away infection and kils worms Gale â— A Drink to open an Horses body and cleanse it Take a quart of new milk Sallet-oyl hony each half a pint an ounce of London treacle and the yolks of six eggs beat all together and then put to it licoras sugar-candy anise-seeds all in powder of each an ounce and infuse all together so give it the horse ride him after it set up warm and let him fast above an an hour The true manner of making those cordial Balâ— which cure any violent cold or Glanders which prevent heart-sickness which purge away all molten grease which recover a lost stomack which keep the heart from fainting with exercise and make a lean horse fat suddenly Take Aniseeds Cominseeds Fenegreekseeds Carthumus seeds Elicampane roots and Colts foot each two ounces beaten and searced to a fine dust two ounces of the flower of Brimston then take an ounce of the juice of Licoras and dissolve it on the fire in half a pint of white wine which done take an ounce of Chymicall oyl of Aniseeds then of sallet oyl hony and the Syrop of Sugar or for want of it Molosses of each half a pint then mix all this with the former powders and with as much fine wheat flower as will bind and knit them all together work them into stiff paste and make thereof Balls somwhat bigger then French Walnuts â—ull and all and so keep them in a close Gallipot for they will last all the year Yet I do not mean that you shall keep them in the pot in balls for so because they cannot lye close the air may get in and do hurt as also the strength of the oyls will sweat outward and weaken the substance therefore knead the whole lump of paste into the Gallipot and make the Balls as you have occasion to use them Now for the use of these Balls because they are cordiall and have divers excellent vertues you shall understand that if you use them to prevent sickness then you shall take a Ball and aniont it all over with sweet Butter and give it the horse in the morning in the manner of a Pill then ride him a little after it if you please otherwise you may chuse and feed and water him abroad or at home according to your usual custome And thus do 3 or 4 mornings together If you use them to cure either cold or glanders then use them in the same manner for a week together If you use them to fatten an horse then give them for a fortnight together But if you use them in the nature of a scouring to take away molten grease foulness then instantly after his heat and in his heat Again if you find your horse at any time hath taken a little cold as you shall perceive by his inward ratling if then you take one of these Balls and dissolve it in a pint of sack and so give it the horse it is a present remedy Also to dissolve the Ball in his ordinary water being made luke warm it worketh the life effect and fatneth exceedingly To give one of these Balls before travell it prevents tyring to give it in the height of travel it refresheth the weariness and to give it after travel it saves an horse from all surfeit and inward sickness For the Bots or any Worms Take a quart of new milk and as much hony â—â— will make it extraordinary sweet then â—eing luke-warm give it the horse early he â—aving fasted all the night before then bridle â—im up and let him stand tied to the empty â—ack for two hours then take halfe a pint â—â—white wine and dissolve into it a good â—poonfull or more of black soap and being â—â—ll mixt together give it him to drink â—en ride and chafe him a little and let him â—â—t another hour and the Worms will aâ—oid Another for Worms more ready more easie Take the soft Down-hairs that grow in the â—rs of an horse and which you clip away â—hen you coule him and the little short tuft â—hich grows on the top of the Fore-head â—derneath his fore-top and having a pretty â—antity mix them with a pottle of oats and â—â—â—e them to the horse and it helpeth A Purgation when an horse is sick of grease or costiveness Take a pint of old white Wine and oâ— the fire dissolve into it a lump as much aâ— an Henns Egge of Castle-sope and stiâ— them together then take it off and put in to it two good spoonfulls of Hempseed beaten an ounce of sugar-candy in powder and brew all together then having waâ—med the horse to stirre up his grease another foul humors give him this to drink and walk him up and down a little after â— to make the potion work then set uâ— warm and after a little stirring him in hâ— stall if he grow sickish give him liberty tâ— lye down then after two hours fasting givâ— him a sweet Mash then feed as at otheâ— times For Laxativeness or extream Loosness Take a quart of red Wine and on the fire put into it an ounce and an halfe â— Bolarmonie in powder and two ounces aâ— an half of the conserve of Sloes mix thâ—â— together after take it from the fire aâ— put to it a spoonfull or two of the powdâ— of Cynamon brew all together and give it the horse but let him fast two hours after it and let him eat no washed meat Hay is wholsome so is Bread and Oats if they be well mixt with Beans or Wheat but not otherwise For the stone or pain of urine by winde causing sickness Make a strong decoction that is to say boyle your first quantity of water to an halfe part three times over of keen onions clean peeled and parsley then take a quart thereof and put to it a good spoonefull of London Treacle and as much of the powder of Egge-shels and give it the horse And thus do divers mornings if the infirmity be great otherwise when you see the horse offended For an Horse that staleth blood Take knot-grasse Shephards purse Blood-wort of the hedge Polypodium of the wall Comphrey Garden Blood-wort of each an handfull shread them fine and put them into a quart of Beer Ale or milk and put to them a little salt a little soot and leaven mix all to gether and give it the horse to drink For a growing cold Take the juyce of Licoras London Treacle Aniseeds Turmereack Fenegreek and long pepper of each an ounce the hard Simples in powder then of Suger-candy two ounces and with as much English hony as will suffice incorporate all together and make thereof Balls as bigge as a good pullets egge and give the horse two or three in the morning fasting After he hath taken the Balls give him two new laid eggs then rid ehim and at noon give him a Mash keep warm and do this twice or thrice For a more violent cold causing rotting in the head Take the bigge Elecampane root slice it and boyl
