Oil of Nerval of Petroleum and of Pamphillion of each an ounce stir these together till they become blood-warm and herewith anoint the Legs Nerves sinews and Joints of the Horse six or seven days chafing and rubbing in this Ointment very well and you shall work the Cure in a little time Leprosie The Leprosie is a moist maunge proceeding from very great surfeits occasioned by immoderate riding and is a disease not only dangerous to the afflicted but infectious to other Horses that shall come near the thus diseased Horse You need not much enquire into the Symptoms of this distemper being so visible to the eye but rather look after the Cure of a disease so dangerous and infectious The cure must be effected first by bleeding him in the Neck then take an old Card or Curry-comb and scrape away the scurf so that the sorrance look raw and bloody then tye him up to the Rack so high that he may not be able to bite rub or lick himself then anoint him with this Ointment following take Arsnick or Resolgar and Hogs grease tryed the aforesaid ingredient being first beaten into fine powder mingle these well together and thereof make an Ointment and that your Ointment may sink in the better hold a hot bar of Iron near the Horse when you anoint him having so done be sure you wash away clean this Ointment so that none remain with the strongest Chamber Lye you can get after this untye him and give him meat as formerly thus you must do once every day till he be perfectly cured Or you may use this remedy which is not only good for a Leprosie but also any Farcy Scab or Maunge in any part of the body first let him blood in the Neck then take half a pound of Tobacco and infuse it in a quart of old stale Urine and then put it over a soft or slow fire so that it may only simper and thus let it stand a whole night then may you herewith wash the part grieved and this will prove a very certain remedy Or you may use this means for the cure aforesaid which doth both draw heal and make the hair to grow Take a quart of Tar and set it on the fire then adde to it half a pound of Bores grease an Ounce of Copperas a quarter of a pound of Rozen two Ounces of Verdigrease a quart of Linseed Oyl a quarter of a pound of Salt peter two Ounces of Wax a quart of Honey boil all these together till half be consumed then strain it and keep it in a pot for your use When at any time you have occasion to make use of this Ointment you must take thereof and making it warm anoint therewith the Sorrance you shall not need to use it often before you shall make a perfect cure If the Leprosie be universal then first open his Neck Vein and draw good store of blood from thence then with an Oyster shell Hare-cloth or some such like course thing curry off the scurf then take of Verdigrease and Vinegar Cow-piss Train-Oyl and old Urine of each a pint adding to them an handful of wild Tansie and an handful of Bay-salt a quarter of a pound of Brimstone and as much Allom two Ounces of Verdigrease and four Ounces of Bole Armoniack boil all these well together and it will not be amiss to put thereto a pint of that blood you took from him wash the Horse herewith very well making it very hot when you apply it to the Sorrance this will cause a cure in four or five times so doing Lice in an Horse how to kill them or
being warm pour it down the Mares throat and this will much help her delivery If her after-birth or Secundine come not away then take three handfuls of Fennel and as much Malmsy and boil them together in running water then take half a pint hereof Luke-warm and pour it into the Mares nostrils holding them close a little while and this will help her but by any means let her not eat her cleansing which many are desirous of for it is unwholsom and an hindrance to her Milk Let not the Colt run with the Dam less than a year if it may stand with your convenience let it be longer for that will strengthen the Colt When the Colt is to be wean'd you must so separate him from the Dam that he may be out of her hearing and not suffer'd to stir out of doors in sixteen days It will be very requisite to have pasture adjoyning to the place wherein they are but such it must be that it be neither rank nor barren for a short sweet grass will nourish them most and add very much to the increase of their growth be sure that at this time they want nothing for what they lose in the first year they will scarcely gain in four At their weaning neglect not to give them Butter and Savin for divers mornings for that will kill that worm which otherwise will destroy them The first Winter let not Hay be wanting nor oats in the sheafe or the offal of any other grain From two years old upward beware that in the Winter your Colt lye not wet nor in the Summer feed on rank grass for the first very much disheartens him and lays him open to all manner of watry cold distempers and the other renders him an ill shapen sloathful Beast being always inclined by reason of his over great quantity of flesh and fat to catch the Glanders and Cough upon every slight and inconsiderable cold Wherefore your best Summer feeding for your young horses is where they are not streightned for want of ground and that they must be forced to take pains for a belly full and let them not cover any Mare till above five years old for sooner will debilitate their strength and impair their growth with farther prejudice And to this end as you separate Foals from the Dams so you must separate the Male Colts from the Females for frequent experience may inform you that by plentiful and full feeding the Horse-Colts have covered the Mare-Colts at a year old to the destruction of them both As for gelding of Colts you may indifferently take any time from a foal of four months to fourteen years but the best time for making of fine Geldings is when you perceive the stones to fall or when eleven days old taking this course you go a safe way to work which will also produce most incomparable Chests When you go about this work let it be in the wane of the Moon and the Spring is the fittest season for effecting your purpose If you would have your Stone-Horse Gelding or Mare familiar and tractable begin with them from the first weaning to make him acquainted with you by stroking rubbing and haltering him leading him to water frequently taking up his feet and sometimes knocking his hoofs and the like As to breaking of Colts to the saddle several men several minds some are for breaking them at three years old others at four but it is the opinion of the most judicious that that Horse which is broken at five will hold out longger than any other and shall not be so inclinable to diseases nor will he easily be acquainted with the ill quality of Tiring By your thus prudent giving your Horse his full time before you handle him his joynts and sinews grow strong and are well knit together his hoofs will grow tough his eye-sight quick and good his chine so strong that you cannot hurt it in reasonable riding and will continue a good serviceable Horse will twenty six years of age The evil effects of taking him up sooner will plainly appear in a little time by his blindness weakness of back brittleness of hoof besides his Wind Galls and Splints and in short before he arrives to half his age he will appear an old horse and rejected by all as having seen his best days And that you may not be mistaken in the good properties and shape of those Colts you intend for your own service take these observations a Colt when but five weeks old will carry the same shape then whether good or bad if not abused in the mean time as he will have at five years old If a Foal have a large shin bone that is long from the knee to the pastern it foreshoweth a tall Horse the double of that space of a foal newly foaled between the knee and the withers will be just his height when he is arrived to full growth Take notice which of your Colts have most active spirits wanton ever leaping running and playing and striving to out-run the rest of his fellows such always prove high mettled Horses but if on the contrary you find them dull unactive seldome stirring but melancholy you may assure your self they will prove errant jades Lastly to conclude my discourse of breeding horses let me advise the owner of a good Studd not to make too early a coiling or election for some horses show their best shape at two years old and lose at four others not till six or seven and ever after retain it but sooner or later let him preserve the best for himself those of incurable deformities as Sorrances Spavens Ring-bones or imperfect eyes send them to the Market CHAP. II. Of the properties belonging to good Horses as to Mark Colour and Shape I Must confess an horse may be good and serviceable who hath neither good colour true marks or perfect shape however I would not have those three good properties contemned or slighted for that Horse cannot be bad in whom those properties remain and if an Horse well mettled bold and hardy yet of a gentle condition of a round and comely trot or pace obedient mouthed sure of foot tough strong and easie is to be valued and esteemed then for certain if to these good qualifications there be added good colour true marks and perfect shape I know not what will make him more considerably valuable so that his owner shall be dayly courted to part with him at his own terms Now to the intent you may understand what these good properties be which belong to a good Horse observe what an ingenious Forreigner saith of them There are saith he three of an Oxe three of a Fox three of a Hart and three of a Woman Those of an Oxâ— are a fair full eye a large neck and to be strong and short joynted those of a Fox are to have a comely short trot small and long ears and a bushy tail those of an Hart are to have lean and dry legs to
a Chafingdish and held under the Horses nose and this will cure his head ach For any obstructions or cold in his head there is nothing better than a rag anointed with Oyl de Bay and therewith rub his Nostrils as high as you may For the Glanders anoint two feathers with Oyl de Bay Euphorbium and white Ellebore and thrust these into the Horses Nostrils For any Cephalick distemper but especially the Staggers Cold Glanders or Strangle take the powder of White Pepper and blow it into his Nostrils or squirt into them Aristolochia mixt with Wine and you will find a suddain amendment But the best fume of all is made of Olibanum Storax and Benjamin being bruised together and burned under the nose of the Horse CHAP. XXIII Of the Gargil Plague or Murrain in an Horse THis Disease hath its original from several causes sometimes from Surfeits sometimes from evil Planetary influence not only corrupting Plants but several sorts of creatures Of such an infectious nature it is that it will not only spread through a Studd a Shire but through an whole Kingdome The signs of this disease are lowring and hanging down the head and in a small time after this first observation you will find a swelling under his Ear-roots or Tongue which swelling will be hard and spread over one side of his face his Mouth and whites of his Eyes will be yellow and will have a very stinking breath As an Antidote or Preservative take a pint of Muscadine and dissolve therein two Ounces of the best Treacle and give it them To cure the deseased take a good quantity of stale Urine and mix therein a good deal of Hens-Dung stirring it till it be all dissolved take a pint hereof at a time and in an horn give it your Horse luke-warm CHAP. XXIV A Diacatholicon or Vniversal Medicine for all Distempers If at any time according to the former signs and symptoms you find your Horse not well open his Neck-Vein taking from him a good quantity of blood then fasting give him three mornings together half an Ounce of Diapente well brewed in a pint of Muscadine which Diapente you shall make after this manner Take Gentian Aristolochia Bay-berries Myrrh and the shavings of Ivory of each a like quantity beat them into very fine powder and searce it I say having given him of this powder then ride him abroad an hour and then give him what he will eat at Noon give him a sweet Mash and at night with a course Rubber rub him well all over â—specially his Head and Nape of his Neck this you must do three or four days together and you will find a suddain reparation of health Here followeth â—n Alphabetical â—ccount both as to the names character causes signs and cures of the most common and dangerous diseases which belong to Horses Avives Avives is a French appellation for this disease and is corruptly called by English Farriers the Fives or Vives It s growth is under the ears descending downwards towards the Throat with inflammation and swelling this disease is dangerous and often mortal for this swelling will stop his wind and choak him if not timely prevented The causes of this distemper are great heats and rankness of blood The cure you may effect this one way which is worth all the rest I have read of Take a penny worth of fine Pepper beaten to fine powder a spoonful of Swines grease the juice of an handful of Rue two spoonfuls of Vinegar mix them well together and put it equally into both the Horses Ears and tye them up with two strings shaking the Ear so that the Medicine may sink downward this done let him blood in the Neck-Vein and Temple-Veins and you need not question the cure of your Horse Anticor The nature of this disease agreeth with its name for by reason of immoderate riding or too hard feeding without exercise the Horses blood becometh corrupted and inflamed taking up its residence in and about the heart and having not speedy vent is the cause of suddain death You may know this disease by this sign just against the heart there will be a swelling in the middle of the breast before the swelling doth appear the signs will be these he will groan very much when laid down hanging down his head he will refuse to eat Immediately upon the appearance of the swelling open both the Plate-Veins or take away a good quantity of blood from both sides of his Neck having done this give him a Drink of Diapente with Ale putting thereto an Ounce of brown Sugar-Candy and half an Ounce of London Treacle which will expel the grief from his heart after this anoint the swelling with Hogs grease Bores Grease and Basilicon of each three Ounces incorporate these well together and rub the swelling every day therewith till it come to suppuration or softness then by opening it let out the matter then wash your sore with Coperas water which you shall make thus take two quarts of fair Water and adde thereto half a pound of green Copperas with an handful of Salt and put these into a Posnet with a spoonful of Honey and a branch of Rosemary boyl these together till one half of the liquor be consumed a little before you take it off the fire put to it the quantity of a Wall-nut of Allum then let it cool and preserve it for your use Having washt the sore clean with this water then apply thereunto this Oyntment put into a clean Skillet of Rossin the quantity of a Wallnut being molten add thereto the like quantity of Wax and when that is melted put thereunto half a Pound of Hogs grease tryed and that being melted put in a spoonful of English Honey and when these are melted and well stirred together put thereunto half a pound of ordinary Turpentine this being dissolved take it from the fire then adde of Verdegrease finely pulverized one Ounce and so stir them all together then set it on the fire and let it simper but if it boyl it is utterly spoiled then strain it and when cold preserve it for your use This Ointment is of excellent Vertue to cure old Ulcers Fistulas but more especially any green wound Bots or Worms in Horses It is the opinion of the most judicious that there are three sorts of Worms which breed in the Bowels of an Horse First Bots being short Worms with great red heads and long small white tails next Truncheons which are short and thick being all of a bigness and the last are as big as a mans finger and six inches long and are only called Worms Mr. Markham by experience hath found out a fourth sort which are of a middle size and are red and fiery with thick short sharp heads and are of all others most dangerous for sometimes they will get up to his very throat and choak him sometimes eat through his very Stomach and kill him These Worms do proceed from a raw gross
