Part 5

In some old horses whose molar teeth are diseased or irregular, perfect mastication of hay becomes impossible. After the animal has chewed for a time, the teeth and tongue tend to form a ball (bolus) of hay which is forced out of the mouth instead of being swallowed. This is termed “quidding,” and when it is seen it may be taken as an indication of the need of a veterinary dentist with his instruments. In other cases the partly masticated food is gathered in a pouch between the molar teeth and cheek, and this can be plainly seen and felt by the careful examiner. This pouch is sometimes called the “granary,” and from the outside its presence is indicated by an elongated tumor which has a doughy feel when pressed with the finger.

When a diseased molar is present in the mouth, or when a “granary” exists, there is a foul odor, which should lead to the discovery of the condition. To distract attention from this odor it is said that horse dealers always take the precaution to cleanse the mouth of the horse with vinegar.

A chronic discharge from one nostril (nasal gleet), accompanied by a fetid odor, should warn the buyer to make a critical examination of the teeth, for if one is diseased and is the cause of the discharge, it will have to be removed by trephining, and that means expense and possibly loss of the services of the horse for some time.

Remedies for Tail Rubbing.

Idle, overfed, and insufficiently groomed horses often persistently rub their manes and tails to allay itchiness of the skin, induced by collections of dandruff which have escaped the curry-comb and brush. The hair on the root of the tail soon becomes harsh, stubby and stands on end so that the part becomes an eyesore, and especially so when continued rubbing has produced sores, cracks and an exudate of serum, blood or pus.

A Virginia horseman once advised the writer that tail rubbing could quickly be cured if, at the outset, the following simple plan of treatment be adopted: Twist a lock of the upright hair of the affected part around the second finger, and then pull until the skin “gives” with a cracking sound. Repeat the pulling, lock by lock, until all of the part has been treated when the rubbing will cease. If it does not do so promptly, repeat the treatment as required. This plan is known also in Scotland.

Another horseman advised that when a mare persistently rubs her tail the cause may be a collection of filth about the udder; a thorough washing with castile soap will end the trouble.

Dealers who handle fine carriage horses and are preparing such animals for sale put each in a box stall during the feeding process and prevent tail rubbing by putting a wide plank shelf-wise on brackets around the inside of the walls of the box. When the horse attempts to rub, the edge of the plank will strike several inches below the itching part, and so make tail rubbing impossible. Another effective plan of prevention is to put a wainscot of boards upon the lower part of the walls so slanted outward at the floor surface that the horse backing to the wall cannot get his rump against any surface upon which to rub.

A Cruel Cure for Heaves.

An old horseman once told the writer that he had cured many a horse of heaves by simply amputating a portion of the tongue. “Guess I’ve cut off enough pieces of tongue,” said he, “to fill a half bushel basket;” and he seemed to take pride in a statement which would strike any humanitarian as the climax of barbarity. The same man also strongly advocated the amputation of the tip of a horse’s tail, when for any reason the animal had gone down paralyzed.

It always is well to examine a horse’s tongue before buying, as mutilations are not infrequently met with. Cases are on record where a brute has put a twitch on a horse’s tongue, to make him stand still in the shoeing shop, with the result that a portion of the organ has been torn off during the struggles of the poor beast. Severe biting of a fractious horse, or tearing by a nail or other sharp object, may also injure the tongue more or less severely and perhaps lessen the value of the animal.

When a considerable portion of the tongue has been lost, the horse is unable to drink without plunging his head up to the eyes in the water, and he also has difficulty in grazing.

Stitches are sometimes put in the tongue of a horse to make it sore and so prevent it from cribbing.

An Astringent for Scours.

The following interesting remedy is taken from the “Complete Farrier,” published in 1850:

“But when the disorder (a scouring) continues, and the horse’s flesh keeps wasting away, recourse must be had to astringents. Tormentil root, dried and pounded in a mortar, and put through a sieve, is one of the best astringents yet found, though very little known. I heartily wish my fellow creatures would make more use of this valuable root than they do. The dose is from an ounce to an ounce and a half. I believe that this valuable root has done more good in my time, in stopping looseness and other bowel complaints, than anything else.”

An Old Operation for Spavin.

A few years ago it was recommended as a new treatment that the saphena vein be obliterated at the place where it passes the seat of spavin, before using the firing irons. We recently ran across an allusion to this method of treatment which shows that it is by no means new. It is referred to as follows in the “Complete Farrier and Horse Doctor,” published in 1850, the writer being John C. Knowlson, of New York, a nonagenarian “horse doctor” of the old school: “Before you fire a horse for bone-spavin, be careful to take the vein out of the way, for it generally lies over the spavin, and you cannot fire deep enough to come at the callous substance without its removal. In order to destroy the vein, cut a nick through the skin to the vein, just below the spavin, and another just above it, and put a crooked needle under the vein and tie both ends: then cut the vein across between the tyings, both above and below, and you may either draw out the piece or leave it in.”