quart at a meal seeing there be many horses that will eat a much larger proportion and to scant them to this little were to starve oâ— at the best to breed weakness But if I be understood rightly I set not this down as an infallible Rule but a President that may be imitated yet altered at pleasure For I have left you this Caveat That if your horse eat this with a good stomack you may give him another leaving the proportion to the Feeders discretion because it is impossible in writing to make one measure for all stomacks And for minâ— own part I chose the quart as the most indifferent proportion for albeit many horses will eat more yet I have known some that would hardly eat this And believe it what horse soever shall but eat this and in this manner he shall neither starve lose strength nor be much hungry So now again to the giving of Heats Four considerations in giving of Heats Now touching Heats you are to take to your self these four Considerations 1. That two Heats in the week is a sufficient proportion for any horse of what condition or state of body soever 2. That one heat should ever be given on that day in the week on which he is to run his Match as thus Your Match-day is a Monday your Heating-days are then Mondays and Fridays and the Monday to be ever the sharper heat both because it is the day of his Match and there is three days rest betwixt it and the other heat If the day â—e Tuesday then the heating days are Tuesdays and Saturdays if Wednesday then Wednesdays and Saturdays by reason of the Lords day if on Thursdays then Thursdays and Mondays and so of the rest 2. You shall give no heat except in case of extremity in rain or foul weather but rather to defer hours and change times for it is unwholsom and dangerous And therefore in case of showers and incertain weather you shall have for the horse a lined hood with lined ears and the nape of the necâ— lined to keep out rain for nothing â— more dangerous then cold wet falling into the ears and upon the nape of the neck and Fillets 4 Lastly observe to give the heats the weather being seasonable as early in the morning as you can that is by the spring of day but by no means in the dark for â— is to the horse both unwholsom and unpleasant to the man a great testimony oâ— folly and to both an act of danger and precipitation The second fortnights feeding Now to come to the second fortnight feeding touching your first approaching to the Stable and all other by respects aâ— cleansing and the like you shall do all things as in the first fortnight onely before yoâ— put on his Bridle give him a quart of oats which as soon as he hath eaten bridle him up and dress him as before shewed then cloath saddle air water exercise and bring him home as before shewed onely you shall not put hay into his rack to tear out but let him eat it out of your hands handfull after handfull and so leave him on his bridle for an hour more then come to him and after rubbing and other ceremonies sist him a quart of oats and set them by then take a loaf of bread that is three days old or thereabout and made in this manner The first Bread Take three pecks of clean Beans and one peck of Wheat mix them together and grind them then boult it through a reasonable fine Raunge and knead it up with great â—â—ore of Barm and lightning but with as little water as may be labour it in the Trough painfully knead it break it and after cover it warm and let it lye and swell then knead it over again and mould it up into big loaves like twelvepeny houshold loaves and so bake it well and let it soak soundly after they are drawn turn the bottoms upward and let them cool At three daies old or thereabout you may give this bread but hardly sooner for nothing is worse then new bread yet if necessity compell you that you must sooner give it or that the bread be clammy or dank so as the Horse taketh distast thereat then cut the loaf into thin shivers and lay it abroad in the Sive to dry then crumbling it smal with his oats you may give it safely But to return to my purpose when you have taken a loaf of this bread chip it very well then cut it into thin slyves and put three or four thereof small broken into his oats you had before sifted and so give them to him About eleven a clock come to him and by ceremonies give him the same quantity of bread and oats and so leave him till afternoon At one a clock in the afternoon if you intend not to give him a heat the next day feed him with bread and oats as you did in the fore-noon and so consequently every meal following for that day observing every action and motion as before shewed But if you intend the next day to give him an heat to which I now bend mine aym you shall then only give him a quart of oats clear sifted but