but be sure to keep him warm and expose him to no labour for some small time Or secondly you may take an handful of an herb called Shepherds-purse and boil it in a quart of strong Ale then take the seeds of Woodroof stampt and when the Ale is luke-warm put them thereinto and give it the Horse to drink Let his drink in this mean while be warmed mingled with Bean-flower but give him not his full draught at a time and when you give him any let it be but once in eighteen hours Others and not unadvisedly take the powder of one Nutmeg half an ounce of Cinamon and as much of the rind of a Pomegranat and mixing these with a pint of red Wine give it the Horse luke-warm to drink But if this Disease happen to a sucking Foal as it is frequently seen by reason of the fluidness of his Diet then give him a pint of Verjuice which curdling the Milk will thicken his excrement and is I can experimentally assure a speedy Remedy Now as to the Bloody Flux it is undoubtedly occasioned by some sharp humour excoriating the Guts or from some exulceration thereof The signs of this distemper are very apparent therefore I shall not need to describe them wherefore I shall only prescribe the Cure and that may be effected several ways as by dissolving four ounces of the Conserve of Sloes in a pint of red Wine and so with your Horn give it him to drink but the most approved Remedy in this take half an handful of Shepherds-purse and as much Tanners Bark taken out of the Fat and dried a little Cinnamon boil these in three pints of red Wine to a quart and then straining the liquor give it your Horse lukewarm to drink Molten Grease If an Horse be Grease-molten or foundred in the Body then open the Neck-vein and draw away the corrupt and inflamed blood then take a pint of white Wine half the quantity of Sallet-oil of Rhubarb two drachms and the like of Aloes half an ounce of Sena three drachms of Agarick half an ounce of Bay berries two drachms of Saffron of Duck and Cordial powder two drachms pulverize what is to be pulverized and having mixt them well together add thereunto four ounces of life Honey give him this blood-warm let him fast four hours before he take it and as many after let him have no Oats that day nor any other drink than sweet Mashes and be sure to keep him very warm Mourning of the Chine This Distemper by the experience of such who have frequently opened Horses is found to be a Corruption or Consumption of the Liver this Consumption proceeding from a cold which is afterwards converted into a Pose that into the Glanders and lastly into the Mourning of the Chine To avoid prolixity or the variety of Cures which every man according to his own fancy thinketh best I shall give you two which instar omnium are lookt upon by the most Expert the best Remedy for this Malady Take of the Bark of an Elder-tree growing by the water side as much as will fill an ordinary Pipkin add thereunto as much running water as the Vessel will hold and boil this liquor half away then fill it up again and continue so doing thrice after the consumption of the water and take it off the fire and add thereunto a third of the Oil of Oats or the like quantity of sweet Butter or Hogs-grease and being warmed again take a quart thereof and give it the Horse to drink one hornful at his Mouth and the other at that Nostril which evacuateth the matter Let your Horse be fasting when you administer to him this Drink and you will find it not only an excellent Cure for this malady but also for all others proceeding from any cold whatsoever Let his meat be boil'd Barley and his drink warm Mashes but if the season will permit his best food will be to turn him to Grass but that which I shall particularly commend to your observation and practice is Take two drachms of Auripigmentum and of Tussilage as much pulverized then mix them into a kind of paste with Turpentine and make little cakes thereof drying them before the fire then take of these cakes as much as you shall think sufficient and put thereof into a Chafing-dish of coals and covering it with a Tunnel when it smoaketh put the end of the Tunnel into his Nostril that the fume may ascend into his Head then ride him till he sweat thus do before you water your Horse every morning till you find his Nostrils leave running and that those Kernels or hard lumps at the root of his tongue be dissolved Night-Mare This is a distemper which very much afflicteth Horses as well as Mankind seizing both so violently that the breath will be so stopt that it will cause a struggling and a striving so that an excessive sweat and faintness will follow It comes only in the Night and it proceeds from Crudities and ill digestion whose ill vapours do not only disturb the head but likewise all the sensitive parts The signs are coming to your Horse in the morning you shall find him all of a sweat one drop driving the other panting and sweating principally in his Flanks Neck and roots of the Ears The Cure is Mornings and Evenings both before and after Water to give him a good moderate exercise and having brought him into the Stable rub him well down giving him Oats mixed with an handful of Hemp-seed Now by the way take notice that there are other distempers which proceed from the same cause as doth the Night-Mare viz. the Falling-Evil Planet-Struck and Palsey and these may seem to have different natures and dispositions whereas they are all the same having one rise or original which is only cold Phlegm or thick humours ingendered about the Brain and benumming the Senses and so weakning the Members that they cause sometimes the Horse to fall down and then it is the Falling-Sickness sometimes they seize and weaken one Member only and then this Malady is named Planet-Struck sometimes it spoileth some particular member by some strange contraction and then it is called the Palsey and lastly when the humour oppresseth the Stomach lying heavy at the Heart stopping his Breath and making him Sweat then it hath the appellation of the Night-Mare As all these Distempers proceed from one cause so I shall prescribe but one Medicine Take three spoonfuls of Tar and of Butter the like quantity beat them well together with the powder of Liquorish Anniseeds and Sugar-Candy till it be like a Paste then make these into three balls putting to each ball three cloves of Garlick then take your Horse fasting and give them him and let him fast four hours after Over-gorged Horse The signs of an Horse over-gorged are swelling and slavering so full as if the skin were ready to burst as soon as you have discovered his distemper take a quarter of a pound of
this bathe all his back with Red-Wine and Oyl of Roses mixt together or take Venice Turpentine washt clean and beat it well with half so much Sugar and then make round balls as big as Wall-nuts and give the Horse of these restringent pills five every morning till you have stopt the flux of his seed Sudden Sickness what to be done therein As soon as ever you perceive your Horse not well according to the signs aforementioned bleed him presently in both sides of the Neck to the quantity of two quarts and after that make this Drink for him Take of sweet Sack one quart and burn it with Grains Cloves and Cinnamon of each a like quantity having beaten them gross add to them three ounces of Sugar and when it is burned put thereunto half a pint of Sallet-oil and two ounces of London-Treacle warm all these and being well brewed together give it your Horse luke-warm to drink then ride him gently till you perceive he begins to sweat and so set him up well littered and cloathed making him to fast five hours or more somewhat after he is well rub'd down give him clean Wheat-straw with clean dry Oats some Wheat and Pease mixed therewith and let his Drink be a warm Mash Stavers or Staggers Though the names of this disease do seem to differ yet their natures are all one consisting of a dizziness in the head and near a kin to the Frenzie when it seizeth the Brain Several are the causes of this dangerous Distemper the common rise or original hereof is evil digestion and corrupted humours whose poisonous vapours do not only distract the head but distemper the whole body The Symptoms are very evident for his sight will so fail him that he will not be able to see a Post before him but run against it besides slavering at the mouth and running at the eyes with filth and matter often lying down and beating his head against the ground The Cure is to take the seeds of Cresses Poppy Smallage Parsley Dill take also Pepper and Saffron of each two drachms make them all into fine powder and put unto them of Barley-water two quarts as it cometh boiling from the fire and let it infuse therein 3 hours and then strain it and give him a quart thereof in the morning fasting then walk him an hour or more and set him up warm giving him Hay sprinkled with water and let him not drink cold water five or six days after but instead thereof give him a sweet Mash Sleeping Evil. This is a very strange disease in an Horse and is of the nature of a Lethargy infesting the bodies of Mankind and as the person thus afflicted will sleep continually having lost his memory quite so will the Horse get into a Corner and hang down his head to the very ground The Cure is somewhat difficult however thus you must do if you intend it First let him blood on both sides the Neck in the morning fasting also take some blood from the third stair in his mouth then take of Camomile and Mother-wort of each three handfuls cut small boil these in two quarts of running water half an hour and then give the Horse a pint once in two days fasting and give him the rest the third day fasting and four or five hours after give warm water and a Mash of ground Malt put into scalding hot water after it comes off the fire keep him warm all the time of his cure and you will do well to fume his head as you do in the Staggers Surfeits of all sorts Though in the Title I seem to treat generally of Surfeits yet I shall speak in particular and first of that inward dry Surfeit which causeth the Cods to swell either continually or betwixt whiles to the intent therefore that you may arrive at the Cure mind these following Instructions You must first purge your Horse after this manner Take an ounce of fine Aloes which glitters for that is the best then pulverize it or beat it to powder then take three ounces of fresh Butter mix these two well together and add thereunto so much Wheat-bran as is sufficient to make it into a Paste and make thereof five or six Balls then convey one of them as far into his mouth as you may that he may the better swallow it giving him an hornful of strong Ale to wash it down then give him a second a third a fourth and the fifth still interlining them with an hornful of Beer or Ale to wash them down after this ride him out for an hour gently then set him up warm keep him fasting six hours after he hath taken his Pills giving him some Hay at night and not before with warm water to drink and the like the next day But the third day after his purgation is over give him cold water and immediately after it two ounces of Honey and half a pint of white Wine a little warmed for that will make him stale clearing his Bladder and procuring an appetite then air him gently for an hour and an half doing thus morning and evening till he be well But if what you have given him do neither sharpen his stomach nor purge him then take three pints of stale Beer three ounces of course houshold bread mixing them together and setting them over the fire being well boil'd take it off and put therein a quarter of a pound of Honey and three ounces of fresh Butter give him these blood-warm and ride him moderately a mile afterwards then set him up warm and let him stand upon the Trench about two hours after it then give him a Mash of sodden Oats till they burst with warm water and Wheat-bran therein this in twice or thrice giving will procure him a stomach and render him laxative withal Now if his Cods be swell'd occasioned by this Surfeit as soon as his Purge hath done working take the charge of Sope and Brandy and with a stick dabb it on his Cods or other swelling proceeding from the same cause as it comes boiling from the fire do this but once and four days after ride him into a River against the stream so deep that he is ready to swim for near a quarter of an hour thus using him once or twice a day till you find his swelling abate If it be a dry Surfeit give the Purge first and afterwards the Cordial made of white Wine and Honey but if he run at Nostrils give him a Drink made of Anniseeds Turmerick Brandy Vinegar and Beer and three days after let him have the Purge in like manner do if his Grease be melted This aforementioned Purge and Cordial are not only good against any dry Surfeit but also for melted Grease set and dried in the body and legs swelled or when an Horse is Gaunt Gut-foundred and costive There is another sort of Surfeit which is moist hot and running that from the Body falls into either fore-legs hind-legs or sometimes into all
it easeth all griefs strains and stiffness of the Limbs but particularly the taking up of the Plat-Veins easeth all pains in the breast and griefs in the chest the taking up of the Fore-thigh Veins helpeth Farcies and swellings of the Legs the taking up of the Shackle-Veins before easeth Gourding Quitter-bones swelling of the joints scabs and scratches the taking up of the hinder hough Veins helpeth Spavens of both kinds especially any Farcy in those parts and generally all swellings and Imposthumes the taking up of the Pastern-Veins behind helpeth swellings about the Cronet or neather joynts pains Mules and all manner of Kibed heels Let thus much suffice for a prefatatory discourse or introduction I shall now follow my intended method in giving you an Alphabetical account of those outward Maladies which afflict Horses with their cures and first of the Disease called the Anbury The Anbury is a spungy over-grown Wart full of blood having a root like a Cocks stone it may grow upon any part of the Horses body but principally it is discovered above the Eye-brows Nostrils or Privy parts If it be high take an Horses hair and tye about it very hard making it fast and in eight or nine days it will so eat through it as that it will drop off but if it be flat you must burn it off with an hot Iron leaving none of the root behind and dry it up with the powder of Verdigrease with this proviso it lye not too near any sinew if so eat out the Core with Mercury then stop the hole with Flax dipt in the white of an Egge and dry it up with unslaked Lime and Honey Accloy Accloying is no more than what we commonly call pricking with a Nail in the shooing and hereupon will halt if you find the cause thereof to be a prick then take out the sole and cut the hoof round about the place pricked and having removed the corruption take Hurds steeped in the whites of Egges and fill up the hole do thus four days and after that heal up the sore with Salt made into fine powder mingled with Vinegar and anoint the out-side of the hoof with black Aegyptiacum or this is as good a remedy as the former take Sallet-Oyl Turpentine and Rosin-pitch all molten together put it very hot into the hole where he is pricked and then stop the hole with hurds Avives Avives is a Distemper otherwise called Vives or Fives they are certain flat Kernels in likeness to a bunch of Grapes growing in a cluster they creep down from the Ears towards the Throat which when they are inflamed will swell which swelling as it is very painful so it will prove mortal if not timely prevented for by stopping his wind it will soon suffocate him The common causes of this Distemper are over-heatings or extraordinary rankness of blood In the Cure you must cautiously observe not to touch the Kernels with your fingers but having cut the skin long-ways so that the Kernels lye open take an instrument like a pair of Plyers and pinch forth the Kernels and so apply thereunto hurds steeped in the whites of Egges well beaten and bound thereon renew this dayly seven or eight times and it will cure it This is Mr. Greys way of curing the Avives The common way of curing it is to draw down the sore with an hot Iron just in the midst so far as the swelling goeth and then under the Ear draw two other stroaks of the fashion of an Arrows head then open the skin and with a small pair of Plyers pull out the Kernels and cut them off but have a care you injure not the Veins that done fill the place with Bay-salt made into fine powder and after that heal up the sore with a green Ointment The cure of latest practice is to let him blood on both sides of the Neck then clap a pair of Barnacles on his nose and take a red hot Iron with the Edge as thick as the back of a Knife and with it make a strike from the root of the Ears upon the middle of the swelling downwards to the lowest part of the swelling then burn it till the skin be yellow being thus seared anoint the swelling with a little butter or Hogs-grease according as the searing is less or more deep anoint him seldomer or oftner but four or five times is sufficient But the most approved Medicine for this Malady which will cure it without burning or any such violent means is take a penny worth of Pepper beaten to fine powder Swines grease a spoonful the juice of an handful of Rue and of Vinegar two spoonfuls mix these well together and convey it equally into both the Ears of the Horse then shake the Ears that the Medicine may sink downwards and after that tye them up when you have done this let him blood in the Neck-Vein and Temple-Vein Arraists or Rat-tails This Distemper proceedeth from too much rest or from being not well rubbed about the heels for by this over much ease and pampering the blood corrupting in his body falleth down into his hinder legs and is much more venemous and malignant than the Scratches The Cure must be wrought by taking half a pound of green Vitriol and boyl it in a pottle of running Water with Allom Mustard Sage and Hysop of each an handful The night before you apply this anoint the sores with strong Mustard after they are made raw then the next day wash them with the Water aforesaid made of Vitriol c. and you need not doubt the Cure But the most approved remedy I can find for this Malady is to let the Horse be ridden till he be warm whereby the Veins will be more apparent then let him blood in the Fetlock-Veins on both sides suffering him to bleed a good quantity then the next day wash the sores with warm Water clipping away all the hair about the sores and after this anoint them with an Oyntment made after this manner take green Coperas and Verdigrease of each two Ounces and of common Honey four Ounces beat the Coperas and Verdigrease very small and work them up with your Honey to a perfect Unguent and herewith dayly anoint the sores till they be well Attaint upper and neather and in the heel The upper Attaint is a painful swelling of the Back-sinew of the Shank-bone occasioned by over-reaching and striking that Sinew with the Toe of his hinder-foot making him halt downright The signs are apparent and the cure not very difficult to the perfecting whereof take a Plaister made of Wine-lees and Wheat-flower laid hot thereon or else take of Black Soap and Boars-grease of each a like quantity scalding hot and make thereof a Plaister of Sear-cloth and clap it over the sore place Others will only take a live Pigeon and cut him in two and clap it to the sore which they affirm will speedily abate the swelling Others again take of Frankincense of Rozin of Tar of Euphorbium