The same author says relative to the treatment of bog-spavin: “As soon as you discover the vein puffed up or forming a bag, lay on some blistering ointment, and in four days after bathe the swelling well with hot vinegar with a little saltpeter dissolved in it. Also put a bandage round it to disperse the swelling as much as you can. If this method does not succeed, you must make two incisions in the skin lengthwise, as the vein runs, one just above and the other just below the joint, and lay the vein bare: then put the end of a buck’s horn under it, raise it up, and fasten it in both places with waxed thread; then cut the vein in two just within the tyings, and, if you think proper, draw the severed piece out. This method of proceeding will cure most bog-spavins at the beginning.”

Facts About Pigment Tumors.

On gray horses that at 10 or 12 years of age are turning white in color, purple-black malignant growths, known as pigment of melanotic tumors, frequently appear where the skin is black in color, and constitute the disease termed melanosis. The common seat of such tumors is the skin of the tail, anus, vulva, and lips, and while most often external, may be present internally. Such tumors are practically incurable, returning after having been amputated and cauterized. They usually burst and discharge bloody pus, and give the affected part a loathsome appearance. In young horses of gray color, a careful examination will often disclose small rudimentary tumors, and horses so affected should be bought with a right understanding of the consequences. Fatal attacks of a mysterious disease may be caused by internal melanotic tumors.

As an indication of the probability of these tumors being present internally, the French veterinary scientists, Goubaux and Barrier, say in their “Exterior of the Horse”:

“The hairs of the mane, like those of the tail, are ordinarily straight. One of our associates, Mercier, has communicated a remark on this subject, which was also believed by the Arabians: that it is in the white or gray horses with _frizzled_ or _curly_ hairs in which melanotic tumors are always found in the interior of the body, although none may have any apparent trace on the exterior, particularly under the tail and around the anus. This remark, the correctness of which we have verified a number of times, both on the living subject and in the cadaver, is very important, because of the dangers to which animals affected with melanosis are exposed.”

Secrets of Buying and Selling Horses.

Auction Sale Rules.[2]

At the Chicago Stock-yards the auction sales of horses, conducted in the “Bull ring,” at Dexter Park, are regulated by certain definite rules which should be understood by horsemen and farmers.

When a horse is brought in for sale a sign stating how the horse is to be sold is immediately exposed on the auctioneer’s rostrum. There are six of these signs, viz., (1) Sound. (2) Serviceably sound. (3) Wind and work. (4) Work only. (5) Legs go. (6) At the halter.

Terms on all sales are strictly cash.

All horses must be examined and tried by purchaser as soon as bought, and must be tried and accepted on the premises during the day of sale, as all guarantees on horses expire with that day, and on delivery of the horse. In no case can a horse be rejected except on the day of sale, unless sold as sound and proved to be a cribber, heavey, crampy or lame. If proven to have any of the four named faults, the purchaser shall have until 9 A. M. the following day to reject the horse. Purchasers failing to try and examine horses within the required time forfeit all right of rejecting them, and no horse sold to wind and work shall be rejected for any cause except he proves windy or will not work.

Should any question arise for adjustment between buyer and seller the matter shall be referred to three members of the Union Stock-yards Horse Exchange, the decision of a majority of whom shall be final.

Any person found guilty of doping a horse to hide the fact that the animal is windy, heavey, crampy, cribby or lame, shall be expelled from the market and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

The following is an explanation of the principal rules governing sales in the auction ring:

=1. Sound.=—A horse sold as sound must be perfectly sound in every way.

=2. Serviceably Sound.=—Must be virtually a sound horse. His wind and eyes must be good: he must not be lame or sore in any way, but sound, barring slight blemishes, and these blemishes must not constitute any unsoundness. A spot or streak in the eye, which does not affect the sight, will be considered serviceably sound as long as the pupil of the eye is good. A further explanation is given as follows by F. J. Berry & Co., a well-known horse commission firm at the Chicago Stock-yards: “Blemishes must be nothing more than splints; the horse may be slightly puffed and a little rounding on the curb joint, but he must not have a bad-looking curb, and must not have a brand. He may be a little cut in the knees, but he must not stand over on the knees or ankles. He may have a little puff on the outside of the hock, but he must not have thoroughpin, or boggy-hock, ringbone, or jack, although he may naturally be a little coarse jointed; but the front part of the hocks inside must not be puffed. He may have slight scars or wire marks but these must not cause any deformity of the body, legs or feet, and must be nothing more than a slight scar. He must not have any scar from fistula or poll-evil. He must not have a hip down, and if one hip is a trifle lower than the other, it must be natural, and not a deformity like the cap of a hip down. He must not have side-bone, or any bad blemishes that deteriorate his value more than a trifle, but must be sound, barring slight blemishes that do not hurt him or change his value very little, and in no case more than the above-mentioned blemishes. Car bruises must be of a temporary nature.”

