NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE
             Washington
Founded 1836
U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
Public Health Serrice 
 
;5P^>* V c%&*&y$-*S-*J'3i
 
 «f?  " (   PRACTICAL^M^ «■'




                      OR,

TheTxaveHei^s Pocket Companion.
THE BEST METHOD TO PRESERVE THE HORSE

                 IN HEALTH;

                     AND

 LIKEWISE THE CURE OF THE MOST PROMINENT DISEASES TO
      WHICH THIS NOBLE ANIMAL IS SUBJECT, IN THE
            UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

The whole being the result of nearly forty years' experience,
            with an extensive practice.
-    ^'f'RARY
 in her wondrous plan,    _   m   .,»-«»
nd pursuit of mail.    ^I'm!,!,.' !.'rr
         To assist great nature 1...
         Should be the stud j'and pursuit of mail.    I*"!'.- A.*: (.'; I* I w

                    =     foS.  1.H902
            SECOND EDITION,
Much enlarged, and embellished with three engravings.
BY WILLIAM CARVER, FARRIER;

            OF NEW-YORK.
         PHILADELPHIA:
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY M'CARTY & DAVIS,
     South East corner of Race and Ninth street.
1820. 
EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA, to wit:
   Be it Remembered,  That on the thirteenth day of May,
 *##*#### in the forty-fourth year of the  Independence
 * T  c  * of the United States of America, A  D. 1820,
 * ^- &  * M'Carty & Davis, of the said district, have de-
 *######* posited in this office the title of a book, the
right whereof they claims as proprietors, in the words fol-
lowing to wit:
  " Practical Horse  Farrier; or The Traveller's Pocket
" Companion:  Shewing the best method to preserve the
" Horse in health—and, likewise, 'he cure of the most pro-
" minent diseases to which this noble animal is subject, in
" the United States of America.   The whole being the re-
" suit of nearly forty years' experience,  with an extensive
" practice.  To assist great nature in  her wond'rous plan,
" should be the study and pursuit of man. Second edition,
" much enlarged, and  embellished with three engravings:
" By William Carver, farrier, of New-York"
  " In conformity to the act of the Congress of the  United
States, entituled, " An Act for the encouragement of learn-
ing, by securing the  copies of maps,  charts and  books, to
the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times
therein mentioned." And  also to the act, entitled,  " An
Act supplementary  to  an act, entitled. An Act  for the
encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps,
charts and books to the authors and proprietors of such
copies, during the times therein mentioned, and extending
the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, ana
etching historical and other prints."
                                 D. CALDWELL,
            Clerk of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 
CONTENTS.
                                       fiage.
Plate, shewing the Skeleton of the Horse,  -   10
Plate, shewing the Intestines,     -            13
Plate, shewing the Horse's teeth and age by them 15
Preface,    ._-    -     -     -17
               CHAPTER  I.
Some generel directions in regard to the manage-
  ment and care of some Horses,  -    •■      26
               CHAPTER II.
On Bleeding, Purging, Sec.      -      -     31
               CHAPTER  III.
Of Colds,    ...              39

               CHAPTER IV.
Of Fevers,      -            ...    43

               CHAPTER V.
Of the Pleurisy, and Inflammation of the lungs, 45

               CHAPTER VI.
Of a Cough, and Asthma,      -            49
I7SS24 
4                CONTENTS.
              CHAPTER  VII.
Of an Apoplexy,  or Staggers,

              CHAPTER VIII.
Of the Strangles,

              CHAPTER  IX.
Of the Diseases of the Eyes,

               CHAPTER X.
Of the Farcin,  or Farcy,

              CHAPTER XI.
Of the Yellows, or Jaundice,

            • CHAPTER XII.
Of the Cholic, or  Gripes

          ,  CHAPTER  XIII.
Of Worms and  Bots,

               CHAPTER XIV.
Of Wounds in general,

              CHAPTER  XV.
Of the Locked Jaw,

              CHAPTER XVI.
Of Strains, in various parts, 
                CONTENTS.               5
             CHAPTER  XVII.
                                      fiage.
Of Bone and Blood Spavin,    -             95

            CHAPTER XVIII.
Of the Pole Evil, and Fistula,    -    -      99

              CHAPTER  XIX.
On Shoeing,    -              -   -      103

              CHAPTER XX.
Of Founder,     -            -     -      115

              CHAPTER  XXI.
OfSplents,.....119

              CHAPTER XXII.
Of a Curb and Ring Bone, -               121

             CHAPTER  XXIII.
Of the Grease,    -                -      123

             CHAPTER  XXIV.
Of Scratches,.....      127

              CHAPTER  XXV.
Of Sand Cracks and  Quittors,    -  -      129
             CHAPTER  XXVI.
 Of Relax and Scouring,              •      133
                    A 2 
 6                CONTENTS.
             CHAPTER XXVII.
                                        fiage.
 Of the Disorders of the Kidneys and Bladder,  13

             CHAPTER XXVIII.
 Of Alterative Medicines,      -      -      137

              CHAPTER XXIX.
 Of Consumption,    -    -    -     -       141

             CHAPTER. XXX.
 Of Scratches, Rat-tails, &c.    -    -       143

              CHAPTER XXXI.
 On the Blood and Pulse of the  Horse,       147

            CHAPTER  XXXIL
 Of the Running Thrush and Canker,   -       151

             CHAPTER XXXIII.
 Of the Diseases of the Feet,        -       155

            CHAPTER XXXIV.
Of Colds, &c.                     -      159

            CHAPTER XXXV.
Of a Broken Wind.                 -      163

            CHAPTER XXXVI.
Of Surfeits, Hide-bound, and Mange,    -   169 
CONTENTS.                7
            CHAPTER XXXVII.
                                         fiage.
Disease of the Mouth and Tongue,   -       177

            CHAPTER XXXVIII
Nicking, Docking, and Cropping,     -       183


               APPENDIX.
Advice to purchasers of Horses,  with  in-
  structions  how to ascertain the age of the
  horse by his teeth, and otherwise,   -       191
The Stallion,.....224
Breeding Mares,     -                     227
Parts of a Horse's Body,   -                232
Signs of Disease in Horses      -     -       238
Conclusion,     ...       -       247 
 
 
10            Carver's Farrier.
 
Carver's Farrier.
11
  DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES.


                    PLATE  I.


  SHOWING THE SKELETON OF THE HORSE.


A.    The head, including all its parts as articulated with
        the neck.
C.    The humerus, or shoulder bone.
D.    The bones^f Uie leg, or fore-arm, consisting in each
        of the radius and ulna.
E.    The joints of the knees, with the small ranges of bones.
G.    The shank-bones, consisting in each of the cannon
        bone,  and the two metacarpal, or splent-bones.
H.    The great pastern bones, with the two  sesamoid
        bones of each fetlock.
I.   The lesser pastern bones.
K.    The bones of the feet, consisting in each of the coffin
        and navicular bones, with the lateral ca tilages.
L.    The bones of the pelvis, called ossa innomiaata.
M.    The thigh-bones.
N.    The bones of the hind-legs ; consistingin each of the
        tibia and the fibula.
O.    The points of the hocks.
P.    The small bones of the hocks.
Q    The bones of the insteps ; consisting, in each, of the
        cannon bone and two metatarsal  bones.
R.    The great pasterns and  sesamoid bones of tne hind
        legs.
S-    The little pastern bones of the hind-legs.
T.    The coffin and navicular bones of each hind-foot, with
        the lateral cartilages.
V.    The sternum, or breast-bone.
X.    The point of the sternum.
Y.      The ribs.
Z    The cartilaginous ends  of the ribs on the breast and
        abdomen.
1, 2, 3, 4,  5, 6, 7.    The seven vertebrae of the neck.
1.  The eighteen vertebrae of the thorax and back.
2.  The six vertebrae of the loins.
3.  The five spines of the os sacrum,
    The eighteen joints of the coxendix and taiL 
12              Carver's Farrier.
PLATE II.
Representing the intestines of the horse as they appear in
    their natural situation, when the abdomen is laid open.
AAAAAA.  The colon, with its various circumvolutions
       and windings together with its numerous folds, and
       under which lie the small intestine.
B.    The ccecum or  blind gut.
C,    The rectum. 
Carver's Farrier.               xiii
33
5 
 
            Carver's Farrier.               xv

State ot a Colt's teeth, from 3 months to 3 years old.
               a:   a
A. tite Pincers             C. #k? Corners
B. tfieJSeparatvrs           D. ^ -Tiwtftf
7i^"
517?/
The age of the horse determined by the Teeth. 
 
PREFACE.
    The author of the following treatise is
aware that his work will meet with objec-
tions, on  account of there having been
many large volumes published on Farriery
by men of science, who were acquainted
with the  dead languages.  It was on this
ground  that  he  thought the undertaking
more necessary, as the greater part of those
that are  owners  of the noble animal, the
horse, are, like himself, unacquainted with
the Greek and Latin.  And  he believes
that the anatomy of the  horse, as well as
the human body, can be as well understood
and defined,  by the language of our own
mother tongue, as by the dead languages :
Yes, and that those languages  only serve
                   b 2 
XviH            PREFACE.
the purpose of those who wish to keep
the world in ignorance, and profit by the
credulity of others. For my part, I believe
that neither the Greeks nor Latins taught
their pupils the languages of any other na-
tions :  at least I never saw an author, that
informed me  that they did so.
   It is probable, by this time, the  reader
may think that I am an  enemy  to science
and a friend to ignorance—but the  case is
otherwise.  I should feel myself happy to
see science flourish, stripped of her  grab of
mystery and quackery : and if the Veteri-
nary College of London had pursued  this
laudable method,  Mr. Blaine, and  his co-
temporaries  in that  college,  would have
deserved immortal praise :  But their books
are at too high a price for  the common
reader  to purchase—and too voluminous
to be  read—and too  obscure to be under-
stood,  but by those who have, had a clas-
sical education.
   I have been an eye witness to the dread-
ful effects of the ignorance of  those who
have undertaken to doctor the horse, both
in this country and England.   A  coach-
man who lived with a gentleman in  this 
PREFACE.              xix
city, undertook to bleed one of his employ-
er's horses in the mouth, and,  as there is
a large artery that comes from the heart
into the mouth,  the man had cut that  ar-
tery  asunder and could not stop the blood,
and the horse had continued to bleed  for
two hours  before he was brought  to me,
and it was with great difficulty that I stop-
ped  it: and believe that the horse could
not have lived ten minutes longer if the
blood had not stopped, as the poor animal
was  struck all over with a cold sweat, and
trembled like a leaf.
   One more instance I will relate, which
is, that a groom belonging  to a gentleman
in this city,  also  undertook to clean  the
yard of his master's horse—in doing which
he drew down the  yard  beyond  its natu-
ral extremity, which overstrained the lead-
ing tendons, or nerves of the yard, like  a
violin  string that is  overdrawn,  and  has
lost  its elasticity,  so that the  animal  had
not  power to  draw  it back  to its place.
When the man brought the horse to me
he  said,  Mr.  Carver, what is  the matter
with this  horse ?  I told him immediately
that he had  forced  down  the yard with 
XX             PREFACE.
his hand, beyond its natural position : He
at first denied the fact—but on my  insist-
ing on its being the  case,  he  confessed,
and  begged that I would not inform his
master how it had happened ; by applying
restringent medicines, I brought the yard
to perform its natural functions. It was a ju-
dicious remark of Lord Pembroke, when he
said—" Any gentleman  who permitted his
groom to administer any thing more to his
horses, than messes or warm gruel, would
soon find himself on foot."
   I am certain that there are persons in
this  city, who  undertake  to doctor the
horse, that  cannot  either  read  or write
their own names—and consequently know
nothing of the  quality or power of medi-
cine ; and I have  seen them apply a re-
stringent, when they should have applied
a relaxative : In consequence of this igno-
rance, they cannot consult the state of the
blood of the  horse, which is the first thing
to be  considered  in  all  kinds of fevers.
And I furthermore believe, that they know
not where to find the pulse veins—or how
many times the pulse beats in a minute, in
order to judge of the state of the animal,
they pretend to cure. 
PREFACE.               XXi
    I have read a great number of authors
who have attempted to describe the method
or best manner of shoeing the horse ; and
they have given what was,  in their opini-
ons, the form or the shape of the shoe
that should be placed on the  foot ; but I
have found by  long experience, that they
for want of practice, have been, almost all
of them, very erroneous: the  author that
comes nearest to the point, so as to pre-
serve  the foot,  is Clark.  As shoeing  the
horse is a most essential point to be con-
sidered,  I have attempted to describe the
best method that  I have  discovered, in
thirty year's  practice, in the chapter on
shoeing :  and this I think the  more neces-
sary, as I have  witnessed the dreadful, and
the most evil consequences, of horses be-
ing placed in the hands of unexperienced
shoers in this city.    I have known smiths
to  open  shops, and undertake  to shoe
horses,  who never had shod a horse   in
their lives ; and the result has been, that the
feet have been ruined, and the  horses have
been obliged to be  turned to pasture, in
order that nature might replace the injured
foot.   The most celebrated authors,  and 
XX11             PREFACE.
judges  of horses,  have  considered the
knowledge of the foot, and the manner  of
shoeing, as very essential points :  Bracken
has  said—no foot,  no  horse : and  Mr.
Blaine, of the Veterinary College of Lon-
don,  says—that he would not trust many
of the pretended shoers, to drive a single
nail in the foot of his horse.  And,  for my
own part, I would not permit three fourths
of the smiths, of this city, to take off a sin-
gle shoe from  my  horse's  foot,  was I
not present at the time.
   I  presume  the  public will  consider
that I have not written this small treatise
with a view of deriving any pecuniary ad-
vantage, as I am now arrived at an advanced
period of life ; "but that my only object is
that  of being useful  to  those who are  in
possession of that useful animal, the horse.
And as there  are thousands  in this city,
and in the United States, whose whole de-
pendance for  the support of  themselves
and families,  is on the  health  and labour
that they derive  from the horse ; and gen-
tlemen  who  travel, are often retarded on
their journey,  owing to the misconduct  of
those that take charge  of their horses—or 
PREFACE
xxiii
by the smiths that shoe them : I therefore
believe, that this small pocket companion
will  enable  the  traveller to set both the
groom and the smith right, when  they
have>comitted errors, or prevent their com-
mitting any
   It is probable that this publication will
be criticised on, and in  a  measure  con-
demned, by those that profess themselves
judges of  orthography and grammar; but
the only apology that I shall  make, is, that
the common reader in general will under-
stand my  meaning, or ideas, and this is
grammar  and  orthography  sufficient  for
them.  I know that Bailey-, Sheridan, and
Johnson,  have  told us that  each  syllable
must be spelt with such  and such letters
and  vowels;  and that they  must be pro-
nounced in such and such a  manner, with
such a tone of voice ;  but I find that what
is called grammar in one century, is  con-
demned in an other—As a proof of this, let
any one refer to  books that were published
one or two centuries past—-let them read
Sidney  on Government, Fox's  Martyrs,
or any old authors, and they  will  find that
the language or grammar materially differs 
xxiv
PREFACE.
from that of the present day : a word spok-
en, that can be  understood,  is far better
than ten thousand words  spoken in a lan-
guage that cannot be understood.   Had I
been acquainted with the Greek or Latin
languages, or terms of art and obscurity of
expression, I should have avoided them as
much as possible.  I am  more desirous of
being intelligible to the meanest capacity,
than ambitious of writing in what is called
a polished style, to which I make no pre-
tensions—on this account I expect indul-
gence from the candid reader.  It will be
found that I have given but few receipts,
and those  that are given have been proved
by experience.  I have been always oppos-
ed to giving a variety, or complication of
medicines, either to  man or beast;  for,
should not few medicines be found to re-
lieve the patient in a short time, it is better
to leave nature to struggle with infirmities,
as she at  times performs wonders : this I
have proved by the horse—likewise by my
own family,  as I am my own family physi-
cian, and have been for more than twenty
years past; and, during that time,  I have
not paid five dollars to any one of the facul-
ty to attend them, although they  (as is 
PREFACE.
XXV
common to mankind) have had their share
of sickness.  If man would but take the
trouble to examine and think for himself,
he might then be  his own physician, and
save himself a great deal of expense.   I
would reccommend every father of a fa-
mily to provide himself with Buchan's Do-
mestic Medicine, and the Edinburgh Dis-
pensatory.—The assistance of these books,
and study,  will, in most cases, supersede
the necessity of employing a physician.
    Although there are a great number of
horses kept in this city, I do not find one
citizen that makes  the economy or welfare
of the horse so much his study that he
might examine this work, or to whom  I
might dedicate it.   I therefore dedicate it
to the public at large, leaving them to judge
of its merits, and my experience or veraci-
ty.   I have  given in the appendix a most
valuable receipt for the pleurisy, or pain in
the back or side, for the human species.
This  receipt I  have  communicated to
many gentlemen of the faculty, which they
have proved to have the desired effect.
               WILLIAM CARVER.
 New Tork, November 3d,  1818.  -
                  c 
CHAPTER I.
Some general directions, in  regard to  the ma-
        nagement and care of Horses.