of Turpentine and Fenugreek of each a quarter of an ounce of Suet one ounce of Oyl an ounce of Wax three ounces and three quarters of an ounce of Myrrh melt and mix them altogether and Plaister-wise lay it to the place grieved till it be whole The neather Attaint or over-reach on the midst and in the hollow of the Pastern joint is a little Bladder full of jelly like to a wind-gall this is not very apparent to the eye but may easily be felt and will make an Horse halt exceedingly Cure this malady thus take a small Cord and rowl him somewhat strait from the Knee to the neather joint and then in the Pastern between the Hoof and the joynt with a Fleim strike him in the midst of the Swelling and so let out the corruption then take the white of an Egg and beat it with a little Salt and then dipping Flax therein lay it unto the swelling then unrowl his leg and renew this Salve twice a day till it be fully cured There is yet another Attaint or over-reach and that is upon the Heel caused by an Horses striking the Toe of his hinder shoe into the Heel just upon the setting on of the Hoof this if not timely looked after will indanger the loss of the Hoof. If you intend to cure him you must cut away hair skin hoof and flesh till without hollowness you have made the sore caven then take Beer and Salt and therewith wash it well then take Flax dipt in the white of an Egg mingled with a little Bole-armoniack and bind it to the sore renew this once a day for four or five days and the cure will be effected Burning with Shot or otherwise If your Horse be shot after you have drawn the Bullet take Varnish and Water and beat them well together then pour away the water from the varnish and with a feather anoint the place burned This following Ointment is good for any burning what-ever Take a stone of Quick lime well burned which you shall understand by the lightness ther of and dissolve it in fair water when the Lime is settled to the bottom strain the clearest of this water through a fine linnen cloth then add thereunto as much Oil of Hemp-seed as there is water beat these well together and you will have a most pretious Ointment for all burning whatsoever Brittle-hoof This proceedeth from two several causes first naturally or hereditary when the Mare or Stallion was troubled with the like infirmity or secondly accidentally by reason of a Surfeit that fell down into the feet which caused a dryness in the hoofs or else by some former founder or heating in his feet The Cure must be in this manner after with a Rape or Drawing-iron you have thinned the Coffin of his hoof and have pared his Soles finely then apply to the Coffin and Soles this following charge Take Rie or Wheat-bran Oxen or Cows-dung an indifferent quantity then take sheeps-suet and Hogs-grease tried Tar and Turpentine of each half a pound let the Sheeps-suet be minced very small and melt it on the fire add thereunto some Hogs grease and when they are melted put in your Ox or Cows-dung stirring them well together then gradually put in your bran continually stirring them lastly put in your Tarr and Turpentine when you have so incorporated these together as that they are become like a paste then take it from the fire and preserve it for your use With this dress him every day for twenty days or more together not letting him touch water with his feet and his hoofs will be restored to their former toughness and firmness Bone-spaven This Bone or Dry Spaven is as big as a Wall-nut growing under the inside of the hoof hard under the joint near to the Master-vein it is but tender at first but if it be neglected it will be an hard Crust nay as hard as any bone and sticketh to the Bone as close as the bark of an Oak to the body and causeth lameness in the Horse The Cure is very hard and difficult however I will prescribe you the best remedies I can procure In the first place take Vnguentum Apostolorum and of white Mercury of each a like quantity mix them well together and after you have cast your Horse make a slit the length of the Spaven but be careful you touch not the Master-vein having opened it and laid the Spaven bare with a sharp instrument scale the Spaven a little then make a plegant of lint as big as the Spaven then spreading Salve thereon lay it upon the Spaven then with dry lint defend all other parts especially the Master-vein from the Corrosive then lay a Plaister of Pitch Rozen Turpentine and Hogs-grease round about his hoof and so let him rest four and twenty hours then open it again and if you find the Corrosive hath not eaten enough apply a fresh one and that will be enough and then take of Turpentine of Deers-suet and of Wax of each a like quantity melt and mix these well together and being warmed dress therewith the sore place in four days time you shall find the Spaven come clear away and then with the same Salve heal up the wound You may also apply to the Sorrance after the aforesaid Corrosives a Plaister of strong Aegyptiacum till it hath fretted off the â—lesh upon the Crust so bare as possibly may be and so you may the better attempt the taking away of the said Crust or by rubbing it with a Rolling-pin anointed with Petroleum till the Crust be converted into a softer substance or into such thin corruption as may be easily drawn away Now if you find a swelling in the Spaven place to prevent it from running into a Spaven shave away the hair about the swelling then take natural Balsam and anoint the place therewith two or three days then repress the humours by taking three ounces of the Oil of Roses Bole-armoniack one ounce Wheat-flower half an ounce and the white of one Egg make all these into a body and having first anointed the part with Balsam every day lay on this charge Back-swankt or for a strain in the Kidneys Take a skin just as it comes from the back of the sheep both hot and fat then take a Groats worth of Turpentine and as much of Nerve-oil and mingling them together anoint the inside of the sheep-skin all over and clap it on the back of the Horse where the grief lies which commonly is in the Navil place of the back-bone having thus laid it on make a Crupper to goe under his tail to keep it on and a breast-plate before and fasten them together thus let it lie upon him for a month till his back be knit and strengthned Burning of an Horse by a Mare This frequently happens by the great heat and foulness of a Mare and may be called the Horse-pox which is known by mattering of the Yard within For its cure take a pint
sufficient Spongia Marina and powder of Risagallo are of like power and vertue but that the last is too great a fretter But by reason there is such choice of medicines of this nature to avoid prolixity I shall only propose this last as the best Take white or black Heleborus Ink quick Sulphur Orpiment Lithargy Vitriol unslak'd Lime Roch Alom Galls Soot or the Ashes of Avellan of each half an ounce and they will expeditiously consume all manner of dead flesh Eye of an Horse hurt with a blow The causes and signs of this Sorrance are perspicuous enough wherefore we shall only insist on the Cure and as to that you must first bathe the part in warm water next shave off all the hair about the swelling then take the tops of Wormwood Pellitory and Branca Vrsina of each half an handful chop the Herbs very small and then beat them to an Ointment with old Boar's Grease quantum sufficit then put to it of live Honey and Wheat-flower of each one spoonful and of Linseed oyl three spoonfuls boil these very well continually stirring them when boiled enough strain it into a Gally-pot well stopped and keep it for your use when you have occasion to make use thereof only anoint the place grieved therewith Eye-film Pin and Web. These distempers are commonly engendred by distillation of bad humours from the head to the eyes by a stripe or some Hay-dust getting therein the signs are visible The Cure must be thus effected Take Camphire Sal Armoniacum or Sugar Candy any of these pulverized very fine and blown into the eye are most soveraign for these diseases in the Eyes of the Horse If a Film or Pearl grow without a Pin or Web then take the tops of red Nettles and having stampt them well put them into a clean linnen cloth the Nettles being in the rag dip them into Beer slightly then wring forth the juice of the said Nettles into some clean Vessel which done put thereto a little Salt made into fine powder the Salt being dissolved conveigh but one drop at a time into the grieved Eye morning and evening and this will totally remove the Film If it be a Pin and Web that afflicts the Eye of the Horse then take Cuttle-bone Tartar Salt-gem of each the like quantity and make them all into fine powder and mix them and with a quill blow of some of this powder into the Eye of the Horse twice or thrice a day and you will find it a speedy remedy If it be an Haw in the Horse's Eye I would not advise you to take it away as Smiths usually do from the outside of the Eye but from that part which lieth next of all to the Eye and this way will better preserve the sight of the Eye as also the Wash which is the ornament thereof for if that be taken away the Horse will appear blear-eyed so soon as you have cut away the Haw wash the Eye with white Wine and the juice of Celandine mingled together of each a like quantity for this not only healeth the Sorrance but keepeth the Eye from ranckling Eye-Canker If a Canker happen to be in your Horses Eye as it is a thing very usual then take your true ground-Ivy and stamp it well in a Mortar and if it be very dry then moisten it with a little white rose-Rose-water or the water of Eye-bright distilled and so strain it into a clean Glass and therewith wash anoint and tent the Sorrance and it will speedily cure it this is also very good for Blood-shotten Eyes If any Wart or spungy Excretion grow near to the Eye of the Horse which usually proceeds from a condensed flegm that descendeth to the Eyes will in a little time much prejudice them Take Roch Allom and burn it and then add to it as much white Coperas unburnt grind them together into very fine powder then lay a little of this powder on the top of the Wart but be cautious that none fall into the Eye for it will corrode exceedingly Let the Wart be thus dressed every day once and in a very little time it will so eat away the root of the Wart that it shall never come more Eyes Lunatick or Moon-blind The only reason I can gather why an Horse is called Moon-blind is that at certain times of the Moon he will see well at other times a little and sometimes not at all and therefore this Malady is called Lunatick or Moon-blind This kind of blindness is held the worst of all other you may know by the colour of his Eyes when he seeth and when he doth not when he doth see his Eyes will appear dim and yellowish but when he is blind then will his eyes look red and fiery This distemper comes sometimes hereditary either from his Sire or Dam sometimes again from ill humours descending from the head and taking up their abode in and about the Eyes and this usually happens by exposing the poor Creature to more labour than nature could perform The Cure must be by taking Pitch Rozin and Mastick of each a like quantity melt them together and having beforehand provided two Plaisters of Leather the breadth of an half Crown-piece spread the medicine hot upon these two Plaisters and apply them to his Temples letting them stick thereon till they fall off of their own accord then rowel him on the face just under his Eyes with a small French Rowel the breadth of three pence at most and let it be turned every day once the space of fourteen days then take forth the Rowel and heal up the orifice with the green Ointment I prescribed in treating of drawing a Stub or Thorn By the way take notice That if your Horse be weak sighted when ever you draw blood from him the less you take the better it is for his sight Eye broken and beaten out by some stripe or unlucky stroke As soon as this unhappy accident hath befaln your Horse that his Eye is absolutely broken and beaten out by some unhappy stroke Take Alom and first burn it in a fire-pan then put it on the hot coals and let it burn there till all the moisture be consumed so that it becometh as light as a feather as white as snow and so brittle that it will break with the least touch then take of this powder and mix it with live Honey and stir them well together so that you reduce them to an ointment then take a feather and dip it herein and morning and evening put thereof into his Eye then lay your hand upon the Eye-place a pretty while that the Unguent may not issue out of the hole by so doing in few daies the hurt will be cured though it be impossible for the Eye to be restored Eyes troubled with any sores an incomparable Water for them Take the Stone called Lapis Calaminaris and heat it red hot in the fire then quench it in half a pint of white Wine so doing
twelve times together then add unto it half the quantity of the juice of Housleek and with this wash and bathe the Eye twice or thrice a day this is good for any infirmity whatsoever belonging to the Eyes Here followeth another Water not inferiour to the other Take a pint of Snow-water and dissolve therein four drachms of white Vitriol wash the Horses eyes herewith at least four times a day and the effects will be admirable Eye-bitten This frequently happens as Horses stand in the Stable one Horse biting the other where he can best or next fasten his teeth if so then it fall out that your Horse be Eye-bitten take a little Honey with a little grated Ginger mingle them together and put them into the Horses Eye with a feather three mornings together Ears Impostumated This disease proceeds from several causes either from some violent stroke about the Ears or Poll or else by being wrung too hard with a new hempen hard Halter sometimes by a cold in the head or by other ill humours which strive to get a vent or passage through the Ears The signs are apparent for the Ears will burn glow and swell besides the Horse will be very unwilling to be handled thereabout The Cure is thus Take Linseed and make it into fine powder then take Wheat-flower of each half a pint ordinary Honey one pint tried Hogs-grease one pound mix all these well and warm them on the fire continually stirring them then spread this Unguent upon a Linnen cloth or Leather the breadth of the swelling and lay it thereon very warm once in a day and a night renew it till it break or be so ripe as that it may be convenient to lance it which must be downwards that the corruption may have a more easie passage then heal it thus Take Mel Rosarum Sallet-oyl and ordinary Turpentine of each two ounces make these into a body then make a Night-cap to keep on the Plaister tent the sore to the bottom with this Ointment and make a Plaister thereof and lay it on the place grieved once a day you must lay on a fresh Plaister and tent anew till it be whole But if the Ears be only inflamed then take Oil of Roses Venice Turpentine and common Honey of each a like quantity mix them well together and making them blood-warm dip some black wool therein and stop the Ears therewith renewing it once a day and it will remove the Inflammation Foul and old Sores how to cleanse and mundifie This following Water hath been often tried and upon trial found to be be a most excellent cleansing and healing Water for all old and rotten Sores Take of green Coperas and of Salt-petre of each half a pound Bay Salt and Salt-gem of each three ounces Arsnick one Ounce powder all these finely and put them into a stillitory Glass the pot or bottom thereof well nealed adde thereunto one pint of the strongest White-Wine-Vinegar set the pot on the fire and put on the head closing it with Cute of Hermes and being thus placed in the Furnace make under it a strong fire for the space of five or six hours and with your Receptory take the first water that cometh after an hour the fire will be out of the water then stop up the Glass very close and preserve it for your use When you are to wash any sore with this water have a care that you do not let any fall upon either Vein or Sinew for it will burn them in twain but where Ulcers and foul old sores are in the flesh this water will work wonders Falling of the Fundament The falling of the Fundament is a Distemper proceeding most commonly from over much laxativeness and flux of blood who growing exceeding weak by the voiding thereof straineth to bring forth something and instead thereof the fundament cometh out sometimes it comes by Colds or mere Poverty Cure it thus take white Salt made into very fine powder strew a little upon the Gut then take a piece of Lard and first having boiled Mallow leaves till they be soft take of these leaves and beat them well with the Lard and when sufficiently beaten make it up in the fashion of a Suppository and apply it fresh to the place once a day Fetlock hurt The Fetlock may be hurt by casting the Horse with the double rope or sometimes by a bite of a Dog if by either of these this Sorrance happens take unslaked Lime and the Yolk of an Egge of each a like quantity beat them together to an Oyntment then mix therewith the juice of one head of Garlick and a little soot and anoint herewith the sore till it be almost well but skin it over thus take Sallet Oyl and Oyl of Roses of each one Ounce of Turpentine three Ounces and of new Wax one Ounce melt them well together and adde to them the fourth part of the powder of Verdigrease and herewith anoint the sore in few days it will skin over the sore and heal it Foundring in the feet if new a suddain Cure If your Horse be foundred in his feet but of no longer standing than seven or eight days with this following remedy you may restore his feet to their former soundness First let him blood in the Neck Breast and Spur-Veins taking from thence two quarts and receive it in a clean vessel and therewith make this ensuing charge Take the blood and put into it eight or nine new laid Egges shells and all and beat them well with the blood put to them of Bole-Armoniack pulverized very fine half a pound strong White-Wine-Vinegar one pint Sanguis Draconis three Ounces finely pulverized make this up thick with Wheat Meal with this charge his Back Reins Breasts Thighs Fetlocks and Soles and apply two cloths Plaisterwise to the Coffin of his hoofs and bind the forelegs above strait with broad filletting then ride him two hours upon an hard way if paved best of all then set him up This Foot-foundring in an Horse is a certain numbness pricking or tingling within his hoofs and I can compare it to no more proper thing than when any of us by cross sitting do cause our feet to be asleep as we say vulgarly during which time we are so disinabled from going that we cannot stand but with some difficulty so it fareth with an Horse the course of whose blood being stopped those obstructions cause that torment Several are the causes of this Malady briefly it comes sometimes by taking off his Saddle too suddainly after a great heat or by standing still in the cold unwalked or by standing in some shallow Water after he hath been ridden no higher than his Fetlock or by too strait and uneasie shooes Now though I have already prescribed a remedy for this foundring I cannot let this one more pass which for its excellency can hardly be valued and is good for all sorts of Foundrings new or old In the first place you must with a