no hay and so let him rest till evening At four a clock before you put on his bridle give him a quart of clean sifted oats and when they are eaten bridle him up dress cloath saddle air water exercise bring home and order as before shewed onely give no hay at all After he hath stood an hour on his bridle give him a quart of oats and when they are caten put on his head a sweet muzzel and so let him rest till nine a clock at night Now as touching the use of this Muzzell and which is the best you shall understand that as they are most usefull being good and rightly made so they are dangerous and hurtfull being abused and falsly made The true use of them is to keep the horse from eating up his litter from gnawing upon boards and mud-walls and indeed to keep him from eating any thing but what he receiveth from your own hands These Muzzels are somtimes made of leather and stampt full of holes or else close but they are unsavoury and unwholsom for if it be allomed leather the allom is offensive if it be tann'd or liquored leather the Tanners ouze and grease are fully as unpleasant Besides they are too close and too hot and both make an horse sick and cause him to retain his dung longer in his body then otherwise he would do The best Summer Muzzell and indeed the best generally at all times is the Nermuzzell made of Strong pack-threed and knit exceeding thick and close in the bottom and so inlarged wider and wider upward to the middle of the horses head then bound about the top with Tape and on the nearside a loop and on the farre-side a long string to fasten it to the horses head The best Winter-muzzell and indeed
it in water from a pottle to a quart then strain it and to that water put a pint of Urine and a pint of Muskadine of Aniseeds Licoras Cominseeds Long Pepper in pouder of each an ounce twenty Raisins of the Sun stoned and brused and of Sugercandy two ounces let all these symmer on the fire and not boyl till they be incorporate then take iâ— off and to one halfe therof which is a suffiacient drench put a quarter of a pound of sweet butter and four spoonfuls of sallet-oyle then being luke-warm give the horse a third part of the drench and after it a new laid egge then another third part and after it another egge then lastly all the rest of the drink Then ride him pretty roundly after it for near an houre and let him fast another houre keep warme and feed as at other timer At noon give him a mash and the next day give him the other half For a desperate dry cough Take a pint of burnt Sack Sallet oyle and red wine vinegar of both a quarter of a pint of Fenegrick Turmerick â—ong peper and Licoras of each a spoonfull in powder and give it the horse half at the one nostril and half at another and doe this twice week and ride him after it and let him fast two houres and keep his head and breast warm For the ordinary water you may give him for a fortnight let it have good store of sliced English Licoras steept into it For a cold long setled Take three heads of Garlick and rost them in the embers then mix them with three spoonfulls of Tarre as much powder sugar and halfe a pound of hogges grease then with Aniseeds Licoras Elicampane Fenegreek and Cominseeds make it into paste and give as much at once as a Ducks egge For a dry Cough or wasted Lungs Take Elicampace the flower of Brimstone Licoras Fenell seed Linseed of each an ounce searc't syrop of Elicampane an ounce and of clarified hony a pound work the powders and these together and to a pint of sweet wine put two ounces of these and give it the horse morning and evening ride him after it and let him fast an hour after riding give no cold water but with exercise A Cordiall powder for any ordinary cold and to prepare a horse before travell to refresh him in travell and to preserve him from mischief after travel Take of English Licoras Elicampane roots of each an ounce of Sugercandy an ounce and a halfe beat them to fine powder and searce them Keep the powder in a box and when you have occasion to use it if it be for a cold then give half an ounce in a pint of Sack if it be in travell then give it in sweet wine or strong Ale but if in Ale then take a quart and give it both before travell and in your Inne or at home immediately after travell To break a festred cold to dry up glanders and to heal the ulcer or canker in the nose Take a pint of verdjuice and put to it so much strong mustard made with wine Vinegar as will make it strong and keen thereof then take an ounce of roche Allom in powder and when you give this to the horse as you fil the horn so with a knife or spoon put some of the Allom into the horn and so give it the horse part at both nostrils but especialy that nostrill which runneth most then ride him a little after it and set up warm and give no cold water without exercise Thus do divers mornings For the Glanders Take Cominseeds Grains and Fenegreek in powder of each halfe an ounce of Diahexaple a quarter of an ounce beat this in a mortar with a quarter of a pint of verdjuice three spoonfuls of Sallet oyl and two spoonâ—tl of Aquavitae then put al together to a quart of old Ale with a good slice of sweet butter and set it on the fire till it be ready to boyl then being luke warm give it the horse part at the mouth and part at both nostrils then ride him pretty roundly for an hour and set up warm let him fast an hour and if you perceive sickness to grow give him a pint of new milk To stay the glanders for a time being incurable Take the green bark of Elder and beat it in a mortar and strain it till you have a pint thereof