  The horse, by nature, is doomed  to roam
at large in the woods or fields, and, while re-
maining in this state, his  wants are easily
supplied, and his diseases are few; but, when
brought into a  domesticated  state, his dis-
eases are many and his  wants are great, and
he requires the fostering hand of care and di-
ligence to keep and preserve him in health.
It should be observed to give horses as few
medicines as possible, and not follow the ri-
diculous custom of frequently bleeding and
purging, when the horse is in perfect health.
  Proper dressing, feeding, and exercise will
alone cure many disorders, and prevent most.
Proper care should be taken to procure good
sweet hay and oats, for, should either of these
articles be either musty or foul, they will af-
fect his lungs, and at times, cause him to be
broken winded; and, what is commonly call- 
             Carver's Farrier.           27

ed shorts or bran, is  frequently in a state of
fermentation before it is given to the horse,
and this is what I apprehend to be the cause
of so many horses dying with the worms, or
bots.   If a small portion of  clean  cut straw
be given, either with oats or bran, it will have
a tendency to eradicate those insects.
  All  stables should be ventilated, so as to
admit a free and constant circulation of fresh
air; for without this, the horse is constantly
breathing, or taking into his stomach or lungs,
the foul air that arises from the dung, urine,
or the perspiration that flies from the body
of the horse ; and, when the stable is crowd-
ed with horses, the  effluvia must arise to a
high degree, which, of course, will give rise
to the most malignant fevers, and also chro-
nick complaints.
  Having visited many stables in this city, I
have found  many stalls where  horses have
stood in their dung, to  the  thickness" of six
or seven inches, which I could  attribute to
nothing but the indolence of those that had
the care of horses committed to them.  And
I have likewise observed, that horses stand-
ing in this situation, have fallen back in their
stalls  as far as their halters would permit;
and this was done, in  order that  the  poor 
28
Carver's Farrier.
animal might escape the fume that was con-
stantly  arising and flying into  his nostrils,
every time that he drew his breath.   I have
given this hint, in order that the owners and
lovers of horses might attend to this, and have
the neglect remidied.
   All  stables should  admit of a sufficient
quantity of light, as nature has provided this
for the  benefit of both man and beast.  All
horses,  standing in dark stables, are liable to
have their sight affected; as a sudden transition
from a state of total darkness to the brilliancy
of that of the sun, at noonday, will have a pow-
erful effect upon the optics  of the eye,  and
will cause excessive pain, and  probably, in
time, the total loss of sight.  As to the cus-
tom that is prevailing in  this city, in regard
to the blanketing of horses, and driving them
with the blankets  on  their  bodies  through
rain and snow, must certainly be pernicious
to the health  of  the animal—as the labour
that they  perform will cause a perspiration,
and consequently  the  pores of  the skin are
more open than  they are while remaining in
a state of inactivity ; therefore, the water that
is contained in the blanket must be absorbed
into the system of the horse, which, accord-
ing to reason, must make the horse  liable to 
Carver's Farrier.
29
colds, and stiff limbs, "or what is commonly
called founder.  If nature, that is complete
in her works, had destined the horse to wear
blankets,  she would have sent him covered
with them!   When the horse is standing in
the stable, if he must have  a blanket, it should
be a light one,  and not two or three  at one
time, with  a  broad roller girted tight,  as
grooms will tell us, in order to take   up the
belly, as they call it, which prevents the ex-
pansion of the lungs, and  causes the  animal
to breath with difficulty.—Blankets should
be taken along  with the traveller, and thrown
on when the horse stops on the road.
  Common observ™on teaches us that na-
ture, at proper  seasons of the year, designed
the pasture  for the  horse, and the horse for
the pasture; therefore, if the horse could
possibly be spared for two or three weeks, in
the month of May or June, he ought of course
to be.turned out to roam at large.
  A proper degree of exercise is of the ut-
most consequence, to keep the horse  in per-
fect health and vigour; but a horse  should
never be rode hard, or put on  violent exer-
cise, when his belly  is full of feed or water
—move him gently at first, and he will natu-
rally  mend  his  pace.  Many diseases are
                     c2 
30
Carver's Farrier.
brought on for want of proper exercise.   I
have seen horses that have stood in their stalls
for two or three months, without being  ex-
ercised at all, and by this neglect, they have
fell victims to the lock-jaw, and farcy.  Na-
ture demands exercise,  as well for the ani-
mal as the human species, in order to keep
the blood and fluids in circulation.
  It must certainly  be  obvious to every one
of common understanding, that great  care
should be taken, that after a horse  has had
violent exercise, or  come off a hard  journey,
that he cools not too fast—that he drinks no
cold water, and that heis not washed with
cold water, which is tor^ften practised in this
country, by those that have the care of hor-
ses,  in order to  save the labour of rubbing
and cleaning of them ; and it should likewise
be observed, that their feet should  not be
permitted to stand  in a damp or wet stall,
which will  have a tendency to bring on a
founder. 
CHAPTER II.
         On Bleeding, Purging, &V.
  Those horses that have been standing long.
in the stable, and have been full fed, require
at times to be bled and physicked, especially
when their eyes look heavy, dull, and inflam-
ed, as also when they feel hotter than usual,
and mangle or waste their hay. But the cases
that chiefly require bleeding, are colds, fevers
of most kinds, falls, bruises, hurts of the eyes,
and all inflammatory disorders.  All horses
should be bled by measure, in order to know
the quantity that is taken away—two or three
quarts is always enough at one time, but
must be repeated in  case of the pleurisy,
which may be known by the blackness of the
blood, which should be carefully examined,
when cold, to see whether black, florid, sizy,
&c.  The neck is the safest  place to bleed,
or in what is  commonly called  the  jugular
vein:  and it  should be observed to bleed
near the head, and not, as is frequently done,
down  the middle  of the  neck, which will
often cause a swelled neck, if not  a  mortifi- 
32           Carver's Farrier.
 cation in the vein.   During the course of my
 practice, I have been obliged  to  take  off a
 part of the jugular vein of the neck of two hor:
 ses, owing to their  having been struck too
 low down the neck, when  bled  by unexpe-
 rienced hands ;  and to perform what is com-
 monly called netting the vein,  which is done
 by tying the vein with a silk thread, at a cer-
 tain distance, in two places,  so as to ad-
 mit of the cutting away,  between the two
 threads, that part of the vein  which was in
 a  state of mortification; and, by this me-
 thod, I saved the lives  of  both  the horses.
 All  blood  should be drawn from the part
 where there is  least danger, which is the
 vein  I have  described,  and  not  on  the
 thigh vein, or the corinett of the foot, or the
 mouth.  All blood flows from  the heart, let
 it be taken from what part of the body it may;
 but, in case of  a  shoulder sprain  I  have
 found it beneficial to bleed in what is called
 the plate  vein, which is a large vein on the
 inside  of the fore legs; and,  in case  of a
founder, I have drawn blood from the toes of
the fore feet.
  The  first purge  that  is given  to a horse
should be mild, in order  to know his consti-
tution.  It  is a mistake, that if a purge,  pro- 
Carver's Farrier.
33
perly prepared, does not work according to
expectation, the horse will be injured by it.
Although it  may not pass by stool, it may
operate,  and be' more efficacious as an alte-
rative, to purify the blood :  and it often pas-
ses by urine,  or  other secretions.   Horses
that fail  of  their stomach,  whether it pro-
ceeds from too full feeding, or engendered
crudities, and indigested matter, should have
a mild purge or two.   It should  be remem-
bered, that  a horse is purged with difficul-
ty—-that all  physick  generally  lies  twen-
ty-four hours  in the intestines, before  it  be-
gins to work off;  and that the tract of bow-
els it  has  to pass through, is about  thirty
yards, which lay horizontally.  If mercurial
physick is given, care should  be taken that
it be well prepared, and warm clothing  and
great circumspection are then required.  All
purges should be given in the morning ;  but
the horse should have a warm mess  or  two
the day before, in order to relax his bowels;
and if he has a mess in the morning, before
the ball is given, it will be  so much the bet-
ter—and, about three  hours after taking the
ball, he should have another mess given him,
of scalded bran  or  shorts.   Early the next
morning give him another mess—and let his 
34
Carver's  Farrier.
water be warm, with a handful of  bran or
shorts squeezed in it; but if he refuses warm
water, he must be indulged to have  it cold.
He should  be properly clothed,  and rode
gently about; and this should be  done two
or three times in the day, unless he  purges
violently, then once  or twice will be suffi-
cient—at  night give him a feed of dry oats.
But, should the physic continue  to operate
too long, give him the following drink : take
half a pint of brandy, one ounce of liquid lau-
danum, and one ounce of aniseeds, finely pow-
dered, to be put in one pint of good  ale.   If
he refuses all kinds of food, of an ordinary na-
ture,  let him be tried  with two  quarts of
wheat:  this I  have  tried  with good effect.
By this  means I once saved the life of a  no-
bleman's horse  in England, that  had been
over-purged by his coachman, and had  not
eaten one mouthful for three days. I shall omit
giving a variety of receipts for purging balls,
and only give one that I have proved to  an-
swer all  the  purposes to which it was intend-
ed as a common  physick, and which I have
continued to administer  for thirty years past.
And when the rules that I have laid down
were attended  to, in regard to giving  the
messes and  water, not five balls, out of one 
Carver's Farrier.
35
hundred, have failed to purge the horse suf-
ficiently.

To make what is commonly called a Coarse Phy-
       sick, or Three Bails for a Horse.