are to understand that if a Graveling be not well stopt to keep down the flesh it will rise higher than the hoof it will cost you much more labour in bolstring and abating that ill-grown carnosity Some of our late Farriers are of opinion that this following receipt is an excellent remedy for any Gravelling viz. First you must so pare the hoof that the sore may be visible then take an ounce of Virgin-wax and a quarter of an ounce of Rozin and as much of Deer-suet and half an ounce of Boars-grease and beat them all very well in a Mortar and after that melt them together over the fire that done dip good store of Flax therein and so stop up the sore close and hard after this you may travel your Horse whither you please Now to the intent that your own experience may pick one out of many which may surpass all others let me add this one more Take of Virgin-wax one ounce Rozin and Deer-suet of each two ounces Boars-grease half an ounce and of Housleek one head incorporate all these together in a Mortar then melt them over a gentle fire and so apply it hot to the Sorrance stopping it up with Hurds and so tack on the shooe a very few dressings will effect the Cure Gourged or Gourded Legs This Gourge is a very bad Sorance being an ugly and dangerous swelling in the nether part of the legs proceeding from melting of grease by immoderate labour or from hard beating in dry ways in the Summer time which first causeth Wind-galls which offending the Sinews make them to swell and this is the worst Gourding The signs are a lesser swelling in his Legs when he is upon travel than when he standeth still in the stable this swelling is most usually attended with scabs which commonly run into the Scratches The Cure is to draw him with an hot Iron and handful above the Knee then rope his Legs with soft Hay wet in water that is cold and letting it remain twenty four hours it will allay the swelling I cannot approve of this Cure so well as what Mr. Markham prescribes which is this Take up the Veins beneath the Knee and let him bleed well then knit the Vein both above and below having so done anoint his legs with this Ointment Take of Frankincense Rozin and fresh Grease of each a like quantity and having boiled them well together strain it and use it once a day as you shall have occasion Have especial care in taking up the veins lest you make your Horse go stiff ever after Gelding of Horses or Colts There are three things to be observed in the Gelding of Horses and they are the Age Season of the year and state of the Moon First as to the Age all Colts you may geld at twelve days old or a little sooner which I rather approve of than of fifteen or twenty days old for the sooner a Colt is gelded if his stones are come down the more it will improve his growth shape and courage and though many have obstinately affirmed that a year and a half or two years old is the best time for gelding yet such have been at last forced to confess the contrary by woful experience An Horse you may geld at any age whatsoever with this Proviso that great care be taken in the Cure The Time or Season of the year for Gelding the best I hold to be at Spring and Fall that is to say from the latter end of March till the beginning of October Lastly as to the state of the Moon then is the best time when she is in the decrease and this is not only the opinion of all ancient Farriers but is confirmed by the experience of those of later practice Now as to the general manner of Gelding whether of Foal Colt or Horse it is thus Let the place you chuse to cast him on be Straw or a soft Dunghil not too moist then taking the stone between your foremost finger and your great finger with a fine Incision-knife slit the Cod so that you may only press the stone forth then with a pair of small Nippers very smoth clap the strings of the stone between them very near to the setting on of the stone and press them so hard that there may be no flux of blood then with a thin Cauterizing-iron red hot sear away the stone then take a hard Plaister of Rozin Wax and washt Turpentine well molten together and with your hot Iron melt it on the head of the strings and having sear'd the strings lay a good quantity of this Salve thereon then loose the Nippers and as you did with one stone so do with the other Having thus done fill the two slits of the Cod with white Salt then take Hogs-grease clean rendred and anoint the outside of the Cod as also his Thighs and Belly over and so let him rise If after his gelding you perceive any extraordinary swelling either in his Sheath or Cod then chase him up and down making him once a day to trot for an hour and it will remedy it perfectly Garget in Horse or Beast only I conceive that there is little difference between the Garget and Plague Pestilence or Murrain being all malignant and Pestilential distempers the Infected being infectious to those Horses which stand by them it is present death to open a Vein in this disease You may know this disease by these signs or symptoms He will hang down his head very much gumming thick atter at the eyes as big as the top of a mans finger his pace will be weak and staggering with swelling oftentimes in his head but his body will very much decay on a sudden and yet have a good stomach to his meat For the Cure take this Prescription Take of Diapente Dialphora London-Treacle Mithridate and Saffron of each the quantity of an Hasel-nut an handful of Wormwood as much of red Sage Rhubarb the quantity of an Hasel-nut two Cloves of Garlick boil all these together in two pints of good Beer till it hath consumed one half then give it him to drink luke-warm fasting and keep him very warm the very next thing you give him let it be a warm Mash made of ground malt and let him drink warm water for a week giving him sometimes some bursten Oats and clean sweet Hay it is sweating that must effect the Cure Now forasmuch as Cows also are troubled with this distemper know that about half the quantity of what in this Receipt is prescribed for an Horse is an excellent Remedy for a Cow Probatum A Garget sometimes seizeth the throat of an Ox Cow or Bullock causing a swelling in the sides and often cometh for want of water For the Cure you must cast the beast then cut the skin through on the midst of the swelling fleaing the skin on each side as far as the swelling extendeth then take fine white Wood-Ashes sifted and mix them with mould stale old Piss stir
herein first take the Horse out of the stable in a long string causing one to run him in his hand the length of the halter especially observe how he sets down his legs whatever leg is defective that leg to be sure he will endeavour to favour if he favour none but go upright then mount him and ride him roundly in some rode after this alight and let him stand still an hour or better then run him again in your hand at the halters length and then assure your self if he have the least grief he should not be able to conceal it If you find him infirm you shall know thus whence his grief proceeds if from an hot cause then the Horse halteth most when he is much exercised or travailed if from a cold cause then he halteth most when he hath stood still a while Hipped Horse or an Horse that is hurt in his Hips An hipped Horse is so properly called when the hip-bone is dislocated or removed out of its natural seat or place This Malady is as difficultly cured as any whatsoever for if it be not instantly taken immediately after the dislocation there will grow in the pot of the huckle bone a callous or hard substance that it will exclude the bone absolutely from ever possessing its natural habitation and so the Sorrance becomes incurable The symptoms of this Sorrance are halting much and going sidelong trailing his legs somewhat after him the grieved hip will be somewhat lower than the other and the flesh will fall away from his Buttock You must work his cure thus first cast him on his back and then having a strong Pastern on his grieved leg with a rope draw that leg upright and with your hands on each side his thigh bone guide it into the pot that done let him down gently and raise him up with as little stirring or disturbance to him as you can and so lead him softly into the stable after this charge all his hip and back with Rozen and Pitch molten together and laid on warm and upon that some Flocks of the colour of his own hair and so turn him to grass If there be no dislocation but only a hurt in the hip and that newly then take of Oyl de Bay of Dialthea of Nerve Oyl and of Swines grease of each half a pound melt them all together stirring them till they are throughly incorporated then anoint the Sorrance therewith against the hair every day once for fourteen days and that it may well sink in hold an hot bar of Iron over the place you anoint waving your hand to and fro and this will soon cure him Hough-Bonny Hough-Bonny is a round swelling growing on the very Elbow of the hoof and proceedeth from a bruise by beating his hoof against the post which standeth behind him or otherwise The remedy must be by taking a round Iron somewhat sharp at the end like a big Bodkin and let it be somewhat bending at the point then holding the sore with your left hand pulling it a little from the sinew pierce it with the Iron made red hot thrusting it beneath in the bottom and so upward into the jelly having thrust out all the jelly tent the hole with Flax dipt in Turpentine and Hogs-grease molten together and also anoint the outside with warm Hogs-grease doing this every day making the tent lesser and lesser till the Sorrance be cured Though this may be looked on as none of the meanest remedies for this distemper yet it comes far short of this following which frequently I have experimented successfully First take Hay boiled in old Urine and so bring the swelling to suppuration or discuss it if you can but if it comes to putrefaction then lance it in the lowest part of the swelling or softness with a thin hot Iron and so let out the matter then tent it with Turpentine Deers-suet and Wax of each a like quantity molten together and be sure that you lay a Plaister over of the same that you may keep in the Tent till it be perfectly cured Haltings of all sorts coming either by stroke strain or the like with their Cures For an Horse to halt is so common a thing that no Traveller but is very well acquainted with the trouble thereof if the malady be so well known there are few I think should be ignorant of the Cures which I shall orderly set down If the Halt proceed from stiffness of Sinews strain or stroke and that the malady lie in his leg then take Smallage Oxe-eye and Sheep-suet of each a quantity alike chop them all together and boil them all in man's Urine and bathe the whole leg therewith then with Hay-ropes wet in cold water rowl up his leg and you shall find him the next morning in a very good posture either to begin or continue his journey Another as good as the former Take Nerve-oil Oil de Bay and Aqua vitae mingle these together then warm it having so done take it and chafe it in upon and about the strain this will remove the pain If the grief be in the shoulder or hinder-leg then burn it upon the very joint by taking up the skin with a pair of Pincers and thrust the skin through with an hot Iron overthwart if you find this do him but little good then you may conclude his pain to be between the skin and the bone which then must be Roweled Another for a strain or swelling according to the practice of the most experienced Farriers now living Take a pint of the best Vinegar of sweet Butter four ounces and set them over the fire then with fine Wheat-bran make it into a Pultess over the fire and lay it as hot to the Sorrance as the Horse is able to endure it do thus morning and evening and it is excellent good to asswage any strain newly taken But if the strain be of some standing then take Mallows and Chickweed and boil them in strong Urine and so lay them very hot to the strain Now if your strain by length of time or abused by Medicines seem to the eye of all understanding men incurable the sinews and swelling being bony hard and knotted then take Piece-grease and melting it on the fire anoint and bathe the strain therewith very hot chafing it very much with your hand and afterwards holding a broad bar of Iron hot against it to make the Ointment the better sink in then with a fine linnen Rowler rowl up the leg softly continue thus doing once a day and there is no strain how great soever and desperate but it will remedy in a little time Helps for all Sores and Vlcers Old Sores or Ulcers have a threefold distinction the first are Fistula's being Sores which are deep hollow and crooked the second are Cankers this Sorrance is known by its shape which is broad and shallow and by its nature spreading and increasing the last are old Sores or Ulcers which are differenced from the two
Corrupt blood rank feeding or over-heating do cause this Maunge in the Tail yet not always for sometimes it is occasioned by Truncheon-worms in the Fundament which are bred there in the Spring which will cause them frequently to rub their Tails in this case you need do no more than anoint your hand with Butter or Soap and pull out the Worms and the cure is effected But if you find the Tail grow bare by reason of shedding the Hair which is occasioned by some small worms which grow at the root thereof or otherwise by some small fretting Scab then anoint his Tail throughout with Soap and after wash it with strong Lye this will both cleanse him from the Scab and kill the Worms Sometimes there will grow a Canker in the Tail which by degrees will eat not only the flesh but seize on the bone so that it shall drop joint by joint against this Malady you must take this course Take of green Copperas and Alom of each two pound of white Copperas half a pound boil these in five quarts of running water in a strong earthen pot till one half be consumed then with a little of this water luke-warm wash his Tail every day once with a little Flax bound to a stick and it will quickly be well Interfering Interfering or Enterfering signify both one and the same thing this infirmity comes sometimes naturally the pace being very strait or sometimes by broad shooing so that in his going he heweth one leg against the other whence come hard scabs and very mattery sore causing the Horse to halt down-right The Cure is thus Take of May-butter or fresh Grease and mingle it with Nerve-oil and Turpentine fry these in a pan and then add Cow-dung and apply it Plaister-wise You need not trouble your self about the cure hereof if your prudence and discretion would look after his shooing so that he might go so wide as not to touch However if you will play the Horse-courser you may take a sharp and knotted Cord and draw it from his Dock between his legs to the Girths and so ride him Joints grieved with any Ach Numness Weakness or Swelling whatsoever which proceedeth from a cold Cause The causes of this Ach Numness and Swelling are either a strain or a cold taken by violent exercise labour or immoderate riding The Signs or Symptoms are so visible to the Eye they need no description The Cure is Take Aqua vitae and warm it on the fire then take it and bathe the part grieved and rub it very well holding before it a broad flat hot Iron which will cause the spirit to sink in the better then take a ragg or piece of Flax and dip it in the Aqua vitae then take Pepper and having beaten it well fierce it in a fine fierce and lay it on the rag or flax and bind it to the grieved member then swathe it well with a Linnen Rowler do thus once a day and this will soon recover him There are others who take Acopum and mingle it with sweet Sack and therewith rub and chafe the grieved joint this is an excellent Medicine though not altogether so good as the former Increase of an Hoof lost or torn by some accident If your Horse hath lost his Hoof or if it be any ways impaired then take the Oil of Hemp-seed of Wax of Venice Turpentine Rozin Pitch Bay-seeds dried and powdred of each half a pound Roch-alom two ounces incorporate these well together and let them seeth over a soft fire having thus boiled some little space take it off and strain it through an hair cloth thus you may preserve it till you have occasion to make use thereof Once or twice a day take of this Unguent and anoint the Hoofs of your Horse and this will make them grow exceedingly and so sound as that hereafter they will not prove brittle Knots or Knobs how to remove If you perceive that your Horse hath growing on any part of his body any unnatural Knot or Knob which by Artists are called Excretions caused by putrified blood or by wounds not well healed which Excretions are not only perspicuous to the Eye but plainly felt by the hand I say in such a case you must endeavour to remove them with all expedition which may be done thus Take an Incision-Knife and scarifie those Excretions then lay thereon Coloquintida burned and sifted having eaten away this Knob or Knot then heal it up with some drying Medicines as Honey Lime or Bole armoniack Or take the strongest sort of Aegyptiacum and with Cotton lay it thereon and in four or five times doing it will utterly destroy or eat away the Excretion Kernels under an Horses throat how to discuss suddenly safely and with little Expence In the first place you must take a lighted Candle and therewith sear the Kernels then take Butter it matters not whether fresh or salt and lay a piece thereof on a red cloth and rub it well in therewith and in less than fourteen dayes the Knots will vanish and if the Nose run by reason of them it will stop as soon as they are gone During the Cure if it be in Winter he must be kept warm in the Stable otherwise he may run at grass but neglect not to anoint his Knobs or Kernels once a day at least Or you may take Soap and mingle it with Brandy-wine and having a red hot Iron in readiness hold it somewhat near the part as you apply the Soap and Brandy-wine to make it sink in the better this Medicine will suddenly bring them down or break them Now if your aforesaid Knobs be of a long standing and be extremely hard then in this manner you must work the Cure Take an ounce and an half of the Oil of Turpentine and joyn thereto the like quantity of strong Beer put these into a glass and so shake them that they be well mingled together with this bathe the Knob clapping it in well with your hand and using an hot Iron to make it sink in the more four days after apply the charge of Soap and Brandy-wine Five or six days after you may ride him whither you please Knees broken of a long standing perfectly cured If your Horse have old broken Knees much swelled and hard and have been a good while healed up only take the Oil of Worms and anoint the places grieved for this is a great mollifier of any hard and bony part if this answer not your expectation then may you use the aforesaid Remedy which I prescribed for hard Knobs of a long continuance Legs that are swelled how to cure As to the swelling of an Horse's Legs you must consider whether it be before or behind if in his forelegs then the cause hereof was some over violent labour by reason he was fat and the Grease which was melted fell down in his forelegs which had it staid within and not fallen outwardly would have ingendered an Anticor or some other