then put that juice to a pint of old Ale and warm it on the fire with a good lump of sweet butter and a nounce of sugarcandy and so give the horse ride him after it let him fast an hour and keep warm Do thus divers mornings For decayed or stopped Lungs which we call Broken wind Take halfe a pint of Coltsfoot water or the syrop of Coltsfoot but in the syrop it will best dissolve and put into it a dram of Balsamum Sulphuris and give it the Horse in the morning fasting then ride him a little after it be sure to keep warm and give no cold water without exercise Do thus every other morning giving it one morning at the mouth and another at the nostrils till you find amendment A scouring when others will not work Take of sweet Butter a quarter of a pound half so much Castle Sope and halfe an ounce of Aloes beat them together then add of Hempseed two spoonfulls of rosin half a spoonfull of sugarcandy an ounce all bruised â—ine work it into a paste and give it the horse in balls immediatly after his heat or when you have warmed him and stirred up the grease and foulness within him OUTWARD SORRANCES The Signes of outward Sorrances OUtward Sorrances are discerned when any member or part in an horse is disfigured or evill affected by the loss of true shape disability in motion the increase or decrease of number and quantity the disproportion of place or the separating of things knit and united And these accidents have divers names as Imposthumes Ulcers or wounds when they are in fleshy parts Excretions or Fractures on and in the bones Ruptures in the veins convulsions in the sinews and Excoriations upon the skin The first is known by outward swellings rotten or bloody sores the next by utter disability in the member or else plain halting The next by Wens and Knots both soft and hard the next by gordgings and haltings and the last by scurf and leprosie Now forasmuch as the greatest part of Sotrances and especially those which are most hid and obscure are found our by halting I will shew you the severall manner of haltings and what they signifie If the horse halt before and lift not up his leg but in a manner traileth it after the other it sheweth a new hurt on the top of the shoulder If he cast his leg outward or go Bakerlike and not bend the knee it is either an old hurt on the top of the shoulder or if new then it is a shoulder-plat or rending betwixt the shoulder and the body if
well and thus do once a day and in nine days the cure hath been effected A sudden cure for a knock or brnise on the sinews Take a live cat wild or tame and cut off her head and tail then cleave her down the chine and clap her hot bâ—wels and all to the bruise and remove it not for two days For a strain newly done to help it in 24 hours Take the grounds of Ale or Beer a quart as much parsley chopt gross as you can gripe boyl them till the herb be soft then put to it a quarter of a pound of sweet butter and when it is molten take it from the fire and put into it a pint of Wine vinegar and if it be too thin thicken it with Wheat bran then lay it upon hurds and poultess-wise as hot as the horse can suffer it and remove it once in twelve hours and give the horse moderate exercise Markhams own Balme which hath never failed him for any strain in the shoulder or other parts hid or apparent or for any wind-gall or swelling Take ten ounces of Peice-grease and melt it on the fire then take it off and put into it four ounces of the oyle of Spike one ounce of the oyle of Origanum an ounce and a halfe of the oyle of Exceter and three ounces of the oyle of St. Johns wort stirre them well together then put it up into a Gallipot With this Oyntment or indeed pretious Balm hot anoint the grieved part and rub and chafe it in very much holding an hot Bar of Iron before it and thus anoint it once in two days but rub and chafe it in twice or rhrice a day and give the horse moderate exercise For Sinews that are extended overstrained and so weakned that the member is useless Take of Cantharides Euforbium and Mercury of each like quantity and of oyle de Bay double as much as of all the rest bring the hard Simples to powder and beat all to a salve apply this to the griefe being desperate and though it make a sore it will give strength and straightness to the sinews For the sore you may cure it either with Populeon fresh Butter or Deers grease warm Another of the same nature but more gentle Take Turpentine two ounces Verdigrease three ounces Hoggs grease six ounces boyl them till the Verdigrease be desolved then take Rosin Bees wax of each two ounces mix all together then apply it to the place grieved hot A charge for a new strain or grief proceeding from heat Take the whites of six Eggs and beat them with a pint of vinegar the oyle of Roses and Myrtles of each an ounce Bolearmony four ounces as much Sanguis Dracones and with as much Bean flower or Wheat flower but Bean is the best as will thicken it bring it to a salve and spreading it one hurds lap it about the grieved part and renew it not till it be dry For Aches Cramps and hid paines Take Deers Suet or for want of it sweet Butter half a pound of Aquavitae a Gill of Saffron half a dram Pepper beaten and searc'd three drams Garlick bruised three heads mix all together and let them stew on the fire and not boyl till it come to a salve With this very warme chafe the grief then anoint a brown paper therewith and very hot apply to the place also and roll it up Do this morning and evening For swelled or garded leggs whether by Grease or other accident If your horses leggs be swelled onely