  Take four ounces of succotrine aloes, two
ounces of fresh jalap, two ounces of powder-
ed ginger, two ounces of cream of tartar, and
add thirty drops of oil of aniseed, with  as
much buckthorn syrrup, or molasses  as will
form it into a paste—divide, and let each ball
weigh three ounces and a half.—When only
one ball is wanted, take only the  third part
of all the above named ingredients.
  Observe, that when the  horse is to under-
go a coarse physic, or take three balls, that
six or eight days interval of time, should be
given between  each dose, or it will injure
what is generally called the mucus, or lining
of the guts.
  When a horse loses his appetite for some
days, after purging, it will be necessary to give
a warm stomach drink, made of an infusion
of chamomile  flowers, aniseeds and saffron,
and half an  ounce of asafcetida.   This infu-
sion may be made in one quart of ale, with a 
36
Carver's Farrier.
small quantity of honey, in order to make it
palatable.
  When balls are given, they should be of an
oval shape, and not exceed the size of a pul-
let's egg ; and, when the dose is large, it
should be divided into two, and they  should
be dipt in oil, to make them slip down the
easier.
  As I have given my experience, in regard
to purging the  horse, I will now proceed in
regard to clysters, with  a few remarks and
cautions.
  Let it be observed, that before the admin-
istering of emollient clysters,  in "costive dis-
orders, a small hand,  well oiled, should be
passed up the fundament,  in order to bring
away the hardened dung, that would be an
obstacle to the  clyster's  passage.   Authors
have differed with regard to the apparatus to
give the clysters with: some  have preferred
a pipe and bladder, to the syringe ; but I have
for many years  used the syringe.  It should
be observed not to give more than two quarts
of a clyster atone time, as an overcharge will
cause it to return too quick; but it should be
often repeated,  and more particularly when a
quick passage is wanted. 
Carver's Farrier.           37
       To prepare an Opening Clyster.
  Take two quarts of water, and stir into it a
handful of wheat flour or oatmeal, let  it be
boiled, then add half a pint of molasses, half
a pint of neat's foot oil, and a handful of com-
mon salt.

         For a  Restringent Clyster.
  Take of oak bark two ounces, boil it in two
quarts of water,  till one is nearly consumed,
pour off, and dissolve in it four ounces of di-
ascordium, to which add one ounce of liquid
laudanum, and a pint of port wine.
D 
 
CHAPTER III.
                Of Colds.

  The  source  of the  generality of fevers,
coughs, and many other disorders, arise from
taking cold, both in men and horses.  When
this is the case, the pores and outlets of the
skin, which, in a state of health, is constantly
breathing out a fine fluid, like steam arising
from hot water; but whe n the horse has tak-
en cold, these  steams  and perspirable mat-
ter  are  deprived of  a  free passage through
them, and are hindered  from going off intheir
usual course,  and, in consequence,  are recoil-
ing on the  blood and overfill the vessels, and
affect the head, glands, or  kernels of the neck
and  throat, the lungs,  and other  principal
parts.
  To enumerate all the  causes of colds, would
be both endless and useless.   The usual, are,
riding horses or driving of them till they are
hot, and letting them stand in the  cold air;
and  by  not  being carefully rubbed down
when they come in hot, off long  journeys. 
40             Carver's Farrier.

The signs of a horse having a cold, are, a
cough, heaviness and dullness, in proportion
to the severity of it, and he rattles in  his
breathing—his flanks work,  and he will loath
his meat, and refuse his water—his mouth
will be slimy—his ears and feet will be cold;
in this case there is danger of a fever, and the
pulse should be consulted.   In small horses
the pulse is generally from,  50 to 55, but in
large horses, from 45 to 50.  Two pulse veins
are to be found, one on the inside of the jaw
bone, the other on the inside of the fore leg,
between the point of the shoulder  and  the
knee joint.  If the disorder should increase,
bleed him two quarts; and if his lungs  are
affected,  repeat the  bleeding the next day.
If the horse be costive, give  him a mild purg-
ing ball  or drink.  The balls that  I have
recommended for a purge, may be dissolved
in warm  water or ale.
  Particular notice  should  be taken to see
that the horse waters or stales freely—if not,
his yard  should be examined.  This should
be done, by the operator oiling his hand be-
fore it is  introduced  into the sheath ; but the
yard should not be strained down, which is
often  practised, as both the  yard  and sheath
can be cleaned without stretching down the 
Carver's Farrier.
41
yard.   In performing this operation, I have
found hard substances round the point of the
yard, like stones, about the size of an Indian
corn ; and at other times I have found a cap
over the point of the yard, of a substance
similar to a skin or isinglass, but both these
obstructions  are  easily  removed  without
straining down the yard, or the internal part
of the sheath.   All horses' yards  should be
examined every three or four months.  I have
attributed those stones that I have described,
to the horses drinking the hard pump water
in this city, as the stones appear to be of the
same consistency as the fur on the inside of
our tea kettles.   I have known it to be the
case, through  the neglect of examining the
yard in time, that the horse's water has been
stopped for a great length of time—that the
bladder  has burst, and the horse has died.
After I have removed these obstructions,  I
have given the following diuretick ball.
   Take one ounce of nitre, finely  powdered,
one ounce of  Juniper berries, half an ounce
of white  rosin,  with as much Venice  tur-
pentine as would make it into a ball.   This
I have proved to be effectual, as it will gene-
rally  pass through,  by urine, in three or
four hours.
                   D 2 
42           Carver's Farrier
  Should the cold continue, give the follow-
ing ball, from Dr. Bracken :
  Take aniseed,  and  greater cardamomum
and caraway seeds,  finely powdered, of each
one ounce ; flour of brimstone, two ounces ;
turmeric, in fine  powder, one ounce and a
half; saffron, two drachms ; Spanish juice dis-
solved in water, two ounces ; liquorice pow-
der, one ounce and a half;  oil  of aniseed,
half  an  ounce ; wheat  flour sufficient  to
make it into a stiff paste—beating all the in-
gredients well,  in  a  mortar.  These balls
consist of warm, open ingredients; and given
in small quantities, about the size of a pullet's
egg, will encourage a free perspiration ; but
in case of a fever, should be cautiously con-
tinued.  This simple  method,  with good
nursing and warm messes,'and gentle exer-
cise every day, will hasten recovery.  The
manger should be  kept clean,  by filling it
with clean straw.  His feeds should be given
in small quantities ; his hay well shook, and
sprinkled with water. 
CHAPTER IV.
                On Fevers.

  The symptoms which denote a fever, are
the following:  The horse is restless, his
flanks work quick, his eyes are red and in-
flamed, his tongue  parched and  dry—his
breath is  hot, and smells strong; his appe-
tite is  lost and he  nibbles his hay, and  is
frequently smelling to the ground—his whole
body is hotter than ordinary, and he  dungs
often, and little at a  time—his urine is high
coloured—he appears  to  crave water, but
drinks little :  his pulse beats full, and hard
to fifty strokes or more, in a minute.
   The first thing necessary to be done, is  to
bleed  two or three quarts, if the horse  is
strong and in  good condition;  then give
him a pint of the following drink, four times
a day.
   Take nitre,  one  ounce ; of balm,  sage,
and chamomile flowers, each, a handful;  li-
quorice root, sliced,  half  an ounce :  infuse
in three pints of boiling water—strain off,
and add to it the juice  of two or three limes, 
44           Carver's Farrier.
 and sweeten with honey or molasses-—The
 chief article to be depended on, is the nitre.
 In a high fever I have given as much as half
 a pound of nitre per day, with good effect.
   Should the horse  be costive, give the fol-
 lowing clyster :
  Take two full hands ofmarshmallows, and
 one of chamomile flowers; fennel seed, an
 ounce—boil in three quarts of water to two—
 strain off—add four ounces of molasses, and
 a pint of linseed or neat's foot oil.
  His diet should be as recommended be-
fore, for  colds :  to consist of warm  messes,
given in small quantities—should  he refuse
warm food or water, he  should be indulged
with cold.  A small portion of picked hay
should be put into his rack at a time, as his
breath will taint  all manner of food.   Mode-
rate exercise,  fresh  air, and a clean  stable,
will have a tendency to restore the horse to
health. 
CHAPTER V.
Of the Pleurisy, and Inflammation of the Lungs.

  This is a  disorder that horses are much
subject to in this country.  I have frequent-
ly found, by examining the carcasses of dead
horses, different kinds of inflammations on the
pleura,  or membrane that  lines  the  chest
internally.   The  whole  substance of  the
lungs were black, and full of a  gangrened
water ;  and, in short, inflammations in every
bowel.  The blood vessels were so overload-
ed, that the blood has burst out of the small-
er vessels, and gushed out as from a foun-
tain, filling all the cavities of the body.   At
other times I have found large clots of blood
resembling liver, adhering or sticking to the
sides of the body. A pleurisy, then, is gene-
rally termed an inflammation of the lungs.  In
this disorder a horse shews great uneasiness ;
shifts about from place to place.   In the be-
ginning he  often strives to lie  down,  but
starts up immediately, and frequently turns
his head towards the  affected side ;  and this 
46
Carver's Farrier.
has caused many to mistake  the pleurisy for
the gripes.  The cure of this  disorder de-
pends in a great measure on  plentiful bleed-
ing.   If the horse is  strong, three or four
quarts of blood should be immediately taken;
and, if the symptoms do not abate, the bleed-
ing should be repeated.  I have taken away
as much  as eight or  ten  quarts  in twenty-
four hours.  But the disorder may, in a great
measure, be discovered by the blood,  which
appears black and thick,  nearly like molas-
ses.  A blistering ointment should be rub-
bed all over his brisket, upon the foremost
ribs.   The diet and  medicine  should  be
both cooling, relaxing, and  diluting—warm
messes, and plenty of water or gruel.
   The following balls should be given thrice
a day :
   Take of spermaceti and nitre, one ounce ;
oil of  aniseed,  thirty drops;  with  honey
enough to make a ball.
   A purging clyster should likewise be given.
   Take senna, two ounces ;  fenne^ seed and
bayberries, of each, one ounce :  boil in five
pints of water, to two quarts—pour off the
clear, and add  four ounces  of purging salts,
half a pint of molasses, and half a pint of lin-
seed oil.   If the horse should  be  costive, 
            Carver's Farrier.           47

give a purging ball ;  and he should be gra-
dually exercised in the open air. I have found
a rowel,  placed between the fore legs, to be
of great service. 
 
CHAPTER VI.
         Of a Cough, and Asthma.

  I have seen old practitioners  more per-
plexed to remove a settled cough, than many
other complaints ;  which, perhaps, has been
owing to their want of attention to the dif-
ferent symptoms,  which  distinguish  one
cough from  another: therefore  it was im-
possible for them to find out the true method
of cure.
  If a horse's cough is of long standing, at-
tended with the loss of appetite, and wasting
of flesh, it denotes a consumption, and that
the lungs are full of knotty, hard substances,
called tubercles, which are commonly disco-
vered on dissection.
  The following signs denote when the cough
proceeds from phlegm, and  slimy matter,
that stop up the vessels  of  the  lungs: the
horse's flanks have  a quick motion, but not
with his nostrils open, like in a fever, or that
is broken winded : his cough is at times dry
                   E 
50
Carver's Farrier.
and husky, and sometimes moist: he rattles
in the throat, and at times throws out of his
nose and mouth, a quantity of white phlegm,
especially after drinking or exercise—which
discharge gives great relief.
  Asthmatic  cases are to be distinguished
in their symptoms, from pursiness, and thick
windedness;  and is occasioned by too full,
or foul feeding, and want of proper exercise.
  As soon as a horse is discovered  to  have
a cough, he should be moderately bled, and
have a purging ball;  which  will generally
give relief.  But, should the cough continue
for a week or ten days after bleeding and
purging, give him two drachms of calomel,
mixed up with an ounce of diapente, for two
nights,  and the next morning  give him a
purging  ball: keep  him well clothed and
litered,  and  fed with warm messes.  Once,,
in eight or ten days, a purge may be repeat-
ed, with one mercurial ball given over night;
the mercurial ball may be  mixed  up  with
wheat flour and honey.   Should the cough
continue, and the horse be valuable, the fol-
lowing balls should be continued to be given,
every day, for two or  three weeks or longer,
to be of real  service.
  Take of cinabar of antimony, half a pound; 
Carver's Farrier.          51
gum guiacum, four ounces; myrrh, and gum
ammoniac, of each, two ounces; Venice soap,
half a pound : the cinabar must be finely le-
vigated, and the whole mixed up with honey.
But, after all that has been done, if the horse
should prove broken winded, he then must
be kept on wet  feed, as no  certain cure, in
that case has as yet been  discovered. 
 
CHAPTER VII.
       Of an Apoplexy, or Staggers.