free him from them For Lice to afflict Horses in great quantities is as common as to have them in childrens heads especially if the Horse run in the Winter time in Coppices and among Trees where the drops continually fall from the Trees upon his back these drops with his own poverty will breed them infinitely as long as he is troubled with these Lice which are very like Geese Lice which breed principally about the Ears Neck Main Tail and will spread over all the body I say as long as they infest him so long will he be low and in a languishing condition The signs are an Horse will be always scrubbing scratching or rubbing himself against walls posts or doors or any thing else that will serve for that purpose fretting away thereby the hair of his Mane and Tail when the Sun shines you will find then perching on the top of his hair and now although he should eat never so much he will neither thrive nor prosper To cure him of this Itch and free him from these Vermine you must take Sâ—aves-acre and boil it in running water and wash him all over herewith and it will destroy them Or take Soap and Quicksilver or soft grease and Quicksilver and beat them together till the Quicksilver be killed and anoint the Horse all over therewith and it will destroy the Lice instantly Or take Tobacco and shred it very small and with Alom powdered put it into small Beer and when the Alom is dissolved wash him herewith this is an excellent and speedy Remedy Some say that Hogs-grease alone anointing the Mane and Ridge-bone of the back will instantly burst them But this to conclude I have tried with desired success that is take a broad woollen List as broad as your hand that will go round about his Neck then wet or dip the List in Train oil sow it about his neck this will cause the Lice to gather to it which will kill them as fast as they come you may daub some hereof about other parts of his body to save them from a greater march and it will destroy them in like manner nay this will also keep flies in Summer-time from Sores and this is not only good for an Horse alone but for any other sort of Cattle Lampas The Lampas is a swelling or growing up of the flesh over-growing the upper Teeth which are the shearers in the upper Chap which said swelling is a very great impediment to his feeding It commonly proceedeth from abundance of rank blood resorting to the first Furrow or Bar of the mouth The Symptoms of this distemper are very visible to the eye and therefore need no further remonstrance You must cure him after this manner Take an Onion and roast it and being very hot put it upon a cloth and with it rub the Lampas very much this must be done thrice a day till the Lampas be cured Now the Farriers in former time used to prick the swelling in divers places making it bleed and then with a Bistory as the French call it which is an Iron at one end broad thin and a little turned up and heating it red hot were wont to burn out all that superfluous flesh which over-growed the fore teeth anointing the sore place with Butter till it was well or wash it only with Salt and Vinegar I would not have this Cure sleighted for its antiquity neither is it by the most discreet and experienced Farriers of our times Now if you find through too much burning or eating of very course meat that the sore healeth not but rather begins to rankle then take three spoonfuls of Honey and twelve Pepper-corns pounding them in a Mortar small and mixing them with the Honey tempering them up with Vinegar and afterwards boil them together with this anoint the sore place and it will soon be whole Lean Horses how to make fat in a little time I can assure you from my own experience that by this following Receipt I have often fatned in a short time Horses so lean that their bones have been ready to start through their skin and have afterward grown so fat that I have been forced to use medicaments for the prevention of its further encrease thus you must do Take Enula-campana dried Cummin Turmerick Anniseeds of each two ounces Groundsel about half an handful then take three heads of Garlick pick'd and boil these very well together in a gallon of strong Ale after this strain it and every morning give him a quart thereof to drink blood-warm as long as it lasteth then ride him moderately but not so as to cause him to sweat after four mornings are expired turn him to grass if the season will permit if not keep him in the Stable and you shall find him feed lustily and improve suddenly but you must still observe to give him warm Mashes seasonable Airing and moderate Exercise Lave-ear'd Horse how to remedy To have an Horse Lave-ear'd is as great a deformity to him as can happen and although the Farriers of these times have not made it their endeavour to reform so foul a deformity yet it is more their fault by ignorance or negligence than any impossibility of helping this natural infirmity which hath its original from the very conception I must acknowledge my self to be somewhat beholding to Mr. Markham for the Cure of this deformity which must be effected in this manner In the first place take your Horses ears and so place them as you would have them stand hereafter then take a thin Trencher and slice two pieces thereof as broad as three fingers having fastned long strings thereunto with these bind the ears so fast as you have placed them that no motion shall stir or displace them from that form then shall you see some empty wrinkled skin between the head and the root of the ear which you must pull up with your finger and thumb and with your Scissers clip away the empty skin by the head after this with a needle and red silk stitch the two sides of the skin together very close then make a Salve of Turpentine Deer-suet and Honey taking of these an equal quantity which must be melted together and with this Salve or Ointment you must heal the sore then may you take away the pieces of Trencher and the ears will ever after without any alteration keep that posture you designed them Moon-eyed To be Moon-eyed is as bad a thing as an Horse can be troubled with being not only noisom but dangerous this distemper commonly proceeds from forcing an Horse to do that he is incapable of performing as if he be dull and lazie to make him trot or gallop beyond his strength or vigour or if over free to give him too much freedom according to the Proverb a man may soon run a free Horse to death I know no other reason why they call this malady Moon-eyed but that sometimes in the month he will see indifferently and sometime not at
spoonfuls as much Allom as an Egge of Bean or Rye flower two spoonfuls mix all these together and apply it to the Mellet as far as it goeth letting it lye on five or six days after you have taken it away wash his leg and foot with salt Beef broth then rope his leg with wet Hay ropes two or three days after and he will be very sound and well Morfounded Morfounding is no other than foundring in the body by molten grease of which I have already treated in that section which discourseth only upon the internal diseases which afflict the bodies of Horses however give me leave to give you one excellent Receipt more inferiour to none of the former and that is this as followeth Take an handful of Salt and put it into a pint of fair water give him this to drink then ride him with that moderation that you cause him not to sweat this done as soon as you suspect him foundred will work the cure but if it be of five or six days standing then take a spoonful of the powder of Hellebore and of Saffron one penny worth of Assa foetida and of Soap of Venice of each two dramchs with a small quantity of the seeds of Bays mix these and pound them well together adding thereto a pint of Vinegar give him this to drink blood warm then cloath him well so that he sweat for an hour then cool him by degrees and after that rub him well down and he will be as well as ever Probatum Mules or Kibe heels This Sorrance is a certain dry scab or chap breeding behind on the heels of an Horse and so a little inward even to the Fetlock in long chaps or chinks The causes of these Kibed heels are either corrupted blood negligent keeping or by being bred in wet and marshy grounds The signs are swelling in his legs most especially in the Winter and Spring time going stifly and halting much As to the Cure you must first take away the scabs and make the Kybe raw then with strong Mustard made with Wine-vinegar anoint them all over and do this every night The next morning take half a pound of green Copperas and boil it in a pottle of running water with an handful of Sage and the like quantity of Hysop a quarter of a pound of Alom and as much strong Mustard and with this bathe the sore twice every day Or first wash his Sorrance clean then dry it after that take Linseed Oyl and black Soap of each a like quantity boil them together till they become a Salve and herewith anoint the Mules or Kibes If these Kibes are not of long standing take a little Sope and anoint them daily for three or four days and after that wash them with strong stale Urine and they would be whole But if it be of longer continuance then calcinate Tartar and dissolve it into water then congeal it like Salt and mingle it with Soap like an Ointment with this dress the sore by so doing in two days and two nights you shall perfectly cure the Kibes Pains or Scratches whatsoever Mallender I have before discours'd concerning the Mallender but it was more properly a disease called the Low-worm wherefore I shall particularly in this place insist upon the Mallender This Malady is a kind of a dry Scab growing overthwart the inward bent of the Knee and hath growing thereon stubborn hairs like Swines-bristles which will corrupt and canker the flesh causing him to go stiff till he is warmed by travel or exercise If you intend a Cure you must first pull out these bristly hairs then rub it dry with a cloth after this anoint it with Crown Sope and red Mercury precipitate mixed together dress him herewith five several times intermitting one day betwixt every dressing then anoint it with Sallet-oil and you need do no more Others think this way better First wash the sore clean with warm water then shave off the hair and pick away the scabs after this take a spoonful of Soap and as much Lime mingle them together that it may be like Paste then spread on a clout as much as will cover the Sore and bind it fast on with a List renewing it every day once the space of 4 days at the expiration of which time take away the Plaister and take Oil of Roses warmed and anoint the sore therewith and that will fetch off clearly all the scurf crusty eschar having removed this skurf wash once a day the place with man's Urine strowing the powder of burnt Oister-shells thereon continue thus doing till it be perfectly well The latest way of curing a Mallender is this first with your Scissers clip away the hair that either grows upon or about it then take an hair-cloth or the back of an old Knife and rub the scabs off which will cause a yellow matter to run from it then take a linnen cloth and therewith wipe the part very clean then take a groats-worth of the Oil of Riggrum and mingle it with Stercus humanum then lay on this with a flat stick upon a piece of cloth not woolen and bind it to the sore letting it lie on six days then cleanse it and dress it once more and there needs nothing else to perfect the Cure Lastly some only wash and shave the Mallender and then rub it with Piss and Soap till it be raw then lay to it Nerve-oil Honey and strong Mustard until it be whole Where note that some Horses will have two Mallenders upon one Leg one above the other and sometimes one a little above the bending of the Knee and another a little below the inward bending of the Knee but as to the Cure it is all alike what being good for the one may be applied also to the other Mourning of the Chine This disease called the Mourning of the Chine is also called the moist Malady it is supposed by most expert Farriers that this disease is a foul consumption of the Liver and this consumption proceeds from a cold which afterwards turns to a Poze then to the Glanders and lastly to the Mourning of the Chine The sign is that corrupt matter which runneth from his Nostrils will be darkish colour thin and reddish with little streaks of blood in it The Remedy is thus Take of Auripigmentum two drachms of Tussilage as much made into powder then mix them with Turpentine till they be as thick almost as Dow then make thereof little Cakes and dry them before the fire then take a Chafing-dish of Coals and lay a couple of the Cakes thereon covering them with a Tunnel when the smoke ariseth clap the end of the Tunnel into the Horses Nostril so that the smoke may ascend into his head after you have so done ride him till he sweat do this every morning before watering and he will quickly be cured Or else you may use this Remedy Take clear water and a quart of Hydromel adding thereto three ounces of Sallet-oyl
and wash the sore well therewith after that anoint it with the above specified composition till it be whole Nose running If your Horse be troubled with running at the Nose then take Orpin and Brimstone and put them on a chafing-dish of Coles and so burn them and with the smoak perfume his head and nose this will cause a dissolution of thick and congealed humours either in the head or brain Or for further trial take of Auripigmentum and Tussilago of each two drachms these pulverize and make them into a Paste by the addition of Venice Turpentine well washed make these into flat Cakes about the circumference of a six pence and having dried them take a Chafing-dish of burning Coles and put them thereon and therewith perfume your Horses head every day Over reach or Vpper attaint The Over reach is nothing else but a dolorous swelling of the master sinew or Back sinew of the Shank bone by reason that the Horse doth sometimes over reach or strike that sinew with the toe of his hinder foot causing him by that means to go very lame and halting The signs of this Malady are so apparent they need no remonstrance therefore I shall pass to the cure which is diversly performed First some wash the leg with warm water then shaving off the hair as far as the swelling goeth they scarifie the Sorrance with the point of a very sharp knife causing the blood to issue thence then take of Cantharides and Euphorbium of each half an Ounce and with four Ounces of Soap mingle them together then spread some of this Ointment all over the Sorrance letting him rest at the place where he was drest for about half an hour then tye him up so that he cannot come at the sore with his mouth letting him stand without Litter the next day do after the like manner and the third day anoint the sore with fresh Butter continue so doing seven or eight days then make him a Bath after this manner Take of Mallows three handfuls or more one Rose cake of Sage one handful boil these together in a good quantity of water till such time as the Mallows be soft then put in to them half a pound of butter and half a pint of Sallet Oyl being somewhat more than blood warm wash the Sorrance every day till it be whole Now if the swelling by no Salve will be dissolved take a fine thin hot drawing Iron and draw his leg all downward with the hair in many small strikes from the one end of the swelling to the other and make the strikes very thick together and deep withal then anoint the burning three days with black Soap and so turn him to grass Secondly there are others which prescribe this method for the cure of an Over reach in the heel and that is first cut out with your Incision knife the Over reach so that it may be very plain and having washt it with Beer and Salt lay thereunto a plaister made after this manner Take Oat meal and Butter of each so much as will make a Salve put them in a Mortar and so incorporate them then lay it to the Sorrance continue so doing once a day till the cure be perfected Otherwise search it well to the bottom cleansing it from all manner of Gravel and washing it clean with mans Urine then take an handful and an half of Nettles and an handful and an half of Salt and putting them in a cloth lay them to the sore thus do three mornings together and after that set the shooe on with a Leather under it then pour in some Hogs grease scalding hot and a little after that scalding hot Rozen and