because the grease is fallen into them there is no other outward ulcer neither will the bathing with cold fountain water and other ordinary helps asswage them then take a pottle of wine lees or else the grownds of strong Ale or Beer and boile it with a pound of hogs grease then with as much wheat bran as will thicken it make thereof a Pultiss then having made the horse an hose of wollen cloath fill it with this pultiss as hot as the horse can suffer it then close up the hose and let it abide two days the third day open the hose at the top but stir not the pultiss onely take molten Hoggs grease very hot and put it to the pultiss whilst it will receive any for that wil renew the strength thereof then close the hose and let him stand either two days or three Then you may open the legg and rub it down and if you find strong occasion you may apply another if not the cure is wrought Now if besides the swelling your horse have ulcers chaps and soars then apply the pultiss as before shewed and after a weeks application take a quart of old urine and put to it half an handful of salt as much Allume and half an ounce of white Copperas boyl them together and with it wash the sore once or twice a day Then after a little drying anoint them with the oyntment called Aegiptiacum and is made of vinegar eight ounces of hony twelv ounces of verdigreas two ounces of Allum an ounce and an halfe and boyled to the height till it come to a red salve and it will both kill the malignant humors and heal and dry up the soars For sweld leggs whether by grease goutiness wind or travell First bathe them well with the Pickle or Brine which comes from Olives being made hot then take a pint of Train oyl as much nerve oyl and as much oyl de Bay a quarter of a pound of Allum half a pint of Sallet oyl half a pound of Hogs grease put all these to a pottle of old urine and with an handfull or two of Mallows Oatmeal bruised and Bran boyl them to a pultiss and very hot apply it to the grief Do thus once in two days For gardings in joynts Make a very strong Brine of Water and Salt and to a pottie thereof put two or three handfull of Rew and boyl it till the herb be soft then with this water very hot bathe the grieved part Then take a flat bagg fild with Salt and heated hot at the fire and lap it about the grief also And thus do once or twice a day For Scratches at the first appearance Take Hogs grease and black sope of each eight ounces Brimstone Lime Gunpowder each three ounces and soot as much as will suffice to bring the rest to a salve boyl the Hogs grease and â—â—pe together and bring the other to a fine powder and mix all together and make a black oyntment with this anoint the soars once a day after they are cleansed and made raw For Scratches of long continuance Take hony Verdigrease Brimstone bruised small green Copperas and Bay salt of each like quantity boyl these with a double quantity of Hogs grease and put to it a big root of Elicampan bruised in red wine vinegar apply this to the sores very hot after you have cut a way the hair and made the sores raw as also suppled them by bathing them
with new milk from the Cow For Scratches held incurable First let him blood in the shackle veins the spur veins and the â—ore toe veins onely letting it be three days between the bleeding of the one Toe and the other then with an hair-cloth rub the sores til they be raw and bleed then take a quart of old urine and a quart of strong brine and put to them halfe a pound of Allum and boyl it to a quart With this hot wash the sores wel then take the sperm of Froggs in March and put it into an earthen pot and in a week it will look like oyl then take both the oyl and the round things which you shal see in the sperm and spreading it on a cloath bind it to the soars and do this divers times For any Splent Spaven Curb Ringbone or Excression First clip away the hair as far as the excression goeth and a little more then take a piece of Allumd Leather made as big as the place you have bared and fitted to the â—ame proportion then take a little Shooe-makers Wax and spread it round about the very edge or verge of the same leaving all the inward part empty and not touched with the Wax Then take the herb Speargrass or Spearwort which hath the vertue to raise blisters and bruising it lay some thereof upon the Leather in the empty place and bind it fast thereon suffering it so to lye 〈◊〉 if it be in the Spring or Summer time when the herb hath its full strength near half a day but if it be in winter then it is not a miss to renew the strength of the herb if you add to it a drop or two of the oyl of Origanum and let it lie half a day fully and be sure to tie up the horses head for fear of biting it away When you take away the herb rub the place well and anoynt it with Train-oyl warm or else lay on a Diminium plaister Another for a foul Splint Take Nerve oyl one ounce Cantharides the weight of sixpence and as much of the oyle of Vipers boyl them lightly then with this anoint the Splint cross the hair and heat it in with a hot Iron then tie up the horses head to the Rack for 24 hours then squeeze out the corruption and do this twice oâ— thrice For a Splint and to dry up windgalls First heat the Sorrance with an hot pressing Iron then vent it in severall places with your Fleam then take a spoonfull of salt half a spoonfull of nerve oyl a peny weight of verdigrease and the white of an egg beat all to a salve and dipping flax hurds therein apply it to the grief For Pains Mâ—les and Rats-tails First take away all the scabs and make the sore 