  I shall in the present chapter omit, as I
have done in  the preceding chapters, to give
a variety of different opinions, of different au-
thors, as to the cause of this disorder; and
only go to shew the practice that I have pur-
sued, and the means by which I have effect-
ed a cure.
  The previous symptoms that I have disco-
vered, are  a  drowsiness, with watery eyes,
full and inflamed, and a disposition  to stag-
ger or reel; feebleness, and the head  con-
stantly hanging or resting on the  manger;
with but little fever, and but little alteration
in the dung, or urine: at times the horse is
inclined to rear up and fall back, when han-
dled by the head.  Besides the above symp-
toms, the horse will be frantic at times.  I
have  seen them when  let loose, run with
open  mouth,  at any person that stood before
them ; and at other times, I have seen them
                   2e 
54
Carver's Farrur.
run direct against a wall or fence : they hav-
ing, apparently, lost their sight.  This is what
is  generally termed the blind, or mad stag-
gers.   I recollect, a few years past, to have
been called  by a  respectable Dutchman  in
this city, to see his horse,  that had the mad
staggers.  He said to me, Mr. Carver,  mine
horse is bewitched—I suspect th£ person that
has done  it—I some  very bad neighbours.
I laughed at the ignorance of the man, and
his belief in ancient superstition !  For my
own part, I have long since discarded from
my mind, witches, hobgoblins, and ghosts of
all kinds ! having swept them away from my
brains, with the besom of thought!  I drove
the old lady, the witch, out of my employer's
horse—but the poor animal  lost the sight of
one  eye.   This  I did not attribute to my
friend's old witch, but to the malignity of the
disorder.
  When  it is discovered that a horse has
the staggers, the first thing  that  should be
done  is to empty the vessels, by purging and
bleeding.   If the horse is strong, four or five
quarts of blood should be  taken ; and two  or
three rowels should be introduced, to cause
a plentiful discharge. Opening clysters should
be given.  If a small portion of Spanish flies, 
Carver's Farrier.
55
be mixed with a small quantity of Venice
turpentine and hog's lard, to make the rowel
of, it will cause a quick suppuration. By pur-
suing this method, and. giving the following
balls, I have performed cures in the worst of
cases.
  Take of. asafoetida, half an ounce ;  Russia
castor powdered,   two  drachms ; valerian
root powdered, one ounce :  make into a ball,
with  honey  and oil of  amber.  This ball
should be given twice a day, at first, for two
or three days, until the horse is found to be
mending; and after that, one ball should be
continued, until the cure is performed.
   The following ointment should be  rubbed
into the cheeks, temples,  neck,  spines of
the back, and wherever there are contractions
and stiffness :
   Take marshmallow ointment, four ounces:
oil of amber, two ounces,  and a sufficient
quantity of camphorated spirit of wine to make
a liniment 
 
CHAPTER VIII.
             Of the Strangles.

  The strangles is a distemper to which colts
and young horses  are  very subject.   It be-
gins with a swelling between the jaw bones,
which at times, extends  to the  muscles of
the tongue, and is  attended with great heat,
pain, and inflammation: so that, till matter is
formed, it is difficult for the horse to swallow.
I have known  horses, in this country, that
have been eight or nine years old,  to have
this disorder, which I never saw in England.
This disease is critical.   But the most ap-
proved method, is, to assist nature in  bring-
ing the  swellings  to maturity, by  keeping
the jaws and throat  constantly moist, with
ointment of marshmallows, and covering the
head and neck with a  warm  hood : but  all
swellings in glandular parts, suppurate slowly.
The  following poultice  srfould be applied
twice a day, hot, to the throat:
  Tafce  half a peck of turnips,  and  half a
peck  of onions—boil them  until they are 
58
Carver's Farrier.
quite soft; and white lily root, half a pound;
and add half a pound of ointment of marsh-
mallows.  By this method, the swellings on
the inside of the jaw bones will break; or it
will cause a  discharge from the nostrils.  I
have known the  throat so  affected, that the
horse could  not eat a mouthful  for  several
days.   In this case I have given him, twice
a day, a cordial drink to support his system;
and have, every two hours, gargled his throat
with vinegar and honey: and, by doing this,
the ulcer has broke, and a powerful discharge
has followed; without which,  the horse
must have died.  Great care should be taken
that the horse be not costive ; and, to that
end, a purging  drink should be given, and
two quarts of blood should  be taken, from
the jugular or neck vein.   But should a cos-
tiveness continue, relaxative clysters should
be  administered : warm  messes should be
given, as soon as the horse can eat, in which
a small portion   of nitre  should be  put.—
Should the running at the nose continue too
long,  which will greatly weaken the horse
give him, every day,   an  ounce of Jesuits'
bark, or a strong decoction of guiacum shav-
ings.
  If a hardness  remain, after the sores  are
healed up, anoint with mercurial ointment. 
CHAPTER IX.
        Of the Diseases of the Eyes.

  The disorders of the eyes  arise from dif-
ferent causes : such as colds, bruises, and in-
flammation of the blood.  Some authors have
supposed  it to be  hereditary.   But,  from
whatever cause it may originate, in the  first
place the horse should  be physicked and
bled, in order to cool his blood.   All inter-
nal applications, before this, will only increase
the inflammation : such as blowing into the
eye burnt alum, white  vitrol, powdered su-
gar,  &c.  Should the eye be swelled, attend-
ed with a running, it  should be sponged with
cold spring  water and  vinegar ;  or the  fol-
lowing wash :
  Take of white vitrol, half an ounce ; sugar
of lead, two  drachms :  dissolve in a pint of
spring water.   Let the eye be bathed with
this  wash three or four  times a day.
  When the inflammation has been very great
I have found that  a  rowel, placed between
the forebrows, is of great service.   Likewise
bleeding in the large  vein under the  eye 
60
Carver's Farrier.
 will at times give great relief.  If,  after the
 heat is abated,  and the swelling gone down
 there  should remain a film on the globe, or
 any internal part of the eye, there should be
 a little white  vitrol,  finely powdered, and
 sugar candy blown into the eye,  which will
 take off the film.  During the time, the horse
 should  be fed on  messes,  and an ounce of
 nitre put in his  feed, once a day.  I have
 seen horses that have had a speck on the eye
 occasioned by a stroke  from  the lash of a
 whip, which I  have completely removed, by
 touching the speck with luna  caustic.  But
 this should not be done every day, but once
 in two days, for  fear of inflaming the eye;
 and, at the same time,  the  eye should be
 bathed with the aforenamed wash.   I have
 seen practitioners  attempt to cure moon
 blindness and cataracts, but I  never saw one
 of them succeed.  They are complaints that
 I never  attempted, through my thirty  years
practice.  But  considered it like attempting
 to cure the glanders.   And,  whenever I
have been applied  to for that purpose, I
have reccommended the owner immediately
to give the horse  a  leaden  ball through his
heart or brains; and I always  looked on it
as folly  for an author even to write on it, or
prescribe any cure. 
CHAPTER. X.
          Of the Farcin, or Farcy.

  This  is also a distemper to which horses
are much subject to  in this country ;  and
which perhaps has called forth as much, or
more of my practice, than any other disorder,
and in which I have been as much success-
ful in curing ; as I do not recollect but one
horse to have died under my care, with this
distemper.  The said horse was  taken  care
of by a negro, who did not follow my direc-
tions, in regard of exercise and diet, and the
horse was  a few miles in the country.   The
practitioner, in this particular, labours under
a  great  disadvantage ; as proper regimen,
exercise, and good nursing,  are very essen-
tial in performing a cure.  The practitioner
also  has other evils to  encounter, as he is
seldom applied to until a variety of nostrums
have been  given the horse, which he has to
encounter and counteract, as well as the dis-
ease.  Therefore  let his knowledge of  the
anatomy or ceconomy of the horse, be what
                    F 
62           Carver's Farrier.
it may,  he gets but little applause.  These
observations I know to be correct.   Besides
it is expected that he  be almost possessed
of supernatural powers,  so  as  to raise the
dead to  life—or  perform an instantaneous
cure.   And his employer is not acquainted
with the danger to which he is exposed, at
the time  he  is practising on this  powerful
animal.   Neither is he acquainted with the
quantity of medicine that the horse requires,
or the expense of those medicines.  I have
given balls that  have cost  me  one dollar,
before  it was put down the horses throat.
Therefore, on account of the high  price o*
drugs, and for  fear of offence  being given
in regard of charge.   I have been obliged to
substitute medicine of a cheap quality, and
to omit  those that would have had a far bet-
ter effect: for gentlemen in this country do
not pay that respect to a valuable horse, that
the gentlemen in England  do.  I beg par-
don of  my readers for thus digressing from
the subject; but they  were  ideas that struck
my mind at  the  time,  and a  man cannot
help his thoughts.  But  to the  point,  as re-
gards the farcy ;  on  which  I mean to be as
explicit, or plain and  concise  as  possible.
Different authors  have given their different 
Carver's Farrier.
63
opinions, in regard to the origin of the farcy.
Some having viewed it as a distemper of
the blood vessels, while others have consi-
dered it as a local one, by which the constitu-
tion is not tainted—the poison being arrested
or seated, only in the glands.  Be this  as  it
may  in the beginning of the disease, it will
at length, however, insinuate itself into the
circulation of the blood, and poison the whole
mass.   There are,  therefore, two  kinds  of
farcy—the  one  called the  button,  and the
other the water  farcy.  The button farcy  at
first,  makes its appearance in small round
buds, like grapes or berries, that spring out
over  the  veins, and all parts of the  body
from the head almost down to the hoofs.
In  the  beginning  they are hard,  but soon
turn into soft blisters; and when broke, dis-
charge an oily or bloody ichor, and turn into
very foul ulcers, that yield a great and offen-
sive discharge.  I have seen them constantly
continue to  drip  from all parts of the body
on the floor of  the  stall in which the horse
has stood, like the  dripping of meat that was
roasting before  a fire : in this case  the  cure
is difficult—but in  which I have performed
perfect cure.  But at times this kind of farcy
will turn to seated glanders ; when this  is 
64           Carver's Farrier.
the case, the horse  should be dispatched as
quick as possible,  for fear of the contagion
spreading :  besides, no other horse should
be permitted to stand in the same stable with
a horse in this situation.
  I now proceed to describe  what is called
the water farcy: it is a species of one and the
same distemper, but makes its appearance in
a different way or form.   I believe  this dis-
order to be what is  generally  called  the yel-
low water, by  farmers and others in the in-
terior parts  of the  country;  and by which
they loose a great number of horses, for want
of knowing a remedy to perform a cure.—
The water farcy begins generally with large
swellings in  different parts of the body ; such
as the  cheeks, neck,  and hind  legs, and at
times the fore legs also—with two large swel-
lings that run along both sides of the  belly,
from the flank to the fore legs, which swellings
are  generally as  large as a man's  arm, and
are  full of yellow water: the sheath is also
greatly  swelled—and at times there  will be  a
running at  the  nostrils—These symptoms
will be attended with a high fever and a cos-
tiveness.
  Both kinds  of this distemper being of an
inflammatory nature, and particularly affect- 
Carver's Farrier.
65
 ing the blood vessels, must of course require
 large  bleeding; and more so, if the  horse
* should be fat and full of blood—this  I have
 always found to check the farcy: but  if the
 horse  is  low in flesh, the  loss of  too  much
 blood  proves  injurious.   Care  should be
 taken  to examine his yard and sheath imme-
 diately ;  and that a  passage  be obtained as
 quick as  possible, both by dung and urine ;
 and one or more rowels are always necessary.
 Give one-of the purging balls, as recommend-
 ed in chapter the second ;  and likewise give,
 in a day or two, the diuretick balls, as recom-
 mended  in chapter  the  third.  Should  the
 distemper prove obstinate, and be  found not
 to give way to these means,  give a drachm
 of corrosive sublimate, night and morning,
 two or three times,  in a ball  made of wheat
 flour and honey; observing, at the same time,
 to give the horse, now and then, an ounce of
 nitre—that is, refined saltpetre, in his messes*
 I have many times observed the good effect
 by giving the corrosive sublimate, as it would
 alter the colour of the matter that discharged
 from the rowels, in twelve hours, from a yel-
 low hue to that as black as  a coal; and by
 these  means, and proper exercise in open air,
 I always  effected a cure.   But it should be
                    f 2 
66           Carver's Farrier.

observed not to give the sublimate too often,
as it will salivate the horse, or cause his mouth
to be  sore.  After the cure  is peformed, it
would be  well to  give a  purging ball, and
take a small quantity of blood, in  order to
prevent a return of the distemper. 
CHAPTER XI.
        Of the Yellows, or Jaundice.

  Horses  are frequently  subject to  this
disorder;  which  is  easily discovered  by
a  dusky  yellowness  of the  eyes—the in-
side of the  mouth  and lips—the tongue,
and  the  bars  of the roof of  the  mouth
also  look yellow ;  the horse is dull and fee-
ble, and  refuses food, the  fever is  slow—
but both the yellowness and fever will  in-
crease, provided no remedy  be applied to
check it.  The dung is generally hard and
dry, of a pale colour : his urine  is of a dark
dirty brown colour : and when it has stood
some time  on a pavement,  or the floor of
the stall in  which he stands,  looks red like
blood—He stales with difficulty  ; and if the
disorder is  not quickly checked, the  horse
will grow frantic : but if proper means are
taken, there is but little doubt of a cure. The
following directions should be  observed  :
First  bleed plentifully; and, as  horses are
apt to be costive with this disorder, the next 
 68   ;        Carver's Farrier.

morning give  a purging ball,  as before re-
commended ; but add to it two drachms of
saffron ; his feed should be messes—and he
should have gentle exercise  in  open air.
The following balls, which are opening, may
be given in a few days after the physick has
done working :
   Take of Dethop's mineral, half an ounce ;
millepedes, half an ounce ; and Castile  soap,
one ounce.  Give one of  these balls every
day, for four or five days  ;  and, should the
horse be full of flesh, it will be proper to put
in a rowel. 
CHAPTER XII.
          Of the Colick or  Gripes.