lastly but presently after that put to it some Wheat bran and no doubt of a cure Or you may first wash the Sorrance with water and Salt then take two big Onions two spoonfuls of Pepper beaten small of Crown sope the bigness of a Tennis ball beat these together into a Salve and laying it on a linnen cloth having first dryed the foot apply it and remove it not from thence but once in a day and night renewing it in that manner still till it be whole but as it heals do it seldomer Lastly that which I have ever found to be an excellent remedy for any Sinew strain whatsoever is take the whites of six Egges as much Bole Armoniack and Bean flower as by setting it over the fire will become a Salve take of this when it is very hot and Plaisterwise lay it on the Sinew-strain and round about the leg you must not omit so doing till all manner of swelling thereabout be clean taken away Oyl of Oats what the Soveraign vertues are and how to make it As far as I can find that skilful Artist Mr. Markham was the first inventor of this incomparable Oyl and so Thomas de Grey Esq seems to acknowledge when writing in the praise hereof confesseth that he never could meet with it any where else either in England France or Italy and that he would not use any other Oyl if he could come by this in any internal administration whatsoever having found the excellency thereof by his own and other mens painful experiences thus it is made Take two Gallons of Milk and being warm over the fire put thereunto four ounces of burnt Allom which will curdle it like a Posset skim off the Curd and throw it to the Dunghill but strain the Whey through a course cloth into a clean Vessel then take a quarter of a peck of Oats dry and clean husked and put them into the Whey but the Oats must not have been dryed and then set the Whey over the fire boiling the Oats so long till they swell and break then take them off and put the Oats into a Cullender that the Whey may gently drain from them without pressing this done put the Oats into frying pan and hold them over the fire stirring them so long till you see no fume to ascend then suddenly take them off and clap them into an hard Press pressing them there exceedingly what comes from them is the Oil of Oats which you must reserve in a glass very closely stopt It stands with reason that this Oyl should be the most Soveraign of all others for any internal distemper in the body of an Horse since it is extracted and made from the natural and most nourishing food an Horse can eat Take five spoonfuls of this Oyl and put it into a pint of sweet Wine or a quart of strong Ale and give it an Horse to drink pouring in some of the Whey into his Nostrils and it will absolutely cure him of the Glanders It is also the best of all Purgations for it purgeth away all those malignant and venomous humours which are the nourishers of any incurable Farcy whatsoever neither is there any offensive humour within the Fomentors of dangerous distempers which it doth not suddainly dissipate and expel Old Sores speedily and safely
be white and like Jelly and cut it out with your Incision-knife till you come to the sound red flesh spare not to cut it all out though from the flesh and veins there flow a great quantity of blood but cut not by any means the Pax-wax which you shall plainly discern by its whiteness But you shall find a white pith near the Pax-wax which I would advise you by all means to remove and indeed it is no ways difficult so to do for if you will lay but your Pinchers to it it will come away whole like a plugg having drawn it out apply some of the Medicine aforesaid and it will heal it up Pastern-joint strained When I speak of a strain in the Pastern-joint I do not mean that the back sinews have sustained any detriment wherefore if the Pastern-joint be only strained then take a quart of Brine and boil it till it ariseth then strain it and put to it of Tansey and Mallows of each one handful of Honey two spoonfuls and of Sheeps-tallow four ounces take these and having first chopt them very well pound them in a Mortar after this put them into a Posnet and boil them well then take it off and when it is but warm put it into a cloth and sow it on to the Sorrance letting it remain there six days but if in that time the Cure is not wrought then wash it with warm water shaving off the hair scarifie the joint and then apply the Medicine compounded of Cantharides and Euphorbium and this will undoubtedly effect the Cure Prick on the Crownet with a Pitch-sork or otherwise Take a pottle of Stale Urine two handfuls of Mallows and half a pound of Boars-grease boil them together and being indifferent hot bathe the Legs therewith then apply the Mallows to the Wound but if the swelling ascend upwards and be great then rope the Leg up and moisten the ropes with his Urine this is good for any swelling whatever Or take Turpentine black Soap Hogs-grease great Treat and Pitch a quantity alike mix and boil them well together and so apply it warm or otherwise Pricking in the Foot If an Horse by chance or negligence of the Smith be prickt in the foot you will know it when he goeth by favouring that foot which is offended when he stands still by standing a tiptoe on that foot As soon as you shall perceive your Horse to be thus abused take off his shooe and pare him by degrees with the Butteriss and your Drawing-knife having found out the bottom of his grievance cleanse it very well take Turpentine fresh Butter with a small quantity of black Pitch sodden together and poured in scalding hot then dip some Tow therein stuffing it well between the shooe and foot you may take a piece of upper-leather and stuff it in between the Towe and the shooe Now if it be some Nail in the streets or channel which hath struck into his foot then finding out the Nail pluck it out and heating it red hot put it again into the same hole from whence you drew it thus searing it with the red hot Nail will keep the hole from festering and rankling then melt Turpentine Butter and black Pitch and as it is scalding pour it therein then put on the shooe and stuff the soot with Towe or Hurds this never faileth Prickt in the shooing and festering afterwards If your Horse be prickt by the carelesness or ignorance of a Smith and after the hurt received you perceiving it not presently the place rankleth and festereth in a very great measure then must you first open it very well to the very bottom letting out all the corruption therein search it be sure as far as the Nail did go and then mundifie it after this take five or six House-snails a little Salt the quantity of a Walnut of Soap and beat these together and lay this to the foot that was prickt a whole day and a night or longer till you see it begin to heal then dress it but once in eight and forty hours five dressings will be sufficient This pricking in the foot hath several names though they all import but one thing as Accloyed Cloyd Retrait and prickt yet Mr. Markham seems to make some difference between them of which I shall give you as brief an account as Imay But first give me lieve to recount to you the several general Causes which happen very commonly by the ignorance and unskilfulness of the Smith in driving of his nails whereby some are broken and not being immediately drawn out caused the part to fester and impostumate sometimes the Horse is injured by the weakness or ill-pointing of the Nails Now if after the new shooing of your Horse you suspect him prickt yet cannot discover it by his halting search his feet and that foot which is grieved he will shrink up as soon as you have laid your Pinsers to the place for their nipping will pain him to the quick Or by knocking with an Hammer on the top of the Clenches you will presently discover which Nail it is that hurts him Now by reason of the anguish and the pain he undergoes by this pricking his foot will be more hot that is hurt than the rest so that if you take a pail of water and throw on his feet that foot grieved will be sooner dry about the hoof than the rest Having discovered his Malady by these infallible Symptoms first search his foot very well then take of Goats-grease or rather Deers-suet if to be had of Turpentine Sallet-oil and new Wax of each two ounces melt these together and before you take it from the fire put to it of ordinary Honey three ounces and of Sanguis Draconis one drachm pulverized work these into one body over a slow fire and make an Unguent thereof take a good quantity hereof and pour it into the Sorrance indifferently warm then stop it up with Towe or Hurds and be sure that he tread in no cold water The French are so in love with this their own experienced Remedy that they will admit of none else for the cure of a prick Having first searched and washed the Sorrance very well then they take Oil de Bay four ounces of Orfin Cantharides Euphorbium of each two ounces make them all into fine powder and set it on a small slow fire stirring it till it become an Ointment with which they dress ths Sorrance and to speak the truth it is a very excellent and speedy Remedy Now it becometh every one that hath respect for his Horse to be careful in the curing of this same prick in the foot for if it be not throughly searched cleansed and healed to the bottom it will certainly break out about the Cronet or top of the Hoof so loosning the hoof round about that it is ten to one but that the hoof will come clearly off Now if you perceive that it begins to break out above make as large a
distemper which I have endeavoured already to lay down each in their particular order and therefore I shall be the briefer here Purgation for great Surfeits Take a pint of white Wine or instead thereof a quart of new Ale as much of the best powder of Mechoachan as you can take upon a shilling at four times mingle them together and in an Horn give it the Horse luke-warm to drink after this ride your Horse moderately for an hour and then set him up warm upon the Trench six hours fasting then give him a warm Mash and a little after some clean Oats with Bran mingled but give it him a little at a time and let his Hay be wet that night this will cause him to evacuate the slime engendred by surfeit in great flakes upon his dung See more of these Purgations in the letter P in the Alphabet of Internal Diseases Papps underneath an Horses Tongue vide Barbes Pain in Horses Teeth how remedied The Tooth-ach or pain in Horses Teeth is occasioned several ways first by the falling down of gross humours from the head into the Teeth and Gums this Malady most afflicteth Horses of fewest years being very young and clotish the swelling and inflammation of the Gums doth sufficiently declare the nature of the Distemper Secondly an Horse will have the Tooth ach when his upper Jaw-teeth are so over-grown as that they hang over the nether Jaw-teeth cutting and razing the insides of his cheeks with their exceeding sharpness Thirdly and lastly this pain may happen by corruption of blood which shall so weaken and loosen his Teeth that through their tenderness he will not be able to chew his meat The Cure of the first Tooth-ach proceeding from distillation of humours is wrought by rubbing all the outside of the Horses Gums with fine Chalk and strong Vinegar well incorporated together or else having washed the Teeth as aforesaid take powder of Pomegranate-pills and strow thereon then take Rozin Pitch and Mastich and melting them together lay it plaister-wise to the Horses Temples If his Tooth-ach proceed from the second cause viz. the upper Jaw teeth overgrown and so sharp as that they cut the insides of the cheeks then take your Gouge and with a Mallet strike or cut those teeth shorter gradually by little and little turning the hollow side of your Gouge towards the Teeth and so running them along from first to last then file them smooth from all raggedness having thus done take water and salt and wash your Horses mouth very well therewith Now if the Tooth-ach proceed from the last cause that is to say from the loosness of the Teeth then you may do well to let the Horse blood under the Tail next the Rump then with Sage rub his Gums or else which is much better wash very well his mouth with Salt Sage and Honey beaten together this will fasten his Teeth then give him in his provender the tender crops of black Briars Pains The Pains is a certain Ulcerous distemper or Scab growing in the Pastorns of an Horse between the Fetlock and the Heel from whence issueth a fretting waterish humour this happens usually by the Laziness of the Groom or Hostler in not rubbing well the heels of an Horse after a journey in Winter time And there are no Horses so subject to this distemper as those which have long hair on their Fetlocks hence comes that your Frizonds and Flanders Mares which are in such great esteem among the Gentry of England for the Coach are very much often troubled therewith by the least negligence of the Groom for the hair about the Pasterns being always very long the sand and dirt gets into it fretting the skin and flesh and so breedeth the Scab The signs are a palpable Scab with an hot waterish humour glitting from thence which in its passage scaldeth off the hair as it goeth The Cure is having first taken up the Shackle-veins on both sides then take the soft roe of a red Herring Mustard and black Soap beat these and incorporate them together then boil them in Vinegar till they become a Salve and apply it to the sore this is an admirable and speedy Cure Or else you may take a pound of Hogs-grease a penny worth of Verdigrease two ounces of Mustard half a pound of Oyl de Bay a quarter of a pound of Nerve-oil half a pound of Honey half a pound of English Wax one ounce of Arsenick two ounces of red Lead and half a pint of Vinegar boil all these together till you have made an Ointment thereof Having made the sore bare apply this ointment thereunto very hot renewing it once a day till the Cure be compleated That Remedy which I have experienced to be most efficacious is this Take of Turpentine Hogs-grease Honey and black Soap of each a like quantity and having molten them over a slow fire take them off and add to them a small quantity of Bole-armoniack finely pulverized then as you work these together with a stick in your right hand so with your left pour in by little Wheat-flower which you must have in readiness by you to make a composition as thick as an Ointment Having first cleared the sore of its hair and made it raw apply this Salve thereunto spred on a linnen cloth renewing it once a day till you have made a Cure There are yet other some who hold this for an excellent Remedy for the Pains and that is take Pepper Garlick stampt Coleworts and old Hogs-grease of each a like quantity then beat them into a Salve and lay it to the sore changing your Plaister once a day till it be whole Lastly take green Copperas and Roch Alom of each half a pound one handful of Bay-salt boil these in a gallon of running water then take it off and add thereunto a pint of Honey then boil them over again anoint the Sore herewith then rub it with the powder of Glass Mustard and Vinegar commixed then take Cream and the inner rinde of Elder tree pounded to a Salve and skin the sore herewith using it twice a day Powder of Honey and Lime Take a quantity of unsleckt Lime as much as you shall think sufficient and pulverize it very finely then take a convenient quantity of Honey or so much as is requisite to mingle it together and to make it into a thick Paste and afterwards work it into the form of a Loaf then bake it in an Oven then when it is well baked take it forth and when cold beat it into fine powder and so preserve it for your use it dryeth healeth and skinneth all sores whatsoever Quitter bone The Quitter bone is an hard round swelling upon the Cronet of the hoof betwixt the heel and the quarter and groweth most commonly on the inside of the foot it is caused by some hurt the Horse hath sustained in the foot either by a prick in shooing by gravelling which fretteth inwardly and forceth an Ulcer to