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 boyl it in a pottle of running water with an handfull of sage and so much hyssop a quarter of a pound of Allume and as much strong mustard and with this bath the sore twice or thrice a day For Malander or Selander Take the oyl of bay an ounce half so much sugar and a good quantity of the oyl oâ— froth which cometh from green broom stalks being laid in the fire mix it wel and with this anoynt the soars and it kills and dryes them up For the Swift-cut and to heal all wounds Take a pint of white Wine and put to it two or three spoonfulls of honey and stirr them and boyl them to a salve then take it from the fire and put to it halfe so much Turpentine as there was honey and stirre all together With this salve somwhat hot anoint the soars twice or thrice a day and it is a most speedy healer For any Maunge or Scab in a clean fed Horse First let blood then take a quart of old Urine or Vinegar and break into it a quarter of a pound of good Tobacco then set it on a fire of embers and not boyl and so let it stew all night with this water wash the infected places whether it be in the Mane or otherwise and it helpeth For any Maungie or universall Leprosie in a foul surfeited Horse First let blood in the neck-vein and take a way good store then curry off all the scurf and take verdjuce and vinegar a pint cow-piss a pint train oyle a pint old urine a pint put to them an handful of wild Tansie an handful of Bay salt a quarter of a pound of brimstone as much Alome two ounces of verdigrease and four ounces of Bolarmonie boyl all well together With this very hot wash the horse well and if you put to it the quantity of a pint of blood you take away it is not amiss do this twice or thrice For a Canker foul Ulcer Leprosie and to make hair grow Take a quart of Tar and on the fire put to it half a pound of Bores grease an ounce of Copperat a quarter of a pound of Saltpeter two ounces of wax a quart of honey a quarter of a pound of Rozme two ounces of verdigrease a quart of Lynseed oyl and seeth them till half be consumed then strain it keep it in a close pot Then when you will use it take of it warm and apply it to the soar it doth both heal draw and make hair grow For a Fistula or Pol-evill Take Euforbium with Mastick mix them together then seeth them well with French Sope and make a tent and put it into the Fistula and it will consume the evill moisture For a foul Farcy Take Tar and fresh Hogs grease of each half a pound Hemlock an handfull Arsesmart three handfull and as many Nettles boyl these in a pottle of old Urine and apply it very hot to the swelling but touch it not with your hand for it is too sharp Lastly take a pint of white wine vinegar a quarter of an ounce of verdigrease and a little bundle of Hyssop beat them in a mortar and boyl it to an half pint then with Balls of flax put it luke-warm into both his ears and stich the tips together then tye his head up to the Rack for two hours Do thus twice For a most desperate Farcy Take the herb called Clay-clayes which is a weed growing by the water side having a great broad round leaf and is green on the upper side and white on the neather Rew of each a like quantity beat them and strain them then to a pint of that juice put of Housleek a handful half a pint of Aquavitae and two good spoonfull of pepper beaten and fearc'd Of this liquor take a pint and give it the horse to drink then with round balls of flax dipt in the same stop up both his ears then with the strained bruisings of all the herbs rub the soars and stop the holes if there be any hollowness do thus
more certainty And that is first to be sure to have them both at one dyet as the Mare at grass and the horse at soil then finding the Mare by tryal ready put them together into some closewalled Paddock where there is store of sweet grass and sweet water just upon the going down of the sun and as neer as you can observe either three days after the change or three days before the full of the Moon and let them remain close together two whole nights and one day and take the horse from her at sunrise How many Mares for one Horse If you cover abroad as I spake before at random an Horse may well serve twelve Mares if you expect no other service of him If you cover in the house where he hath extraordinary keeping and little chasing he will satisfie fifteen But if you cover in the Paddock then I have known an high spirited Horse for own year serve to keep you Mares â—n an indifferent estate of body for too much fatness hinders conception and too much leanness abates lust Ordering after Covering After your Mares are covered keep them as much as you can from disturbance especially for a moneth after covering and a moneth before quickning yet if necessity compell you may give them moderate exercise either in journeying or otherwise yet remember if you keep the Mare in the house at had meat she will spring early and much and sudden cold after is dangerous for imborsement Also remember that a Mare at her first quickning is like a Fruit-tree whose Blossoms at the first appearance are tender and easily destroyed with every shake of wind or nip of Frost but after they are knit and fixt they are hardly beaten down with cudgels To help Mares in Foaling If any of your Mares be hard of foaling or in danger in foaling then either hold her nostrils so that she cannot draw wind or if that prevail not then take the quantity of a Walnut or better of Madder and dissolve it in a pint of old Ale and being warm give it the Mare If both fail then take the help of