  This disorder has, perhaps, perplexed the
farrier or practitioner more than  many other
complaints ; as the internal parts, or bowels
of the horse,  cannot be  seen,  and he  has
not, like Balam's ass, been endowed with the
faculty of speech ; and I presume never will,
as nature's laws are like  their great Author,
immutable.  The best authors have described
the gripes into three different  species—the
flatulent or windy—the bilious or inflamma-
tory—and  the  dry  gripes ;  each of  which
must  be known by their different symptoms
The flatulent or windy cholic is thus known:
The horse  is often lying down, and suddenly
rising again with a  spring, and strikes his
belly  with  his hind feet:  stamps with his
fore feet :  refuses food ; stretches out his
limbs, as if dying;  his  ears and feet are  al-
ternately hot and cold ;  he falls into profuse
sweats,  and then into cold damps : and often
tries to  stale,  but  cannot.  This proceeds 
70
Carver's Farrier.
from a stoppage of  urine, by a load of  dung
pressing on the neck of  the bladder, which
should  be removed, with a hand dipt in oil,
which will make way for the confined  wind
to discharge itself, by easing the  neck of the
bladder.  The following ball should be given
as quick as possible.
   Take Venice turpentine, and juniper ber-
ries pounded, of each one ounce ; nitre, one
ounce ; oil of juniper, one drachm ; salt of
tartar, two drachms : make into a  ball, with
honey or molasses :  wash down with a horn
or two of warm gruel.
   I have given the following drink, and have
found it effectual :
   Take one  ounce  of nitre  one  ounce  of
juniper berries  powdered;  one  ounce  of
anniseeds ; half a gill of spirits of turpentine
and half a gill of liquid  laudanum : mix  in
three half pints of warm ale, and sweeten
with molasses: at the same time give warm
opening clysters.   I have seen practitioners
bleed in the mouth  for this disorder, which
seems to be of little or no use—the  neck
vein being more eligible.  If,  in an hour  or
two, the horse neither stales, dungs, or breaks
wind, give  another  ball, or drink—walk  or
trot him about  gently, but not to jade him. 
Carver's Farrier.
71
  The next species of  cholic is termed the
billious, or inflammatory and is attended with
most of the preceding symptoms—But a high
fever  soon comes on, with a panting and dry-
ness of the mouth ; the horse continues  to
throw out a  little hot dung, which appears
blackish, or of a red colour, and is of a foetid
smell, this denotes an  approaching mortifica-
tion.   In this case the horse should  be im-
mediately  bled,  as much as three  or four
quarts ; and it should  be repeated in three or
four hours if the spmptoms do not  abate ;  an
emolient Clyster  should be given, with two
ounces of nitre disolved in it, two or three
times a day.  The following cooling drink
should be given every two or three hours,
till several stools are produced ; afterwards to
be only given night and morning:
   Take of senna, three ounces; salt of tartar,
half  an  ounce ;  infuse  in a quart  of boiling
water : in an hour or  two add four ounces of
glauber salts, with two ounces of honey.  If
the symptoms do not abate, the only thing to
be depended on is  a  strong  decoction  of
Jesuit's bark, given to the quantity of a pint
every three  hours, with half a pint of port
wine.
   If the horse is not of much value, give the
 following alterative ball: 
72
Carver's Farrier
  Take of diapente, one ounce ; diascordium,
half an ounce—make into a ball,  with two
drachms of myrrh, and two drachms of oil of
amber: give it two or three times a day.
  The last to be described is the dry gripes ;
which arises from costiveness ; and is to be
discovered by the horse's frequent and fruit-
less motion to  dung, and the quick motion
of his tail; the hardness and blackness of the
dung, and the high colour of his urine—and
his  great uneasiness.  In this case the strait
gut should be emptied, by a hand dipt in oil;
and an oily opening clyster, and a  purge,
should be given as  quick as possible.   The
diet should be warm messes—warm water;
and four ounces of gum Arabic  should be
dissolved in a quart of water—a little of which
should be given every time the horse drinks. 
CHAPTER XIII.
           Of Worms and Bots*

  It appears by examining the laws of na-
ture, that the whole is one  eternal round of
living principle ;  and strictly speaking there
is  no such  thing as  death throughout the
whole system, but that  a constant change
from one state of beings, to  that of another
state  of beings,  is  constantly  going on
throughout the whole eternal  round of na-
ture, as every part of animated existence is
subservient  to other parts.   The  various
tribes of animals, fishes and insects constant-
ly prey or live on each other, and we in turn
prey on  them ; in fact, whether  living or
dead, man  becomes food for  various living
beings of different kinds.  While we contin-
ue as moving machines on this  our earth, we
may be said  to be worlds for the habitation
of numerous  living beings, as all our blood
and vital parts are filled with them : let man
but study this grand work of nature in only a
small proportion, and contemplate, and med-*
                    G 
74            Carver's Farrier.

hate on it, and it will raise his heart and mind
with  thankfulness, wonder and  gratitude
and  give  him the most exalted ideas  of
his Creator.
  It would be both needless and useless  to
insert all the nostrums that have been recom-
mended to destroy worms and bots, that re-
side in the stomach of the horse ; and like-
wise to give the opinions of different authors
as to their origin, and the manner by which
they are introduced into the stomach.   It is
sufficient then to  know that there are three
kinds of  worms  found in horses;  the most
mischievous are called bots—They are of a
reddish colour,  and  seldom exceed  three
quarters of an inch in length ; at one extre-
mity they have  two small hooks, by which
they attach themselves to the maw, or the
insensible coat of the stomach, and then they
do not appear to cause any great uneasiness ;
but when  they attach themselves to the sen-
sible part, they do great injury, by  keeping
up  a constant  irritation, and occasioning
emaciation,  a  rough  standing  coat,  hide
bound, and a cough,  and often destroy the
horse.  In opening horses after they have
been dead, I have found as many bots as
would half fill the crown of a hat, and have 
Carver's Farrier.          75
known  them to  live a fortnight after  the
horse had been dead. Bots are very tenacious
of life ; on this account it is almost impossible
to drive them  from  their hold—It appears
that all strong medicines, such as mercurials,
only serve to make them stick faster ; as they
work themselves into the maw, like bees into
a honeycomb.   To  attempt, therefore, the
destruction of bots, is probably useless :  but
La Fosse,  a  French author, highly recom-
mends soot j and  powdered savine  has been
known to cause them to evacuate.  But they
appear  to be  fond of any thing sweet :  I
therefore have given to horses that have been
troubled with  them, one pint of sweet milk
and  half a pint of molasses for  three  morn-
ings running ;  and the next morning  given
a purging ball, to which  I  have added  a
drachm of calomel—and in some cases with
good effect.
  The  next  worm that I shall describe is
very slender, of a blackish colour, and  sel-
dom exceeds two inches in length; but they
are never found in the stomach—the largest
parts of the canal is the place  of their resi-
dence.
  The  third  kind of worm is of a  whitish
colour, being from  six to eight inches in
length, and are generally found  in the  lower 
76
Carver's Farrier.
parts of the  intestines :  both of these kind
pf worms are common to  horses in this coun-
try.   They appear to consume a great quan-
tity of chyle, or the nutritious part of the food
that the horse eats, so that he is always poor
and  lean, and at times  hide bound.   But
they are easy to get rid of, by giving two or
three purging balls, with a drachm of calomel
in each  ball ; always observing to wait eight
or ten days, between giving each dose.  Any
observer may be satisfied Of worms in the
intestines, by raising the  horses tail,  and he
will  discover a  whitish  or  straw coloured
powder, sticking below the anus or funda-
ment. 
CHAPTER XIV.
          Of Wounds in general.

  All fresh wounds made by cutting instru-
ments, should, in the first place, be brought
together as much as possible, either by sewing
or bandage ; but not so as to prevent a sup-
puration,  or  a discharge  of matter.  But,
provided the wounded part will neither admit
of sewing nor binding, and the blood should
flow in a  copious manner, the first thing, in
this case,  to  be attended  to, is to stop the
blood; and this I have effected by applying
a quantity of lint, or soft flax, dipt in a tinc-
ture made in the following  manner,  (which
tincture ought to be always ready at hand,
for the practitioner)—
  Take half a pint of spirits  of  wine  ; half a
pint of brandy; and one ounce of succotorine
aloes, finely powdered; mix them together in
a bottle.  If the wound should  be in such a
part as  not to admit of  a bandage, so  as to
bind on the lint or flax, thus  dipt in the  tinc-
ture, it must be continued to be held on by
                   g 2 
78          Carver's Farrier.
 the  hand until  there is an eschar formed;
 otherwise it  will elude the expectation, and
 frequently cause alarm with fresh bleeding.
 By the application of this tincture, in the man-
 ner above described, I have never failed to
 stop the flow of blood,  occasioned by the
 worst of wounds.
   I recollect that, a few years ago, a horse
 belonging to Mr. Charles Ludlow, of  this
city, had the boom or shaft of a  cartman's
 cart  drove through his sheath,  which came
 out at the hind part,of his thigh ; the wound
was  so  large that a hand could  be passed
through it, and the blood gushed out, as from
the spout of a pump ; but by holding on the
 flax to the wound, for the space of four hours,
dipt in the tincture, an eschar  was formed.
The next morning I proceeded to inject the
wound with warm tincture of myrrh, which
quickly brought on a suppuration, or a plenti-
ful discharge of thick white matter; anointing,
at the same time, the swollen parts, with the
London ointment of marshmallows—and fre-
quently giving the horse  cordial balls of the
following description: One ounce of aniseeds,
and one ounce of carraway; one ounce of nitre,
finely powdered—mixed up with liquid lau-
danum.  By these balls the horse  was kept 
Carver's Farrier.
79
from  starving;  and every time  I gave him
water, an ounce of nitre, powdered, wasmixed
with it.—In one month the cure was complet-
ed, and scarcely a scar to be seen on the outer
part of the thigh.   I have never known the
forenamed tincture to fail in stoppingof blood,
either on man or horse, when closely applied.
  A  friend and countryman of mine,  who
resides  about  twelve miles  from N. York,
was  one day going up on a hay  stack ; and
there was a large, old fashioned hay cutter,
that fell down, by the shake ot the  ladder,
right across the instep of his foot—and so
far severed the foot, that the fore part of it
dropt down, so that it formed a square.  The
whole family was greatly alarmed—expecting
the man quickly to bleed to death.—But on
recollecting that there was some of my tinc-
ture in the house, it was immediately applied;
the foot bound up ;  and the  blood  stopped.
The  next day a man was sent to town for
more  of the tincture ; and by continuing to
apply it, and anointing the swelling with the
ointment of marshmallows, the cure was com-
pleted, without being attended with any lame-
ness.
  By the following mixture I have  likewise
stopped profuse bleeding: 
80
Carver's Farrier.
   Take one ounce of spirits of  turpentine,
 and one ounce of oil of vitriol—mix them to-
 gether in a bottle ;  leaving out the cork until
 the inflammation has subsided, or it will burst
 the bottle.  But the former  mixture is pre-
 ferable, as it will both stop the blood and cure
 the wound.
   All deep wounds should be injected with
 tincture  of  myrrh, to bring on a speedy dis-
 charge ;  and the injecter should have a long
 tube, in  order that the tincture may be ap-
 plied to  the bottom of the wound.   And no
 wound should be so closed at the mouth, or
 front, as to prevent a free discharge.
   Some  time  past I was called on by a gen-
 tleman, to attend a horse a few miles in the
 country, that had had  a shaft of a chair run
 into one of  his shoulders.   An  ignorant
 blacksmith, of  this city, had previously at-
 tended  the horse, and filled  up the wound
 with salt; and so closed the wound, that no
 suppuration could  take place.   I directly
 found, that both an inflammation and mortifi-   |
 cation  had  taken  place, in consequence of
 this treatment: I therefore pronounced that
the horse would die in  twelve hours, and he
did so. 
Carver's Farrier.           81
           Of Wounds in thejeet.