=3. Wind and Work.=—A horse sold to wind and work, must have good wind and be a good worker, and not a cribber, but everything else goes with him.

=4. Work Only.=—He must be a good worker, but everything else goes with him. Ability to work is the only thing guaranteed.

=5. Legs Go.=—Everything that is on the horse’s legs go with him. Nothing is guaranteed except that he must not be lame or crampy. He must, however, be serviceably sound in every other respect.

=6. At the Halter.=—Sold just as he stands without any recommendations. He may be lame, vicious, balky, a kicker or anything else. The title only is guaranteed; the purchaser takes all the risk.

[2] Exceptions to the above rules may be announced from the auction stand and defects pointed out, in which case they are recorded and go with the horse.

Reputable Dealers Protect Their Patrons.

The horse buyer who patronizes a reputable commission firm or dealer in the Chicago horse market, or in any other great selling centre, will be honestly and fairly dealt with. The rules against cheating are stringent, and trickery is not countenanced among the leaders of the trade. Doping an unsound horse may be punished by expulsion from the market, and tricks, like the application of “soup” to make a horse act mean, are prohibited on “horse row.” It is when a buyer deals with a “scalper” who conducts his business “under his hat,” or patronizes the dealers who conduct a questionable business at small sales stables on the side streets near the stock-yards, that he may expect to get “the short end of the deal,” and we would strongly advise our readers to give such dealers and sales stables a wide berth.

As an illustration of how dishonesty is regarded among horsemen in some of the markets, the following well-authenticated incident may be told. In Kansas City a horse that had been overdosed with drugs to conceal the symptoms of heaves dropped dead while climbing an incline. The story of the “accident” spread through the market, and the next morning, when the owner of the drugged horse offered another of his animals in the auction ring, the auctioneer is said to have stopped, told the story to the audience, pointed out the man who gave the drugs and the owner, and added, “Now, this man has a load of horses to sell to-day and you folks can be your own judges about buying them.”

The seller from the country is as likely to “put up a job” on the commission man or dealer as the latter is to cheat the greenhorn buyer, and we agree with Dr. Hawley, who says: “Horsemen in general are not more dishonest than men in any other branch of business which offers like opportunities for trickery; neither do I believe they are more dishonest than the men who buy from them.”

Two Sides to a Horse.

When a horse is first led out for the intending buyer to examine him in the dealer’s stable, it is a common trick to stand the animal close against a wall. By this means objectionable features of the “other side of the picture” are hidden, and the pleasing aspects of the proposition, plain to the eye and hand of the purchaser, alone are considered by him in making his choice. If the horse is sold subject to such examination and without a written guaranty, there is no recourse for the purchaser when, perchance, the next hour or day he finds on the off side of the horse a “wall-eye,” a brand mark, a big shoe boil, a knocked-down hip, a fistula of the withers, or some other objectionable and troublesome or even seriously hurtful blemish or condition.

The intending purchaser should get the horse away from the wall and make a tour of inspection around him, looking carefully at every part and detail, and then using the hand, if necessary, to corroborate or correct what the eye has seen or suspected. It is always best to look at the horse from a little distance before closing in, and making a more careful inspection. Close inspection deals with minute things, and may make one overlook or fail to see bigger and more important things which would appeal to the eye when taking in the entire side of the horse at a look.

When a dealer is extra particular to draw attention to one side of the animal, take it for granted that there is something on the other side which is worth looking into.

A Little Ill to Distract Attention from a Big One.

Often we have seen tricks such as the following practised in the “bull ring” at the stock-yards. A horse having a small spot or speck in its eye which does not implicate the pupil, is sold to “wind and work” (See Auction rule No. 3, page 50).

The grooms and ringmen loudly draw the attention of the audience to the condition of the eye, and repeatedly assert that it does not amount to anything. This is done on purpose to distract attention from some far more serious defect that otherwise would be noticed by the prospective buyer. Dr. Hawley says of this scheme, “The horse is kept constantly in motion with the whip. The auctioneer and salesman are always looking for an angel to drop in, and one usually does. The horse is ordinarily sold to the angel on his first bid.”

Beware of Hoof Dressing.