break upward or by some stub or nail running into the foot as he travaileth Sometimes it cometh by a blow or by treading one foot upon the other this Quitter bone is the most dangerous of all outward Sorrances and is known by a very apparent swelling which in less than six days will come to an head breaking and then the matter or corruption will issue out of a small hole yet deep The cure is thus cut the hoof open to the quick then take Galbanum Sagapenum Pitch of Greece Olibanum Mastich Oyl and White-Wax of each one Ounce with half a pound of Sheeps suet melt them upon a soft fire and work them well into a body and dress therewith the sore until it be cured Or else do thus as soon as you perceive the nature of your Horses Sorrance that it is a Quitter bone open it above if you find it soft then take Auripigmentum pulverized and infuse it twenty eight hours into very strong White-Wine Vinegar then lay it to the sore and it will so eat about the Quitter bone that with your Plyers you may easily pluck it away the bone or gristle being taken forth heal up the wound with the Copperas water and green Ointment before prescribed you in a preceeding Chapter Although a Quitter bone be far gone and by that means difficult to be cured yet this is an infallible remedy You must first take off a quarter of the hoof right under the Quitter bone so that the corruption may have the freer passage a part of the hoof being off lay in the place thereof a piece of Hares skin to stop the blood and there let it lye twenty four hours without molestation then take it away and wash it with Wine and Vinegar now to the intent you may kill the rankling scald it with boiling hot Butter and Salt boiled together do this thrice once every other day and it will not only hinder it from festring but hinder all manner of dead and proud flesh to grow in it Then take of Verdigrease the quantity of a Pidgeons Egge pulverized a quarter of a pint of White-Wine-Vinegar and as much Honey boil these together with the Verdigrease all the time it boils you must be careful that you continually stir it for about half an hour then take it off and preserve it in a clean vessel and therewith every day anoint the Sorrance till it be well having cured the Sorrance then must you recover the hoof which is done by taking Tar Tallow Turpentine and Dogs grease boiled together let not the Turpentine be put in till you are about to remove it from the fire if possibly you may forbear take not off the whole hoof because it will require a long time to produce another but anoint the torn hoof herewith and if any thing will bring a new piece in the place of the old this will do it The Italian cureth this Malady thus he first opens the sore then he puts into it Salt of Tartar and having quite eaten away the Quitter bone he taketh Honey and Verdigrease and boiling them together healeth it up therewith The French put Arsnick into the hole of the Quitter bone letting it lye there a day and a night stopping up the mouth thereof very close if after opening it the cavity look black within it is concluded the Arsnick hath wrought its design then to allay the fire and restore the mortified flesh they take Hogs grease and Turpentine and having melted them together they tent the wound therewith being suspicious that the Core is not eaten away or removed then make a Plaister of Pitch Rozen and Wax of each a like quantity and of Turpentine as much as all the rest being sure that the Gristle is consumed then heal it up with this Unguent take of common Honey and Verdigrease powdred of each quantum sufficit boil these till it be red and therewith tent the wound till it be whole with this caution that you keep the mouth of the wound open till you are assured that it is healed at the bottom If it be your chance at any time to meet with a Quitter bone that hath passed through a great many Farriers hands by whose want of skill it hath been poisoned in such sort that the Pastern hath been much swelled if so the first thing you must do is to take up the Vein on that side of the Leg on which the Quitter bone groweth to keep the humour back which affords it sustenance then put in the quantity of a Bean of Arsnick to eat out the Core of the Quitter bone where note that a Quitter bone is difficulty cured if you take not up a Vein and when the Core is out you must first wash it well with White-Wine-Vinegar and Salt before you heal it up Lastly here followeth a very good receipt neither troublesome nor costly in the composition first take Hogs grease and Verdigrease pounded together and tent therewith the Sorrance for a day or two then pour into the hole scalding hot Hogs grease then lay a plaister of Pitch and Tar mixt over it for twenty four hours if the bone rise not in that time do it once more and it will rise Quick Scab The Quick scab is both noisome and infectious and is Cousin Germain to the Leprosie the reason why it goeth under this appellation is because it is no ways fixed running from one part of the body to another sometimes in the Mane and not long after in the Tail now in the Neck and then in the breast The original cause is a surfeit by overheating the blood which consequently putrefies and from thence is ingendred the Quick scab Though there are several sorts of cures for this grievous Malady yet by experience I know none better than this first breath a Vein then shave or clip away the hair that either groweth upon or about the Sorrance then take Mallows and Marsh Mallows of each a like quantity and boil them in fair water till these herbs be soft preserve the Liquor and bath therewith together with the herbs this Quick scab three days at least together and let the decoction be warm then take of common Honey one pint Copperas Allom Glass Verdigrease all pulverized of each four ounces Turpentine and Quick silver mortified of each two ounces boil all these together with the Honey unto an Ointment and herewith dress the Sorrance every day till it be whole Raising the Crest when fallen If you would have an Horses Crest that is fallen to stand as it should then with your hand raise it to that form you would have it see more of this in the letter C. the Section Crest fallen Red Water issuing out of old incurable Vlcers the Cure This Water must be totally removed before any old Ulcer can be cured for this water poisons the wound the French give this Malady the appellation of La Eu Rouse and I must confess that I am beholding to the
French for its cure it is thus effected There is an Herb which goeth by three or four names viz. Emanuel All-good Bonus Henricus or good King Henry take of the roots hereof and boil them in water and give him a Drench hereof blood warm in an horn this will remove the Red water and then you may cure the old Ulcer as you are prescribed in the Section of Fistulas Repercussive Medicaments Repercussive Medicines are such as repel or drive back evil and malignant humours Farriers call them Plaisters Defensative these are to be used in great wounds or Ulcers the best Repercussives are Vinegar Salt and Bole Armoniack beaten together and spread round about the Sore or else white Lead and Sallet Oyl beaten together or Red Lead and Sallet Oyl or else Vnguentum Album Camphoratum with a many more your own experience will indagate and discover Ring bone A Ring bone is at first a certain slimy humour and viscous which resorting to the bones of their own nature cold and dry cleave thereunto and become hard gristly nay absolutely bony its scituation is ever upon the Cronet of the hoof The causes hereof are twofold either natural or accidental naturally when either the Mare or Stallion have it from whom the Colt proceedeth and though I never saw a Colt bring a Ring-bone into the World with it yet Mr. Markham avoucheth he hath seen many Foals foaled with Ring bones on the feet wherefore I shall advise you not to breed upon any such Stallion or Mare that either have had or have this Malady Accidentally this happens several ways first by some blow or stroak on the foot or else from some evil humour descending and setling upon the Cronet The Symptoms hereof are apparent to the eye the Cronet of the hoof will be much swoln especially that part which is next adjoining unto the lower part of the Pastern the hair thereabout will grow bristly and stare and the Horse will go lame The Cures are several but I shall prescribe you none here but what have been many times experimented with welcome success First scarifie the skin above the Ring bone with a Lancet then take a great Onion and pick out the Core then take Verdigrease and unfleckt Lime and put them therein then cover up the hole and in hot embers roast it till it be soft then take it and bruise it well and being very hot lay it to the sorrance do thus five days together you will not miss of a cure Another way to cure it First cast your Horse or tye up his contrary leg with a strong rope till you strike five or six holes in the Ring bone at the very edge of it let the holes be equally distant from each other then take Arsnick and upon the top of your Fleim put some thereof into every hole then bind up his foot for a night and a day But that which Esq Grey prescribeth as infallible is this take unfleckt Lime newly taken from the Kill well burned which you may know by its lightness pulverize this Lime and lay it thick upon the place swelled with a linnen cloth bound about it to keep it on then let him stand in cold water an indifferent while then taking him forth unbind the foot and he is certainly cured for the burning of the Lime doth kill the Ring bone even to the very root thereof this is a truth throughly experimented Rats tails how to cure Take green Vitriol half a pound and boil it in a pint of running water with Alom Mustard Sage and Hysop the night before you apply this anoint the sores made raw with strong Mustard the next day wash them with the water afore specified and it is a cure Rowels how to put them in whether French or English If you are to place a Rowel in the breast make it lean to that part of the shoulder which is grieved then take a Lancet and only cut the skin through not cross but down right then put in your finger between the skin and the flesh raising the skin from the flesh round about the Orifice the breadth of a Tester then take a piece of the upper leather of a shooe and cut it round with an hole in the middle then put a Needle and Thread through it then take a quill and put one end into the Orifice of his breast upwards and so blow in the Wind having blown it three or four times run the Needle and Thread once through the Rowel and once through the skin and draw the Rowel into the cut when you have thus placed the Rowel in the cut with the hole of the Rowel right against the hole in the skin of the breast so that it may not move then with your Needle and thread run a stitch or two overthwart the cut to keep in the Rowel when you have thus done anoint it with Butter and so let it stand five or six days this is the best method can be prescribed Saddle bruised or Swellings on the Back You must first take some wet Hay but rotten Litter is better and lay it on the swelling this will make it soft very quickly then with a Lancet let out the putrefied matter and let the cavity be filled with the powder of Rozen then lay on a Plaister of Shoomakers Wax and it is a Cure Swift cut Take a pint of White-Wine and put to it three spoonfuls of Honey stir these and boil them to a Salve then take it from the fire and put to it half so much Turpentine as there was Honey stir these all together with this Salve anoint the Sorrance twice a day and it will heal it quickly Stanching of blood Some ignorant Farriers have let an Horse blood when the sign hath been in that place from whence he hath taken blood by which means there hath followed so great an efflux of blood that by reason it could not be stopped it hath indangered the Horses life Wherefore if any such thing should happen by this ignorance aforesaid or by wounds or any other accident take presently some new Horse dung and temper it with Chalk and Vinegar and lay it to the wound letting it remain there three days or else lay thereunto wild Tansie bruised Sage bruised bruised Hysop or hot Hogs dung but if these fail this will not take of the soft Down of Hare or Conies skin and stop the bleeding place therewith holding it to with your hand first a pretty while if it be to a great wound then spread over it a Plaister of Vinegar and Bole Armoniack incorporated together Slaves very good for the healing all sorts of Sores and Wounds I shall here of some hundred sorts of Salves only insert three or four which I have found the best of any I have tried in above 45 years practice 1. Take of the buds or tenderest tops of Elder-leaves one handful first shred then pound them in a Stone-mortar very well till you bring them to a
or impertinent if I insist upon this Sorrance called the Scratches a Sorrance which ingendreth about the heel and Pastern joint being long scabby and dry chaps or rifts growing overthwart on the hinder legs just from the Fetlock to the end of the Curb now this Sorrance may grow upon all the fore legs but is very unusual the hindmost being the seat of this distemper The Causes are either dry melancholy humours ingendred by outward filth or else by the fumes of Horses dung lying too near him The signs are very visible to the sight and easily to be felt besides the hair will stare divide and curle and the sorrance will be noisome to the scent For the cure hereof any of those Medicines afore prescribed against the Pains or Mules are good for the Scratches yet for the better effecting the sound healing and curing this Malady take what followeth which are more proper for this Sorrance First rub the Sorrance till it bleed and be raw then take Hogs grease and black Soap of each half a pound and boil these together then take of Brimstone Lime and Gunpowder of each three Ounces beat these into fine powder and put therein adding as much Soot as will thicken it incorporate these well together and make a black Ointment and therewith anoint the Sores dayly If the Scratches are held incurable then first bleed him in the Shackle Veins Spur Veins and fore Toe Veins intermitting three days between the bleeding of one Toe and the other having so done make the Sores raw as before then take a quart of old Urine and a quart of strong Brine and put to them eight Ounces of Alom boil these to a quart whilst very hot wash the Sores therewith then take the sperm of Frogs and put it into an Earthen pot in six or seven days it will look like Oil wherein you will see little round things take both one and the other and spread it on a cloth binding it to the Sores do this pretty often and it will cause a cure For ordinary Scratches take a penny worth of Verdigrease a penny worth of Red Lead and the like quantity of Soap mix these together and apply it like a Plaister letting it lye three days and three nights but you must observe to cut the hair close and make the Sore raw Or first shave the hair away and with an Hair cloth rub the Sore till it be raw then wash it well with warm stale Urine then take black Soap Mustard and Vinegar of each an equal quantity mingling therewith some of an Oxe-gall stir these together and when wrought into a body rub the place therewith and bind thereto a cloth so doing once a day till it be whole I shall only recite two Medicines more and I have done which Receipts are the best I have met with in my life time The first is take a quart of white wine Vinegar and put therein two ounces of the strongest Brazeel Tobacco in the rowl opening the leaves and shredding it in small boil these together till you find the Vinegar beginneth to consume then take it off and strain it very well then take a quart of Wine more common Honey and Bay-Salt of each two Spoonfuls of Roch Alom the quantity of a Pullets Egge Red Sage Rue Honey suckle leaves Yarrow Plantain Ribwort and Bramble leaves of each an equal quantity one handful or thereabout boil these in the Wine till one half be consumed then strain these also then set it over the fire again and let it boil a little space then take it off and cool it when you have so done keep it close stopped in a glass for your future use you must wash herewith the Sorrance and then put upon it the powder of burnt Alom This is an excellent remedy for the Scratches neither doth this ensuing come much short thereof About the beginning of the Month of March you shall frequently find the Spawn of Toads in Ditches and standing Pools take hereof draining the Water from the said Spawn after this distil it and keep it in a Glass close stopped and it will be serviceable to you the whole year round when you use it warm it and therewith wash the Sorrance and it will in a very short time cure it Surbating of Horses Those Horses which are most subject to this Malady are such as have either great round feet or such as are flat footed the Coffins whereof being very weak and tender Now Surbating proceedeth from two several causes the first is when the Horse is but newly backt and shod the owner by his indiscretion and impatience immediately rides him a long journey now his feet being but tender and too soon exposed to hard and stony ways the Horse becomes surbated The second cause is when an Horse hath naturally bad feet or that he is ill shod his shooes either lying too flat too narrow too short and too much worn or sometimes by going too long bare foot The signs are the Horse will halt much going creeping and stiff if he got his grief by travail when standing in the stable he will always be removing his feet not knowing where to place them by reason of their great soreness this will cause him to lye down much for his standing will be exceeding painful and if you feel the Coffins of his hoofs you will find them very dry and burn much There are several ways to cure Surbating some take off the Horses shooes and pare him a very little then they see whether the shooes be not long large and hollow enough if they be not so they make them so for otherwise they will never be easie then tack them on again and when they have so done they take Hogs grease and Bran boiled together and being very hot they stop his feet therewith covering the Coffin round about therewith binding all in together with a cloth and a list fastned about the joint renewing it once a day till it be sound observing to let him stand dry and that he drink warm water during the cure If your Horse surbat or solebat by going without shooes then first pare him pretty close towards the Toe then with the point of a Pen-knife cut a little hole through the bottom of the hoof about half an Inch from the Toes end right over the Vein and let the Vein bleed a quarter of a pint then set on his shooes indifferent hollow within the feet then boil Tar Tallow and Turpentine together and pour it into the surbated foot scalding hot and stuff in Wool after it to keep it in once or twice at the farthest so doing will perfectly cure him If he surbate in his journey so that you fear he will not perform it as soon as you perceive it get him to his Inne with what convenient speed you may then take two new laid Egges and having first well picked his fore feet break them raw into the Soles and then stop them up with Oxe or