   Wounds in the feet arise from  different
causes : such as cuts by hard substances—as
glass, stones, and pricks from nails, by shoe-
ing, or by taking up hails by travelling; and
when a nail is taken up, at, or near the point
of the frog, it is oftentimes attended with dif-
ficulty to cure, as it often penetrates the joint
of the coffin bone.   As soon as it is discover-
ed that a nail has thus entered the foot, the
first thing to be  done is to remove the nail;
afterwards the top of the hole should be en-
larged,  by a knife or razing iron, so as to
admit of medicine going to the bottom of the
wound.  But the ridiculous custom,  as prac-
tised  by smiths in general, should never be
adopted ; which is to pour into the hole spirits
of  turpentine—oil  of vitriol—or  burn the
wound with a hot iron, as either of these will
harden the top of the wound, by forming a
hard crust, which will prevent a suppuration,
and bring  an inflammation  into  the foot.
After  the wound is thus opened, the hollow
in the bottom of  the  foot should be  stopped
up, with equal  parts of Venice turpentine, 
82
Carver's Farrier.
 tar, and hog's lard; the stopping being con-
 fined in with  splints  put across the  foot,
 under the shoe ; and  the horse should be
 suffered to stand still for twelve hours, at least.
 After this the foot should be examined again,
 to  see  whether an inflammation has taken
 place or not; if an inflammation should have
 taken place, and the wound be found not to
 discharge or suppurate, there should be some
 tincture  of  myrrh poured hot into the hole,
 and the foot stopped as before.  But after all
. this precaution has been taken, if there should
 still remain a violent heat in the foot, and
 the  horse appears to be in great pain, the
 sole of the foot should be pared away, round
 the wound, with a butteris, and the hole more
 opened ; but not entirely to take off the sole,
 which is both a cruel and barbarous practice,
 and mostly causes the hoof to come entirely
 off.  After the wound is thus opened,  as be-
 fore described,  there should  be a little tinc-
 ture of myrrh poured boiling hot into it, and
 a small piece of corosive sublimate pushed
 down to the bottom  of  the  wound,  w ith a
 probe made of whale bone—as  that will not
 break, so as to  leave any part of it in the foot.
 After this has  been done, the foot should be
 stopped with the aforenamed  ointment; and 
Carver's Farrier.         83
a small portion of verdigris added to the oint-
ment—The foot likewise should be tied up
in a bag, filled with  fresh cow dung—The
horse should also  be physicked and bled;
and  have nitre given,  in both his feed  and
water.   By following up these observations,
I never failed to  perform a cure, even in  the
worst of  cases.   After  the wound has been
properly cleansed out, and the danger subsid-
ed, the foot should be continued to be dres-
sed, but with a more mild ointment—such
as marshmallows ;  or an ointment made of
beeswax and hog's  lard, and a small portion
of Venice turpentine.  And when the  horse
has so far recovered, as to be able to work,
there should be a bar  welded on the shoe,
about two inches wide, to come opposite  the
wound in the foot,  in order that no hard sub-
stance shall press on the  tender part; and
this is far preferable to a plate placed all over
the shoe—as the  foot can  be washed, or
cleaned out and  dressed, without removing
the shoe. 
i 
CHAPTER XV-
           Of the Locked Jaw.

  This is a disorder, that has hitherto baffled
the art of the physician,  and also the power
of medicine to cure, either on man or beast :
although it must be acknowledged, that there
have been instances of cures being performed
—but  perhaps,  more  by chance  than any
other cause.  In the course of my practice,
I have had a great number of horses  under
my care, that  have had, what  is  generally
called  the  stag evil, or  lock jaw—but per-
formed a cure on two only : and I believe,
that nineteen out of twenty, that are  seized
with this complaint, die.  I recollect to have
kept a very fine horse alive fourteen  days
with this disorder on him, merely by  giving
him clysters, and pouring cordial drinks down
his  nostrils ; but he died, after all the pains
that had been taken.  As for my part, I have
consulted a great many authors on the sub-
ject, and tried a variety of inventions of my
                   H 
86
Carver's Farrier.
own—being determined, if possible, tcr find
out a perfect cure : I have bled, till the horse
has almost dropt by the loss of blood ; and
have thrown them into the most profuse per-
spiration ; plunged  them in the river : and
even electrified them—but to no good effect.
By the last two operations, the jaw appeared
for a  short time to  drop—but immediately
closed as fast as ever.   The celebrated Mr.
Gibson, has in my  opinion, given the best
and most lively description of the lock-jaw
of any author that has written on the  subject,
which I quote in his own words—who says,
"As soon as the horse is seized, his head is
raised, with his nose towards the rack ; his
ears pricked up, and his tail cocked, looking
with eagerness, as  an hungry horse, when
hay is put down to him—or like a high spi-
rited horse when he is put upon his mettle ;
insomuch,  that  those who are strangers to
such things, when they see a horse stand in
this manner, will scarce believe any thing of
consequence ails him, but they are soon con-
vinced, when they see other symptoms come
on apace ; and  that his neck grows  stiff,
cramped and almost immoveable : and if a
horse lives a few days,  several  knots will
arise on the tendinous parts thereof: and all 
Carver's Farrier.
87
 the muscles, both before and behind, will.be
 so much pulled and cramped, and so stretch-
 that he looks as if he was nailed to the pave-
 ment, with his legs stiff and straddling ; his
 skin  is drawn so tight, on all parts of his
 body, that it is-almost impossible to move it;
 and, if trial  be made to make him walk, he is
 ready to fall at every step, unless he be care-
 fully  supported:  his eyes are  so fixed  with ^
 the inaction of his muscles, as gives  him a
 deadness in  his looks ; he snorts and sneezes
 often; pants continually, with shortness  of
 breath; and this  symptom  increases  conti-
 nually, till he drops down dead, which gene-
 rally  happens in  a few days,  unless some
 sudden, and very  effectual turn can be given
 to the distemper."  This  I know to be as
 correct a description as can be given.  But
 I have wondered to see almost all the authors
 that I have  read on the subject, and they are
 not a few, recommend giving to horses, in
 this situation, balls of  various prescriptions.
 I would ask those gentlemen, how a single
 ball  is to be given, when not so much as a
 shilling piece can  be put between his  teeth ;
and his jaw  cannot be  pried open, even with
 an iron bar.
  In the  cases wherein I have succeeded, 
88         Carver's Farrier.
the following remedies were  applied—First
to bleed plentifully, and anoint the jaws and
head with  ointment of marshmallows—and
holding a large hot iron bar to the neck and
jaws, to force in the ointment ; afterwards I
have rubbed in strong blistering ointment—
from the withers, to the tail; and also applied
a blister plaster, begining at the withers, and
continuing the whole length of the spine, to
the tail ; and  instead of attempting to  give
a  ball, I  have poured  the  following drink
down the nostrils : composed of—
   Half an ounce of assafcetida; Russia castor
three drachms ; valerian root, powdered, one
ounce  ; oil of  amber, one ounce—put into a
pint of warm  ale, sweetened  with honey.
Two or three of these drinks should be given
in a day, with  warm gruel:  but it requires
the assistance of two or three men to give it.
   The following  clyster should  be given
once a day :
  Take rue, pennyroyal, and chamomile flow-
ers, of each, a handful ;  and  asafoetida, one
ounce—boil in three quarts of water, to two—.
strain  off, and  add half a pint of neat's foot
oil—The  horse must likewise be supported
by nourishing clysters, made of milk pottage
which  must be given to the quantity of three
or four  quarts  a  day.    These  medicines 
             Carver's Farrier.           89

being given, will warm, invigorate, and at-
tenuate the blood :  and by using these means
I have succeeded, in a few cases, in perform-
ing a  cure.
x2 
 
CHAPTER  XVI.
         Of Strains in various parts.

   It is to be observed that in all strains, the
^muscular or tendinous fibres are over stretch-
ed ; like a piece of catgut that  is overdrawn,
so as to destroy its springiness or elasticity;
therefore it is easy to see, that  by soaking or
bathing the affected part in oil, must of course
be erroneous, as this will serve more to ex-
tend the fibres, that are already over stretch-
ed.  But I have  seen  instances  where the
muscle or fibre has been shrunk, occasioned
by a stroke or a kick on the leg of the horse,
which has caused him to stand altogether on
the toe of the foot, for a length of time, until
the muscle or fibre  has so much shrunk up,
that the heel of the foot could not be brought
to the ground.  In cases of this kind, I have
continued to soak the affected part with neat's
foot oil, and rolled up the leg- in a flannel
roller, until the  fibre has been relaxed, and
the horse has been  perfectly cured.  But  it
is a  difficult task  to convince the illiterate 
92
Carver's Farrier.
 and unthinking, of the absurdity of applying
 restringents :  or to persuade  those  that are
 owners  of valuable horses, not to let them
 be tampered with, by  those who have never
 thought or studied for their own benefit, and
 much less for the horse; for common observa-
 tion proves, that two thirds of the human race
 think but very little—neither can they think.
 When it is clearly proved that a horse is lame
 in the shoulder, he should be rowelled a little
 below the point of the  shoulder, and likewise
 be  bled and  physicked.—When  a horse's
 shoulder is overstrained, he does not put out
 that leg  as the  other, but, to prevent pain,
 sets the sound foot, firmly on the ground, to
 save the other,  even  though  he be  turned
 short on the lame side,  which motion tries
 him more than any other.  When trotted in
 hand, instead of putting his leg forward in a
 right line, he forms a circle with the lame
 leg; and, when he stands in the stable, that
 leg is put forward before the other.   If the
 shoulder is much swelled, it should be fo-
 mented,. by woolen cloths dipt  in a strong
 decoction of wormwood, tansy, and chamo-
mile flowers—to which may be added, half
a pint of spirits of wine.
  Strains of the back sinews are very com" 
Carver's Farrier.           93
mon, and are easy to  be discovered by the
swelling,  which extends, at times,  from the
back side of the knee, down to, the pastern
joint.  These strains likewise, in the first in-
stance, should be fomented—and afterwards
treated in the following manner, and the oils
here prescribed applied ;
  Take of the best vinegar, one quart; spirits
of turpentine, half a gill; bole ammoniac, one
ounce ; common salt, a teacup full—mix in a
bottle—shake up—and rub in well with the
hand; place  a  flannel  roller round the leg,
and  draw it moderately  tight:  the roller
should be about two yards long, and four or
five inches wide.
  Or take the following receipt.for strain oil,
which can be recommended, and will recom-
mend itself.
  Take of spirits of wine, two ounces ;  cam-
phire, half an ounce ; linseed oil, half a pint;
vinegar, one  pint.
  When a horse is lame in the stifle, he al-
ways treads on the toe, and cannot set the
heel to the ground ; if a large swelling ensues,
foment it well with the aforenamed decoction,
till it disperses, and then bathe the part  with
either of the above medicines.
  A lameness  in the  whirlbone and hip, is 
94
Carver's Farrier.
to be discovered by the horse dragging his
leg after him, and dropping backward on his
heel when he  trots.  If the muscles of the
hip, only, are injured, the cure is easy; but
but when the ligaments of the joint are af-
fected, the  cure is difficult.  In either case,
at first the parts should be bathed or foment-
ed : should neither of these succeed, a strong
blister should  be applied  over the  hip or
whirlbone,  and the  horse be  turned out to
pasture,  at least for three months, as rest
and time only can restore the  injured parts
to their proper  tone; and this must be ob-
served in all kind of strains.  The following
blister should be applied:
   Take of marshmallow ointment, four oun-
ces ; Venice turpentine, two ounces ; tar, two
ounces; mustard, two ounces ; Spanish flies,
powdered,  two drachms ;  oil of origanum, *.«
two drachms.   The  blister may be kept on, *
by applying pitch, or any thing of a sticking
nature, round the edge of the plaster. 
CHAPTER XVII.
        Of Bone and Blood Spavin.

  It would be altogether needless to entei
into the cause of this disorder.  Let it suf-
fice then, that I describe both the bone and
blood spavin  : and the method that I have
pursued, whereby cures have been effected
  That which is generally termed a bone spa-
vin,  is a hard  bony excrescence,  or hard
swelling, growing on the inside of the hock
of the horse's hind leg.  A spavin that begins
on the lower part of  the hock, is not so dan-
gerous or difficult to cure, as when it puts out
higher—between  the two round processes
of the leg bone : And a spavin near the edge
is not so hard to cure as when it is more in-
ward, towards the middle, as it does  not so
much affect the bending of  the hock joint
For my own part, I am convinced that it  is
impossible to cure the bone spavin, if it has
been of long  standing.   Some years past, a
gentleman that owned a valuable horse, that 
96          Carver's Farrier.
had got the  bone spavin, persuaded me to
attempt to take it off:  I therefore fixed the
horse in stocks, and  laid open the part; and
by the use of knives and  chissels,  took off
all the hard  substance from  the bone  ; and
afterwards applied caustic, and powerful di-
gestive ointment.   The wound at length was
cured, and the horse turned out to pasture for
some months; but after all that had  been
done, the  horse  continued lame—owing, I
presume,  to a defect in the  joint.   I  have
many times since been  applied to, for to cure
the bone  spavin,  but declined the attempt.  }
But  on hearing of a Mr. Clements, a farrier
in this city, who,  it is said, is in possession
of a  diploma from the Veterinary  College
of London, and that he couW cure the bone
spavin, I advised those who applied to me,  \
to take their horses to  him : although J con-
fess, that I did not place any more confidence  \
in the talents of Mr. Clements, on account of
his diploma, or his  knowledge  of the dead  ;
languages—as neither of these can  give ex-  ,
perience.   During the course.of my life, I
have conversed with many college-bred gen-
tlemen, who  in my  opinion,  were  colleg'd
idiots—as the schools  had taught them sci-
ence, and the Greek and Latin, before they 
Carver's Farrier.          97
had  taught them  common  sense.  But my
opinion was, that as nature has diversified her
gifts, that  Mr. Clements might have  disco-
vered something new, that might perform a
cure ;  but, by  seeing several of the  horses
after he had operated on them, I found  that
he had exactly pursued the former methods
that  myself and old practitioners have pru-
sued for a  number of years  past, and that
the horses  still  remained  lame.   If I myself
am in possession of any diploma, it is a grant
from the college of nature, and the creden-
tials  are,  experience,  reason, and common
sense.   But to  return to the spavin—as soon
as it is discovered that there is a swelling on
the horse's  hock, and the  appearance  of a
bone spavin is  coming on, it should be  im-
mediately fired, and  a strong blister applied
to the part, which should be repeated two or
three times, leaving a space  of two or three
days between  each  application—And  the
horse must be  permitted to  rest, or, if  it is
convenient, he  should be  turned out to  pas-
ture  for two or three months—and this  will
perform  a  cure.   Every time the  blisters
are taken  off,  the part should  be anointed
with elder  or marshmallow ointment.
   A blood spavin, is a  swelling and diluta-
                     I 
98
Carver's Farrier.
tion of the vain that runs along the inside of
the hock of the hind leg, which will rise
and fall like a cushion, by the presure of the
finger.  But this is easily cured, by repeated
blisters, and resting the horse.   The blister-
ing ointment that I have applied for the pur-
pose, is the following:
  Take  of marshmallow ointment,  three
ounces ;  Venice  turpenrine,  two ounces;
Spanish flies, a drachm and a half; sublimate
one drachm ;  and oil  of origanum, two
drachms.
  The hair  should be cut off as close as pos-
before the blister is applied—this should be
done in the morning,  and the horse's head
tied up to the rack all day, so as to prevent
his getting off the blister.   Care must be
taken to  bind the blister  fast on,  with  a
broad tape or list.  After the blister has done
running, and the  scabs  peal off, it should be ^
repeated a second time ;  and  if required, a
third, time, in  the same manner.   These ap-
plications will, generally, perform a cure. 
CHAPTER XVIII.
        Of the Pole EvU and Fistula.