some understanding Midwife Now if after her foaling she do not cleansâ— or avoid her Secundine then boil two or three handfull of Fennel in running water and take half a pint thereof and as much Malmsie with a fourth part of Sallet-oil and mixing them together give it the Mare luke-warm into her nostrils then hold them close a little space after it otherwise for want of this give her green forrage that is either green Wheat or Rye but Rye is best and they are as effectual By no means let the Mare eat her cleansing which many will coveâ— for it is unwhoâ—som and an hinderance to her milk How long Foals to run with their Dams Let Foals run with their Dams if you have goâ—d accommodation for them a full year at the least or if they be choice and principal bred Foals then two years if possibly you can For the going over the Mare will be no loss in comparison of the excellencâ—â— to which the Foal will attain by such suffâ—â—â—nce But if you want good accommodation thâ—n wean at seven moneths but be sure â—â— keep them lustily for what they lose in the first year they will hardly gain in three following And at the weaning give them saven and buttâ—r for divers mornings or the Worm or Gargel will hazard to destroy them Besides have an eye to the Strangle for it is apt to assay them and not taken in time will prove mortal The first winter spare neither Hay nor Corn that is Oats in the chaff or in the sheaf the chaâ—fing of Wheat Barley or Rye and indeed any Offal that comes from any Grain whatsoever To know a true Shape Spirit and Height The same shape which a Foal carries at a full month old he will carry at six years old if he be not abused in after-keeping and as the good shape so the defects also A large shin-bone that is long from the knee to the pastern in a Foal shews a tall Horse Look what space there is in a Foal new foaled between his knee and withers double that will be his height when he is a compleat Horse Foals that are of stirring spirits free from affrights wanton of disposition active in leaping running and chasing ever leading the way and striving for mastery these always prove excellent metal'd horseâ— the contrary Jades To know Goodness There is a Rule and it is a good one that an Horses ability and continuance in goodness is known by his Hoofs For if they be strong smooth hard deep tough uprightstanding and hollow that Horse cannot be evil For they are the foundation of his building and lend fortitude to all the rest If they be otherwise he cannot be good or lasting Whence it comes to pass that no Horse naturally hath so good hoofs as the Barbary and it is indeed the only character by which to know him from all other horses Weaning of Foals Wean your ordinary Foals from their Dams at the end of seven months at the utmost the better at a year two or more And observing so to divide them that neither the Foals nor the Dams may be within the hearing of one anothers call For which cause it is thought fit to house the Foals for two or three nights on the mornings whereof you shall give the Saven and Butter before spoken of that they may forget the Dams and send the Mares to their Pasture Also observe to keep them as high as is possible the second year but the third and fourth year you may put them to harder grasing Separating of Colts As you separate Foals from the Dams so you must divide the Mare-Colts for it is certain that amongst these high-bred spirits and with this lofty and full feeding the Hors-Colts will coveâ— to cover the Mare-Colts at a year as I have seen by experience and it is the destruction of both Again if you have such store of grounds you may separate one years Breed from another This is the safest course because of continual familiarity for change of quality Gelding of Colts If you intend to geld any of your Colts the only best time and which maketh the finest Geldings is at nine days old or as soon as you perceive the stones to fall for then is the least danger and it maketh fâ—â—est Crests The time of the Moon to geld in is in the Wane the sign in Aries or Virgo the time of the year in generall is the Spring or Fall and although the earlier you geld the better and safer yet notwithstanding you may safely geld at any time or any age even from Foal old age and although the elder the greater swelling yet more exercise and more chasing will asswage it Taming of Colts Touching the taming of Colts or making them domestick or familiar you shall begin even from the first weaning and so winter after winter in the house
you find in your horse heaviness of countenance extream loosness or extream costiveness shortness of breath â—othing of meat dull and imperfect eys rotten or dry cough staring hair or hair unnaturally discoloured a staggering pace frantick behaviour yellowness of the eyes or skin faint or cold sweat extraordinary lying down or beating or looking back at his body alteration of qualities or gestures not casting of the coat leanness hide-bound and the like All these are apparant signs of distemperature and sickness Signes from the Dung It is necessary to observe the horses dung for it is the best Tel-troth of his inward parts yet you must not judge it by a generall opinion but by a private discourse with your self how he hath been â—ed because food is the onely thing that breeds alterations as thus If he feed altogether upon grass his dung hath one complexion as green if upon hay then another as a little more dark If upon little provender then inclining to yelow But to avoid both curiosity and doubt observe well the complexion of his dung