Cow dung or during the time of his journey if you stop his feet with Cow dung and Vinegar every night he will be well next morning nay if he be not surbated it is good to stop his feet with Cow-dung for it will keep them cool Lastly if your Horses feet be surbated either by travail too near paring or any other accident then take a good lump of course Sugar and with an hot Iron melt it between the shooe and the foot and when it is hardned take Nettles and Bay Salt and stamp them and so stop up the frog of the foot Sinew crampt Cramps are the contracting or drawing together the sinews of any one member the cure is to rub and chafe the member contracted with Vinegar and common Oil and after that wrap it all over with wet Hay rotten Litter or Woollen cloths this is a speedy remedy Strangle The Strangle is not as some have vainly imagined a Quinzie but an inflammation of the throat proceeding from cholerick blood which issueth out of the throat Veins into those parts and this happens by some Cold taken in Winter or after some excessive labour The Sorrance it self is an hard and great swelling between the Horses neather chaps upon the roots of the tongue this if not timely remedied will indanger the choaking of the Horse The signs hereof are hanging out of the tongue lolling it to and fro his mouth the Horses head and eyes will be swoln and his Temples will appear very hollow his breath will be very short by reason of the stopping of the passage of his throat The Cure of this Distemper according to the judgment of the most experienced is to let him blood in the neck Vein after that to bring the swelling to suppuration they make a ripening Plaister after this manner take of Mallows Linseed Rue Smallage and ground Ivy of each a quantity alike boil these together in the grounds of Beer then adde to it some Oil de Bay and a small quantity of Dialthaea taking it off the fire make thereof a plaister and lay it to the place grieved but suffer him not in any case to drink cold Water this Plaister will ripen and break the swelling then lay thereunto Bran steept in Wine renewing it dayly till it be whole But of all Cures there is none experience better approveth of than this As soon as you see the swelling rise between his chaps then take a Wax candle and holding it close to the swelling burn an hole quite through the skin then lay thereunto wet Horse-Litter that will both ripen and break it then only lay a plaister of Shoomakers Wax thereunto and that will both draw and heal it But if it happen to break inwardly so that the corruption issueth through his nose there being no external running of the matter then perfume his head twice or thrice a day by burning under his Nostrils Frankincense or Mastick you may use instead thereof a Cole of fire put into wet Hay causing the smoak thereof to ascend into his head or else blow the powder of Euphorbium with a quill into his Nostrils I shall forbear to insert more variety of remedies since I have insisted on a Malady called the Avives or Vives for whatsoever Medicine is good for the one is also as good for the other Strain in the Pastern joint The Fetlock or Pastern joint is often strained by treading awry on some Stone or Cart-â—ut nay sometimes when the Floor of the Stable is uneven he may get it there The signs hereof will be very apparent for the joint will be swoln and the Horse will halt down-right There are three Cures which I only approve of for their safety and expedition and therefore I shall nominate no other the first is Take three pints of stale Urine and seeth it about a quarter of an hour when you find that the foam doth rise apace then take it from the fire and strain it and adde thereunto an handful of Tansie one handful and an half of Mallows and about three spoonfuls of Honey with nigh half a pound of Sheeps suet then set them on the fire and let them boil together till the herbs become soft being very hot lay this Poultess to the joint and bind it on with a cloth a fourth dressing will perfectly cure the strain The Second is first to take of Dialthaea half a pound the like quantity of Nerve Oil chafe this Oil well in with your hand continuing so to do till you have none of the Ointment left if this should chance to fail your expectations reinforce the cure by taking Nerve Oil black Soap and Pompillion of each an equal quantity and only warm them over the fire and therewith anoint the joint I never knew this Medicine deceive me Now the last is this take a Mastive sucking Whelp which is very fat kill him and take out his guts then take gray snails and black snails as many as will fill the belly and sowing it up roast him at an indifferent soft fire then baste him with Oil of Spike made yellow with Saffron with the Oil of Wax of each two Oils let there be five ounces let the Dog continue at the fire as long as any one drop will fall and preserve the droppings in a Gallipot with this Ointment anoint the joint morning and evening working it in very hot holding a red hot flat Iron to make it sink in Sive-bone in the socket of the hoof or a strain in the Coffin-joint If you are doubtful whereabout the grief lieth take up the foot in your hand and turn it this way and that way and by his shrinking you will soon find it out when you have sound it thus you must cure it First take off his shooe and pare him thin almost to the quick then make a Pultess of these ingredients following and lay it hot to his foot Take a pint of Brine wherein Beef or Pork hath been salted and four ounces of Kitchin-stuff boil these together near half an hour then add thereunto some Wheat-flower and make thereof a Pultess of an indifferent thickness then set on the shooe again put into the sole of the foot a good deal of this Pultess as hot as can be endured then stuff the sole with Towe and splinter it with a flat stick to keep it in thus let it lie two days and two nights then take a linnen cloth that is long enough and spread it all over with this Pultess scalding hot wrapping it about the top of the Hoof the Pastern and up the Leg as far as the swelling goeth and let this lie as long as the other do thus after this manner four or five times and he will not after complain of that grief Stifling and its hurts how cured That Horse is said to be stifled when the stifling bone by some accident or other is thrust out of its place Now you are to understand that the stifling-bone is about two inches in
it into the same form the Bodkin is of and having withdrawn your Bodkin let the Lead in the same hole supply its place then thrust in the Bodkin cross-wise underneath the Lead and put in some more Lead into that place in such sort that it may represent a perfect cross then take Pâ—ck-thread and put it underneath the four corners of the Lead and by drawing it strongly you will contract the hollow skin to a purse having drawn it well together let it rest a day and a night in which time the skin will be so deadned that it will not when loosned return to its former place after this remove the Leaden pins and with your hand close the skin to the forehead in a little time after this you will perceive the hair to fall off but assure your self the next hair which appeareth will be white This I know true likewise by my own experience take a Crab and roast it and being excessive hot bind it to that part of the Horse which you would have white this will infallibly scald away the old hair and the new hair that cometh will be white Secondly how to make a black Star This black Star you are to understand is to be made on a white Horse which will be very remarkable and thus you must do it Take the rust of Iron Galls and Vitriol and pound them in a Mortar with Sallet-oil and herewith anoint the place and it will convert white hair into coal black colour I have been told that this will do as well though I never tried it Take four scruples of the wood of Oleander beaten to powder and one scruple of Ink then with an indifferent quantity of Sheeps-suet work them together and herewith anoint the designed part and this will effect your purpose Thirdly and Lastly how to make an artificial red Star in the forehead of an Horse Take of Aqua Vitae one quartern of Aqua fortis one Ounce and a half and of Silver to the value of one and twenty pence put them into a Glass and shake them well together and therewith anoint the place very well this in an instant will convert what ever the colour of the hair be into a perfect red but this will continue no longer than till the casting of the hair so that if you desire a continuance you must renew it Sit-fast The Sit-fast or Stick-fast is called by the French Mal de la Cron it is an hard horny knob growing in an Horses skin under the Saddle and is dead like a hard piece of Leather It proceedeth from some old Saddle-gall or bruise which not impostumating the skin falleth dead and sticketh to the flesh That you may effect the Cure take the green outward leaves of a Cabbage then take tried Hogs-grease and stamp them together making thereof an Ointment herewith anoint his back very well chafing it in and it would not be amiss to clap on his Saddle and immediately ride him But in my opinion this is the best and speediest Cure first anoint this dead skin with Hogs-grease to supple and mollifie it then pull up this skin and with a sharp Pen-knife cut it away from the sound flesh if after this the cavity appear deep pour every morning and evening into it Butter melted hot and this will eaven the flesh then dry and skin it with the powder of Honey and Lime mingled together Swaying in the Back Swaying in the back is occasioned by great burthens slip or wrench in the lower part of his back below his short Ribs and directly between his Fillets The signs are when the Horse is laid he will rise with much difficulty besides his going will be uneaven swaying sometimes backwards sometimes sidelong The Cure is first to cover the Horses back with a Sheeps-skin newly fleyed off laying the fleshy side on then lay thereon a good warm cloth letting the Sheep-skin lie so long till it begin to corrupt then apply a fresh one continuing so to do twenty days this I have tried but have not found it so successful but that I was forced to use this Remedy which never failed me First draw his back on both sides of the ridge from the pitch of the Buttock unto an handful within the Saddle and so again overthwart let the lines be an inch distance one from the other and let not the strokes be otherwise burnt but only to look yellow having so done lay on this Plaister Take of Pitch half a pound of Tar half a pint of Rozin and Bole-armoniack of each a quarter of a pound beaten into fine powder boil these together stirring them till they are throughly incorporated then being luke-warm daub all the burning therewith very thick after this take flox of the Horse's colour and daub as many on as will stick remove it not but let it fall off spontaneously if the season will permit turn him to grass Spurgalling how remedied Spurgalling to be sure happens no other way than by the indiscretion of a digging Horseman The signs are plain to be seen and felt the Cure is not difficult only take Urine and Salt Water and Salt or warm Vinegar alone or bind unto the Spur-gall the tops of Nettle-leaves and any of these will perfectly cure him Swelling of the Cods This swelling is always accompanied with an inflammation and happens to the Stones of an Horse several ways viz. either by the bite of an Horse or some venomous beast by a blow or by a strain nay it hath been found to have happened after sickness or surfeit with cold being a sign of his recovery if so the usual way of curing it is by taking of Bean-flower Wheat-meal Cummin and Hogs grease of each an equal quantity and therewith Plaister his Cods or Stones Sometimes again this swelling proceedeth from rankness of seed and the Symptom thereof is the great sliminess of his Yard if so then get any Mare and let him first cover her then keep him without Provender and bleed him above the great Vein which is between his lips having so done take three or four hard Eggs and some of his own dung and pound them together making thereof a Plaister with which cover his Cods but be sure that every day you wash them with cold water till the swelling come down But if by accident as by stroke strain c. his Cods and Stones do swell then follow this Rule which the French prescribe Take the roots of wild Cowcumber and Salt and boil them and with the water bathe the Cods after this anoint them with an unguent made of Oil Goats-grease and the white of an Egg or an ointment made of Chalk Potters-earth Ox-dung Cummin-water and Vinegar mingled together after this let him blood in the Flank-veins Selender There is very little discrepancy between the Selender and Malander only that the Selender breedeth on the bending of the bough in the Leg behind whereas the Malander afflicteth the bending of the Leg before the Symptoms of
sometimes grisly sometimes spongeous and sometimes yellow like rusty Bacon with some white grains intermixt their magnitude is uncertain sometimes great and sometimes small and are sometimes painful and sometimes not at all They are caused several ways sometimes they proceed from cold or drinking extraordinary cold water but principally they are occasioned by pinching or galling of an Halter or Coller The Cure is thus Take an hot Iron and therewith burn away all superfluous flesh then heal up the sore with the powder of Honey and Lime mixt together this is a very speedy Cure The Remedy that is generally practised is this Take of Mallows Sage and red Nettles of each one handful boil them in running water and put thereunto a little Butter and Honey when you have so boiled the herbs that they become soft take them out and bruise them very well then add thereunto Oil de Bay two ounces and of Hogs-grease two ounces warm these together over a fire and having thoroughly incorporated them together spread it on a piece of Leather about the bigness of the Wen and lay it thereunto as hot as the Horse can endure it every day lay on a fresh Plaister for nine days together if it come not to suppuration in that time lance it from the midst of the Wen downwards so deep that the corruption may be discovered and let out that done heal it up thus Take of Turpentine four ounces and having washt it nine times in fair water mingle therewith the Yolk of an Egg and some English Saffron beaten to powder then take a Tent of Flax and dipping it into this Ointment tent the Sorrance therewith Yellows vide Glanders Yard Mattering The Yard of an Horse will often matter by over spending in the covering Mares and by his own heat it will turn into the Running of the Reins The signs of this distemper are the swelling of his Yard dropping with yellow matter and when he offers to stale it is with great difficulty and pain For the Cure you must first purge him very well then take Roch Allom one ounce and white one pint boil them till the Allom be dissolved then inject this with a Syringe thrust up into the Yard a considerable way this must be done three or four times a day and it will be a cure If his Yard be fur'd and foul so that he pisseth in the Cod take fresh Butter and White-wine-Vinegar and melt it then draw out his Yard doing off the filth with your hand and then wash it clean with the Vinegar and Butter and squirt some thereof into the Yard with a Syringe Probatum CHAP. XXVI How to make an old Horse seem young IF you have an old Horse you have a desire to part withall and would sell him for a good price first put him into good case then next counterfeit the mark in his mouth which you may do thus take a small Iron about the thickness of a Goose quill or not so thick and heating it red hot burn a little black hole in the tops of the two outmost teeth of each side the neather chap before next the Tushes and then with an Awl blade prick it making the shell fine and thin then with a sharp scraping Iron make all his Teeth white and clean having done this take a fine Lancet and above the hollow of the Horses eyes which are shrunk down make a little hole only through the skin and raising it up put in a quill that is very small as a Duck or Ravens quill and then blow the skin full of wind till all the hollowness be filled up then taking out the quill lay your finger on the hole a little while and the wind will stay in by which means to all outward appearance the Horse will seem but six years old at the utmost How to make Hair slick and smooth and though hard and rough before how to make it even and soft If you would speedily make an Horses coat smooth slick soft and shining be sure that you first with good store of cloathing keep the Horse warm at heart for this you must observe that the least internal cold will so operate on the external parts of an Horses body that the hair will stare after a very strange manner next cause him to sweat often for that will raise up the dust and filth which causeth his coat to be both foul and hard Observe when your Horse is in his greatest sweat take an old blade of a sword or Sythe and turning the edge towards the hair scrape or curry away all the white foam sweat or whatsoever filth shall be raised up by so doing in a very little time you will cause his coat to be both smooth and even Or you may effect your desires this way when at any time you shall have occasion to open a Vein preserve some of your Horses blood and therewith rub him all over letting the blood to remain on his coat eight and forty hours then curry and dress him well and this will not only make the hair lye even but shine like Jett How to take off Hair from any part of an Horse Take half a pound of unfleckt Lime and boil it till a fourth part be consumed then put thereunto an Ounce of Orpiment then take hereof and spread it on Leather and lay it to that part of the Horse from whence you would have hair taken this in six hours will take the hair quite away Or you may take Rust and Orpiment and whilst it is scalding hot wash the part therewith and in a very little time the hair will fall away There may be necessary occasions for the use of either of these medicines but I would not advise you to abuse it as some have done and have been justly hanged for their pains that is they have by these means taken out a star in the forehead of an Horse they have stoln or some observable mark about his body and have made hair grow of another colour in the place by which means the right owner knew not his own Horses when he saw them See more of this in the foregoing Sections of making artificial Stars How to hinder an Horse from neighing either at home or abroad Give me leave to tell you that the art of keeping of an Horse from neighing at any time is of excellent use especially when upon service in the Wars you would not be discovered by the Horses neighing or making a noise thus it is done take a woolen cloth and tye it fast in many folds about the midst of your Horses tongue and believe this if not from my experience yet from your own you may as long as the tongue is so tyed so long will the Horse be restrained from neighing or making any extraordinary noise with his voice How to make a tired Jade go forward It is a very usual thing for an Horse of a naughty nature and dull spirit to be soon restiff or so tired