  It is my intention to treat of these two dis-
eases under one head, or chapter, as they ap-
pear to  be of a similar nature, and  require
almost the same  treatment.  The pole evil
is an abscess near the pole of the horse, form-
ed in the senuses, between the pole bone and
the uppermost vertebras, or what is common-
ly called  the whiteleather of  the neck.   It
often proceeds from blows, bruises, or some
external violence.  It should,  in the first
place, be attempted to be dispersed, by bath-
ing the part with hot vinegar or train oil:
but if an oozing, or matter of a hot, ichory
kind, should make its way through the skin,
the best way is to poultice, with any  kind of
a strong drawing poultice.  But should the
swelling have  been of long standing, and  it
has become a foul ulcer, and the matter flows
in great quantities, resembling melted glue,
and is of an oily consistence, it will then re-
quire to be opened wite a knife ;  and the 
 100         Carver's Farrier.

 depth  of the cavities should be discovered,
 by the finger or a probe—and should  there
 be found a quantity  of mortified or rotten
 flesh, it should be taken Out:  and this I have
 often found, when the swelling has been neg-
 lected for a length of time.  Care should be
 taken not to cut away or injure the tendinous
 ligament, that runs along the neck under the
 mane.   When  the  matter is on both sides,
 an opening must be made on each side, and
 the ligament, remain undivided.   This being
 done, and the  horse  fixed fast in a pair of
 stocks, the following scald or mixture should
 be applied, boiling hot, to the cavities, after
 they have been well washed out with a sponge
 dipt in vinegar:
   Take of train oil, half a pint; honey, two
 ounces ; spirits  of wine, four ounces; sub-
limate and white vitriol, of each, two drachms;
verdigris, half an  ounce ;  oil of turpentine,
two ounces ; mix together in a bottle—then
put a sufficient  quantity into  a ladle  with a
spout.   Care must be taken that it does not
take fire,  while making it hot.   It  will be
well to close the  wound with one  or two
stitches, after the scald has been poured into
the abscess.
   This should-remain untouched for several 
Carver's Farrier.          101
days, and, if a good matter appears, it will do
well without any farther dressing; but if the
matter flows in abundance, and of a thin con-
sistence, the scalding must be repeated, until
the matter lessens and thickens, and the cure
is performed.   I have several times succeed-
ed with only scalding once.

                 A Fistula

Is a sore disease—a hollow, winding ulcer,
and frequently arises on the withers of a horse;
and is occasioned by bruises, or pinches of
the saddle ; and in the  first place should be
treated with repellers.   The ,tumour should
be bathed three or four times a day with hot
vinegar ; or an ounce of the oil of vitriol may
be put to a quart of vinegar.  But when these
swellings are critical, the repelling medicine
must be avoided ; and  assist in bringing the
swelling to matter, by means of suppurating
poultices.  The tumours should  never be
opened  before they are ripe—if  they  are,
the sore will be;spungy,anddischarge a bloody
ichor.  But if the  fiistula has been  of long
standing, and  appears to  be a foul ulcer, it
must then be  opened : and  if both sides of
the  wither or swelled, of course they must
                    i  2 
102         Carver's Farrier.
both be opened.  Care should be taken to
enlarge the openings, by paring away the lips
downwards, so that the dressings may be ap-
plied easily : and care must be taken to avoid
the ligament which runs along the neck, to
the shoulders or withers: the openings should
decline downwards, so that the medicines are
sure to go to the bottom  of the ulcer.  The
following scalding mixture should be applied:
   Take of mutton suet, one pound; tar and
train oil, of each,  half a pint; white  vitriol
and corrosive sublimate,  of each,  one ounce.
The tar  and suet should be melted over a
slow fire; and the sublimate and vitriol should
be finely powdered, and stirred into the ladle,
with the tar and suet, after it is taken off the
fire.
   The dressing should remain untouched for
 ten days ; and should the running be stopped,
 it should only be bathed with train oil; but
 should the  discharge continue, the scalding
 must  be repeated. 
CHAPTER XIX.
                  On Shoeing.

     The shoeing of a horse is an operation of
   far greater importance than is generally ima-
   gined : as the expectations of the owners of
   fine horses are often blasted,  owing to the
   badness of their feet ; which  is frequently
   occasioned by being  sadly  shod.  This me-
   chanical art being solely committed to smiths
   who,  generally speaking,  are altogether un-
   acquainted with the  anitomical structure of
*  the  foot  of  the  horse, and  consequently
   cannot judge correctly the manner in which
   the shoe  ought to be placed on the foot, in
   order  to cause the  horse to travel sound.
   I am  well aware, that what I  shall here ad-
   vance will meet  with opposition, from the
   ignorant and  prejudiced shoers of horses  ;
   and it is a notorious  fact,  that three fourths
   of them  are as ionorant of the nature and
   structure of the foot, as the horse is of them.
   But I shall appeal to the understanding and 
104          Carver's Farrier.
judgment of the experienced  few,  both in
this city and elsewhere, for the justness of
the statement that I have given ; and I mean
to be  as plain and explicit as possible ; as it
must  be considered, that the preservation of
the foot of the horse is  a most essential
point: and that the owners of them should
be  aware, "into whose  hands they commit
them  to be shod.  A most  perncious custom
is practised in  this city, by many pretended
shoers, which is to make presents to gentle-
men's coachmen, grooms,  or  negroes, in
order  to obtain horses to shoe :  and some of
them  have gone so far, as to pay them  two
shillings per horse, for every horse that they
brought to  their  shops.   And during  the
time that I continued shoeing horses, I have
had coachmen come  to me, and inform me
that they were going to drive  for such and
such  gentlemen, and  asked what I would
give  them,  provided  they  continued the
horses to be  shod by me ; my reply was, that
I should give  nothing; and asked them if
the gentlemen did not pay them wages—
They  then told me, that there was no  call to
put new shoes on the horses, every time they
were  shod, but only to remove them,  and
charge them as new.  By my not complying 
Carver's Farrier.          105
with these demands, many horses were re-
moved that  I  had shod  for years.   But it
was plain to me, that gentleman had by this
custom been imposed on ; and some of them
had discovered the fraud, and told me that
they believed there were  more horses shod
for bribes and  grog, than by  experienced
workmen ; and  when they  discovered  the
fraud,.they  immediately ordered the horses
ba<!k to my shop.  I think it proper to make
these remarks or facts known, in orjJ,er that
gentlemen may not be  imposed on; and
that their horses may  not be removed by
their servants, out of the hands of experien-
ced workmen, into the  hands of those that
know but little of the important art of shoe-
ing.  I shall, in the first place, proceed  to
give an anatomical description of the foot of
the horse, as far as it is requisite to be known
by those  that undertake to shoe them.
  The external covering of the foot is cal-
led the  hoof; it is  of  a horny substance,
without   sense or  feeling, and serves as a
box or covering for the  foot,  to defend the
blood vessels, nerves, tendous, &c. from ex-
ternal injuries,  and  support the weight of
the body of the  horse.   The external parts
of the hoof may be divided into four parts : 
106
Carver's Farrier.
1st, the crust  or  wall of the hoof; 2d, the
the sole ;  3d, the frog or heels ; 4th, the
bars or binders. First, the circular part, into
which the nails are drove  when, the horse is
shod, is called the crust, or wall of the foot:
it  is a  tough, hard substance, and thick or
strong at the front or toe, but thinner towards
the heels ; and more so in the fore feet than
in the  hind ones, as it  often  happens that
the crust or wall of the hind feet, is stron^fest
or thickest at the heels. Second, The sole fills
up the inner and under part of the crust, and
is  composed  of  scaly layers, which,  when
grown too luxuriant, become dry, and fall off
in scales; but when  too much pared away
with the buttcris,  the internal parts of the
foot are exposed  to bruises, from stones and
other hard substances.  And I have known
at times, the outer sole of the foot to become
so hard, by the horse's continuing to stand
in the stable, or traveling on hot sandy roads
that it  has bound tight on the internal part
of the foot, so as  to cause lameness ,  but  by
stopping the foot  with tar and grease, or even
with fresh cow-dung, the sole has been relax-
ed, and in a few days the  horse has  travel-
led sound.  Third, The frog is of a soft, spon-
gy substance, shaped like  a dart, and reaches 
Carver's Farrier.           107
from the extremity of the heel, to the mid-
dle of the sole ; in the  middle of the  frog-
is  a cleft, or opening, by  which  the heels
have a small degree of contraction,  and ex-
expausion, every time the horse sets his foot
on the ground.  At times the frog is affected
by  a  disease  called the  running  thrush,
which will  frequently  destroy almost the
whole of it  : when this is the case, the heels
have lost their support, and  the horse will
go lame.  The only thing to bo done, is to
place a bar  shoe  on their foot, which will
prevent the  heels from  contracting and ex-
panding, and  guard the  decayed part from
stones, or other hard substances. After the
shoe is placed on  the foot, there should be a
little  of  the tincture,  as recommended in
chapter xiv.  poured into the affected frog,
twc or three times a pay:  at the same time
it will be well to bleed and physic the  horse
and afterwards to  give him one or two diure-
tic  balls.   The frog composes a great part
of the heel  of the horse : but the e  tremities
of the crust, on each side  of the frog, are cal-
led the heels, and are distinguished  by the
names of outside and inside.   4th, What are
called the bars, or bindery of the foot, are
hard  pieces of the hoof, growing on each" 
108          Carver's Farrier.
 side of the frog, which serve in a measure
 to extend  and guard the heels :  and these
 like the frog, should never  be too much cut
 away—as nature has placed them as a cover-
 ing, to defend the internal parts, and bones
 of the foot.
   The bones of the foot are distinguished by
 the  following names:  the coffin bone—the
 shuttle bone—aud the coronary bone : these
 bones are all in contact with each other, and
 require the frog and the binders to be strong,
 to prevent them from being injured by hard
 substances.  It  is requisite that  all shoeing
 smiths should be acquainted with the exter-
 nal and internal parts of a horse's foot: if this
 was the case,  they would not cut down the
 heels, or pare away the sole and frog, as they
 generally do.  I would recommend to them
 the plan that I set for my apprentice boys—
 which was, to cut off the foot of a dead horse,
 and  fix it in a vice, and continue to pare it
 away by shavings, with a butteris, until the
 whole structure of the foot is discovered.   By
 this plan, and giving proper directions as to
 paring the foot and fitting the shoe, the young
 men have become accomplished workmen.
  I shall now proceed to describe, as clear as
language can convey my ideas, the form of a 
             Carver's Farrier.          109

shoe, and the manner in which it should be
fitted, before it is nailed on the foot.   A shoe
then, for the fore foot of a horse, should be
made thinner on the inside rim, than on the
outside, in order to clear the sole of the foot,
and  to  let the bearing rest entirely on the
crust, or wall of the foot.  By the shoe being
made in this form, it will not require to be
set so concave, or hollow, as if the shoe was
made in all  places of a thickness ;  besides,
the surface of the shoe will be nearly fiat, so
that  when the foot comes to the ground, it
will be more even and stedfast.  But to des-
cribe the weight of a shoe, is  impossible—it
must be left to the judgment of the shoer;
but  it must be so  proportioned, as to com-
pletely bear the weight of the horse, without
yielding or  spreading out: and it should be
observed, not to let the web of  the  shoe be
too narrow at the heels, which is an error that
almost all the smiths in this country are guil-
ty of, as  many of their shoes are not more
than  half an inch wide  at each point of the
heel, whereas they should be never  less than
one  inch, and more for large horses, as it is
the heels that want covering or guarding, and
not the toe  of the foot;  for it is almost im-
possible to make the horse go  lame at the toe,
                     K 
110         Carver's Farrier.
without driving a nail into the quick—but at
times it is attended with difficulty, to make
the horse go sound at the  heels of the  fore
feet: the heels of the shoe should neither be
too long or too short—if they extend too far
beyond the heels, they act as a lever ; and if
too short, they sink into the heels,  and  pro-
duce corns.   Many horses' feet may de said
to resemble  a wedge, that is, their heels are
low or thin, whilst the toe is deep or thick;
there being  a far greater distance from the
corinet, or setting on of the foot, to the point
or front of the bottom of the  toe, than there
is from the  coronet, or bottom of the heel;
and when the foot is thus formed, the horse
is said to be low heeled.—When this is the
case,  great care should be taken not to  pare
away the frogs, binders or heels; but  pare
down  the toe, and shorten it as much  as it
will admit of—leaving a sufficient quantity of
the crust, or wall, to contain the nails : but
the nails should never be placed too far back
towards the heels of the  shoe.  From the first
or second heel nail holes, or what is called
(of the shoe) the quarters, it should be strong
and wide, as it is  the heels which want pro-
tecting or guarding, and  not the toe of the
oot: and  the heels of the shoe  should be 
Carver's Farrier.          Ill
placed over the edge of the anvil, and set off
with  the  hammer,  about an inch from the
point of the heels, in order that they may not
rest on the point  of the heels of the foot; so
that  when  the shoe is nailed on, there  may
be a  space between the heels of the feet, and
the shoes,  nearly sufficient to contain the
thickness of a dollar—and some feet will re-
quire more, as, by the horse's travelling, the
heels of shoes will naturally  sink down to
the heels of the feet.   By following this plan
I could always make the horse travel sound ;
and in a few months the heels would expand
and grow  up—and the weight of the horse
would be taken off the heels, and thrown on
the toes ;  or,  what is called the centre of
gravity, would fall on a point that can receive
no injury; and care  should be taken to let
the heels of the shoe stand full, and not curv-
ed in, as  it is too often done.  It  is a mis-
taken idea of many smiths, who suppose that
a horse will  cut at the heels, provided the
heels of his shoe  extend beyond the crust of
the foot: but a horse, to cut at the  heels,
must have his feet in the position that a lady
has  her's, whilst  her feet are placed in the
stocks in a dancing  school, with her  toes
turned outwards;  but not  one horse in a hun-
dred travels in this form.  When a horse cuts 
112        Carver's Farrier.