When the hoofs of a sale horse are seen to be newly daubed with black hoof dressing, polish, or varnish, look out! or rather, look in! for there may be vital need of the artificial coating to hide serious defects. The dressing, if wet, will soil the examiner’s hands, hence he will be less likely to handle the feet and therefore fails to discover that a quarter crack or sand crack has been concealed, or the fact that the hoof has been rasped extensively for the removal of the rings and ridges that if exposed to the notice of the prospective buyer, would tell a plain story of chronic founder.

The sound, healthy, waxy appearing hoof needs no coloring or dressing material, and when such things are freely used they are often applied to hide the marks of the rasp.

Buying a Pair.

While a properly matched and trained pair of carriage horses should “act like one horse” when in motion, the buyer should be careful to examine each horse carefully “to halter.” The two animals should be capable of being harnessed to the carriage indifferently to the right or left, and no attention should be paid to the observations of the dealer, who may explain how they have been accustomed to be driven always on the same side, and who, as a rule, will harness the better one of the two horses on the left side, and the poorer one on the right. The examiner naturally pays most attention to the left horse, but he should examine each in a thorough manner, for it often happens when this is done that one horse is found to be of far inferior quality and of less value than its mate, on the “nigh side.”

A “High English” Guaranty.

A thrifty German truck farmer once called the writer to examine a newly bought work horse and to give him “a line” so that he would be able to get his money back from the dealer, the animal having proved unsound. “I have me a written guaranty and a witness that he been all right,” said he, “and now you help me oudt mit a line.” An examination showed that the horse was terribly afflicted with heaves, accompanied with coughing and passing of gas. He heaved so hard that his entire body shook, and the squeaking of the breathing apparatus was easily heard. Evidently the horse had been skilfully “shut” or doped by the seller, and now that the effects of the treatment had passed off the unsoundness showed up plainly. Asked for his “guaranty,” the farmer kept iterating and reiterating his statement that it was all right and duly witnessed. At last he produced it, and it read to this effect, “This horse is hereby guaranteed free from all encumbrances.”

“Do you know what ‘encumbrances’ means?” he was asked, and the answer was, “No, I don’t know such high English words, but I guess it means sound and all righdt in wint and limb, and to work, aind’t it?”

He got his “line,” and by paying $80 to boot brought back another horse with a less comprehensive but more satisfactory guaranty.

Moral: It is best to understand “high English” and the language and ways of the dealer when buying a horse at the yards, so that a written guaranty may really protect the buyer.

An Unsound Horse Sometimes a Good Bargain.

Some kinds of unsoundness render a horse useless for work on the hard streets of the city, yet do not unfit him for work on the soft land of the farm. Where this is the case, it will often pay the farmer whose pocketbook is not particularly well filled to pass by the young, soft, untried, expensive horses that have been specially fattened to bring high prices and buy a second-handed horse at a bargain price.

For example, suppose a big, strong gelding, getting along in years, has four well-developed side-bones which render him stilty and stiff in gait for city use, and which on that account is offered for $80, or thereabout. Such a horse may prove a profitable purchase for use on the land. Were he sound he would sell readily for $125 or over, for city work, and when bought at a discount of $45 he will very likely do more and better work on the farm than would a sound, young, fattened, inexperienced horse at the higher figure.

In making this statement the writer has in mind more than one corroborative instance of the sort in practise.

A Second-Hand Horse.

The owner who wants to sell his horse on the market should not clip off the mane and forelock, and it is a mistake even to cut the latter or to bang the tail. The stock-yard buyers, having special market requirements to meet, prefer to do their own “toilet work” on the horses they buy, and will pass by an otherwise good horse if he has been trimmed in a manner to which they object.

A horse that has had the mane and forelock clipped off is looked upon with suspicion on arrival at the market, and is likely to be termed “second-hand,” meaning that he probably has been tried out in a fire department and found wanting. It is therefore disastrous policy to “roach” a horse before he has been thoroughly tested and found sound and suitable.

Here is a case corroborative of this assertion: A fine gelding was bought for a fire department after a fairly thorough test for “wind.” While being led a long distance behind a sulky from the country to the city the horse became fractious and broke away from the driver. On arrival in the city he was immediately taken to the engine-house and met with the unanimous approval of the fire laddies and chief. The next morning the mane and foretop were clipped off and the horse was then sent out for a practise run. At once he proved terribly nervous and a rank roarer when in motion, but perfectly sound in wind the moment he stood at ease.

The commissioner who bought the horse at once took him back, refunded the purchase price, and sent him to the stock-yards. There he was instantly dubbed “second-handed”; ran up a bill of expense for his owner who could not find a buyer and finally contracted stock-yards distemper in virulent form. Eventually the animal was sold for less than half the purchase price and expense account, but not until the mane had grown in again sufficiently to disarm suspicion. Removing the mane or foretop will be certain to detract from the value of the horse in the market.

“Protecting” the Buyer.