when he is in the best health and the best feeding and as you find it alter so judge either of his health or sickness as thus If his dung be clear crisp and of a pale yellowish complexion hanging together without separation more then as the weight breakes it in falling being neither so thin nor so thick but it wil a little â—â—aâ— on the ground And indeed both in savour and substance resembling a sound mans ordure then is the horse clean well fed and without imperfection If it be well coloured yet fall from him in round knots or pellets so it be but the first or second dung the rest good as aforesaid it matters not for it only shews he did eat hay lately and that will ever come away first But if all his dung be alike then it is a sign of foul feeding and he hath either too much hay or eates too much litter and too little corn If his dung be in round pellets and blackish or brows it shews inward heat in the body If it be greasie it shews foulness and that grease is molten but cannot come away If he void grease in gross substance with his dung if the grease â—e white and clear then it comes away kindly and there is no danger but if it be yellow or putrified then the grease hath lain long in his body and sickness will follow if not prevented If his dung be red and hard then the horse hath had too strong heats and costiveness will follow if it be pale and loose it shews inward coldness of body or too much moist and corrupt feeding Signes from the Urine THough the Urine be not altogether so materiall as the dung yet it hath some true faces as thus That Urine which is of a pale yellowish colour rather thick then thin of a strong smell and a piercing condition is an health full sound and good urine but if it be of an high red complexion either like blood or inclining to blood then hath the horse had either too sore heats been over-ridden or ridden to early after winter grass If the Urine be of an high complexion clear and transparent like old March Beer then he is inflamed in his body and hath taken some surfit If the urine carry a white cream on the top it shews a weak back or consumption of seed A green urine shews consumption of the body A Urine with bloody streaks shews an ulcer in the kidnies and a black thick cloudy urine shews death and mortality Of sickness in generall Whensoever upon any occasion you shall find the horse droop in countenance to forsake his meat or to shew any other apparent sign of sickness if they be not great you may forbear to let blood because where the blood is spent the spirits are spent also and they are not easily recovered But if the signes be great and dangerous then by all means let blood instantly and for three mornings together the horse being fastning give him half an ounce of the powder called by me Diahexaple and by the Italians Reginâ— medicina the Queen of medicines brewed either in a pint of Muskadine or Malmsey or a pint of the syrop of Sugar being two degrees above the ordinary Molosses or for want thereof Molosses wil serve the turn and where all are wanting you may take a pint either of dragon water or a quart of the sweetest and strongest Ale-wort or in extre mity take a quart of strong Ale or Beer but then warm it a little before the fire This must be given with an horn and if the Horse have ability of body ride him in some warm place after it and let him fast near two hours after the riding At noon give him a sweet mash cloath very warm and let him touch no cold water Now touching the exact and true making of this rare powder which I call Diahexaple because no man that I know Apothecary or other doth at this day make it truely partly because it is an experiment but lately come to my knowledge by conference with learned Physicians and partly because our medicine makers are in Horse physick less curious then they should be through which errors there is produced to the world an abundance of false mixtures which both deceiveth the honest Hors-master kills the harmless horse and disgraceth the well-meaning Farrier To repair all which I will here set down the true manner of making this admirable powder together with the vertues and operations thereof The true manner of making the true Diahexaple Take the roots of round Aristologia wash them scrape them and purifie them as clear as may be then take Juniper Berries unexcorticated and Bay-berries excorticated take the purest and best drops as Myrrh and the finest shavings of Ivory of each an equall quantity beat all but the Myrrh together and search them fine Lastly beat the Myrrh and search it also then mix and incorporate all together press it hard into a gally-pot and keep it and use it as you have occasion The vertues of true Diahexaple This powder or indeed Methridate called Diahexaple or the Queen of Medicines is most excellent soveraign against all manner of poyson either inward or outward it cureth the biting of venemous beasts and helpeth short wind and pursickness Dodoneus It mundifieth cleanseth suppleth and maketh thin all gross humours it healeth all diseases of the Liver and Stomack helps digestion and being given in a pint of Sack it cureth all colds it is good against consumptions breaks flegm helps staggers and all diseases of the head Gerrard It recovers tyring and weariness and takes away cramps and convulcions dries up the Skurvy breaks the stone opens all inward obstructions and helps the yellows the gargil and the dropsie Diascorides It cures all diseases of the lungs as glanders and rottenness gives ease to all gripings and windiness of the belly provoketh urine takes