with his heels, he strikes his legs a little be-
low the knee joint, and is said to trot high
—and this is called a speedy cut: but almost
all horses that interfere, or  cut, strike their
legs about the pastern joint—and then they
strike with what is  generally called the quar-
ter, or side of the foot; in this case, the inside
of the shoe should  be brought strait, and fit-
ted a little  within  the  crust, or wall of the
foot: and at times, the nails should  be left
out at the quarters, and be placed round the
toes : and some  horses  require the inside of
the shoe to be raised higher than the outside,
with what is called a feather edged shoe.
But it is impossible to prevent  some horses
from cutting—nature having formed them
narrow  in the chest, and at the  buttocks ;
and at times they get weary, and are notable
to carry their feet in a strait  line—Many
smiths commit an  error, by  making what is
called the inside quarter of the shoe, weaker
than the outside, whereas it should be strong-
er;  as the inside of the foot and heel are    \
generally the weakest, and consequently re-
quire more support and cover.   And a shoe
should never be fullered too fine, or near the
outside edge or rim, as this will have a ten-
dency to leave the  wall, or  crust of the foot
thin.  Likewise, the foot should  never be 
Carver's Farrier.          113
rasped above the clinches, as nature has form-
ed the outside crust tough and hard, and the
inside of the  hoof soft  and flexible,  the
rasping away  the outside crust of the hoof,
may be compared to cutting aw ay the outside
bark of a tree : and there are but very few
people but know that the inner bark is soft
and tender.
  As to shoeing the hind  feet,  it is not, in
general, attended with so much difficulty as
shoeing the fore ones; but should the horse
inrerfere or cut, the same precaution must
be taken, as I have recommended for the
fore  feet.  Care should be taken  that the
clinches of the nails are well let  into the
hoof, and more particularly on the inside of
the  hoof; for should the clinches  raise, or
project out beyond the hoof, it will cause the
horse to cut.
  There is one omission that I have observ-
ed in almost iM the shoeing smiths in this
country,, which is,  that they do not what is
practised in England,  that  is to redraw the
clinches of the nails, which is  to place the
pinchers  under the nails  the second time,
End  drive them up tight with the hammer,
and  rivet them down again: by this method
the  clinches will  never raise, but continue-
                   2 k 
114         Carver's Farrier.
close in the hoof, so that the horse will not
cut his legs with the clinches.   But if this
practice is not pursued, by the horse's stamp-
ing or setting  his foot on the  ground, the
nails will be drove farther into the holes of
the shoe, and the clinches will of course raise.
I appeal to the understanding of the  expe-
rienced few, shoeing smiths, for the justness
of these remarks, and likewise for fitting and
placing the shoes on the feet, and more par-
ticularly on the fore ones, which require by
far the greater  skill,  as there is much more
weight borne on  the- fore feet  than on the
hind ones: as  it must be observed, that the
weight of the horse's head and neck, and
also the rider, are principally thrown on the
fore legs  or feet;  and this is  what causes
corns in the fore feet, and not in  the  hind
ones : this also  is the cause why  corns are fre-
quently found in the heels  of horses' fore
feet,  and not  in the hind  ones.—When it
is discovered that there are corns, they should
be razed off with a drawing knife, and a little
oil of vitriol poured  on them ;  or an  equal
portion of spirits of turpentine and  oil of
vitriol mixed together in a bottle, applied for
a few days : By doing this, and not letting the
heels of the shoes bear on  them,  they will
get well. 
CHAPTER XX.
               Of Founder.

  This is found to be a destructive disease,
and is generally brought on by the inatten-
tion or neglect of the owner or rider of the
horse,  by letting him cool too fast, after com-
ing off a hard journey, or violent exercise
and by letting him  stand with his feet in  a
cold damp place :  and at other times horses
have been  foundered, by letting  them eat
corn or oats, or drink  cold water, before they
had properly got cool, after they had been
at hard labour.—This disease is often sup-
posed to be an affectation of the loins or chest
and farriers have  applied medicines to this
effect; whereas the principal seat of the dis-
ease is in the feet, and has often terminated
in the death of the horse.  The feet will be
found to be violent hot, and the animal will
draw  his hind feet as close  as possible to-
wards his fore ones, which w ill cause  some
persons to suppose that he is  strained in the
loins :  but when the hind feet are most affect- 
116          Carver's Farrier.
ed the fore feet will "be placed under the bel-
ly,  as  far as possible,  in  order to bear the
weight of carcase, but this is not often the
case.   The disease generally comes on very
rapidly,  and  appears in a few hours, after
hard riding and permiting the horse to stand
in  the snow  ; or may take  place in conse-
quence of putting the horse into a hot stable,
the vessels of the feet not being able to bear
the sudden change, and of course will bring
on  an inflammation  ; and I have, as  above
stated, seen  it brought on, by  giving cold
water  before  the horse had got cool.
  This disease is  easily discovered,  by the
inability  of the animal to move, and by the
position  of his legs—the whole of them be-
ing affected :  The horse  will lay down and
be unable  to rise, and at times the fetlocks
will swell, and there will be a violent fever
in the feet, and the  pain will  be  intense ;
the coffin bone of the foot  will be  thrown
out of its  natural position;  the crust will
fall in; and  there will be rings  and circles
formed round the hoofs :  it sometimes hap-
that the  horny sole loses its concavity, and
becomes convex—or what is generally called
pummiced : this is  frequently the case in a
severe founder. 
Carver's  Farrier.         117
  When a horse is found to be  foundered
the shoes should be taken off immediately—
and the feet should be well pared  down at
the toe, so as to draw  blood, with  a razing
iron ; and he should likewise be bled in the
jugular vein of the neck—and his feet should
be put into  bags of fresh cow dung, or any
cooling poultice—and the following medi-
cines should be  given twice a day :
   Take of cream of tartar and nitre, of each
one ounce ; tartarised antimony, one drachm ;
make into a ball, with  wheat flower and mo-
lasses.  If costive,  give a purging  ball and
clyster. 
 
CHAPTER XXI.
                OfSplents.

  These are hard substances that grow on
the shank bone, and are of different  shapes
and sizes : young horses are  more subject
to them than  old ones—in  young  horses
they often disappear and wear  off; very few
horses put out splents after they are seven or
eight years old.  A splent that arises in the
middle of the shank bone, is not so danger-
ous as those which arise on  the back part
of this bone :  when they grow large, and
press  against the back sinew, they  always
cause lameness or stiffness, by rubbing against
it ; but the others, except they are situated
near the joints, seldom cause lameness.  As
to splents, I judge it best not to meddle with
them, unless they are of such a size as to
disfigure the horse, or  cause him to go lame.
When a  splent first makes its appearance,
it should be bathed with vinegar, to which
may  be  added a small piece of camphire,
and this will often put a stop to their growth, 
120          Carver's Farrier.
  A variety of remedies are prescribed for
this disorder : Some have recommended, to
rub the splent with a round stick, or a ham-
mer handle, until it is almost raw, and then
to touch it with oil of origanum  : others have
laid on a pitch plaster, with a little sublimate
but I have always  succeeded, by firing, and
blistering with the blister that is recommen-
ded in the chapter on the blood spavin : the
blister should be repeated two or three  times
observing to wait three or four days between
each application : during this time, the splent
should be  anointed with  the  ointment of
marshmallows. 
CHAPTER XXH.
         Of a Curb and Ring Bone.

   What is generally called a curb, is a hard
bony substance, situated a little  below the
back part of the  hock of the hind leg;  and
at times, when it  has been neglected,  will
cause a stiffness, and the horse will, at first
starting, go lame : and when the bone is affect-
ed, it proves that the  callous or hard sub-
stance is fixed fast to the bone of the leg.—
When this is the case, the most sure way to
perform a  cure, is to fire with a thin iron,
drawing some  straight lines, about a half an
inch apart, and then cross-bar them ;  but
this  operation  should be  performed by a
person of judgment—and the  horse should
be confined in  a pair of stocks.  After the
firing is thus judiciously performed, the blis-
ter that is  recommended in the chapter on
the spavin, should be applied, and repeated
three times, and there need be no doubt of a
cure being performed.
                    L 
122
Carver's Farrier.
                Ping Bone.

   This is a swelling that grows on the pas-
tern bone, and runs round the coronet of the
foot, and appears  like a ring, from which it
derives its name—and it generally produces
lameness ;  a cure is generally pel formed by
firing and blistering.  I once saw a cure of
a ring worm effected, by flawing off the skin
round the worm,   and  then placing a thin
piece of copper around on the top of the
worm,  bringing the skin over the copper,  \
and  binding the  copper fast to the affected
part—by this method verdegris  was  produ-  (
ced, and the worm finally eaten off: the cop-  !
per was  taken  off every  two or three days
and  wiped clean  and replaced again.  But  j
by whatever means the cure is  attempted
or performed, it will require that the horse
rests for six months—and he should be turn-
ed to pasture, if the  season of the year will
permit. 
CHAPTER XXIII.
              Of the Grease.

  The  grease may be considered as a dis-
order of the vessels,  as^ well as the blood.
Swellings  in the legs of horses may be ac-
counted for, from a partial stagnation of the
blood and juices  in  the  finer vessels, where
the circulation  is most languid—and when
there is a want  of  proper exercise,  and a
proper muscular compression on the vessels
to push forward  the returning blood, and
propel  the inert and half stagnated  fluids
through their  vessels :  the  blood in such
cases cannot so  easily ascend as  descend
as a greater quantity is brought by the arte-
ries, than  can  be  returned  by  the veins.
Considering the grease in this point of view
it may be looked on as a local disorder, and is
often an  attendant  of  some  distemper—
such as the farcy, yellows, or dropsy :  and
should the horse be  afflicted with either of
these disorders, they must be first cured, be-
fore the grease  can be removed ; but proper 
124          Carver's Farrier.
care should be taken to cut off the hair close
round the legs and fetlock joints, and to keep
them properly clean.
  When it is first discovered that a horse's
heels swell in the stable, and go down on his
being exercised, care should be taken to wash
them  clean, every time  he comes  in, with
Castile soap suds, chamber lye, or vinegar
and water, which,  with good rubbing, will
bring down  the  swelling;  this method  of
treatment will often remove the complaint.
But should the legs continue to swell, they
should be bathed two  or three times a day,
with good old vinegar—and a bandage  of
linen  or flannel  should be bound  round
the legs, about  the  width of three or four
fingers—and if rags dipped in the  vinegar
are placed under the bandage for a few days
they will be of great service : by this method
the bandage will support the vessels of the
legs, till they  have recovered their proper
tone.   When I have found it difficult to re-
move the swelling of  the  legs, which often
happens,  I  have had a  pair of stockings
made, of strong canvas or leather, and laced
them tight around the  legs—and washed the
legs two  or three times a day with  the  fol-
lowing wash : 
Carver's Farrier.        ' 125
   Rectified spirits of wine, four ounces—
dissolve in it  half  an ounce  of camphire
and add one quart of the best vinegar.
   This complaint is looked on  as  trifling,
but those who are  unacquainted with  the
disorder ; but I have  many times  found it
difficult to conquer ; and was I to go through
the whole of the practice that  I  have pur-
sued in its order,  it would tire the patience
of the  reader, and probably be of little use
to him.  I therefore shall conclude, by rec-
ommending the following diuretick balls, to
be givin one every morning,  for three or four
weeks  successively:
  Take of yellow rosin, four ounces :  salt of
tartar, and sal prunella, of each, two ounces;
Venice soap, half a pound  ; oil of juniper,
half an ounce—make into balls of two ounces
weight.
l 2 
 
CHAPTER XXIV.
               Of Scratches.

  The  disorder  that  is  commonly  called
scratches, and is found in the heels of horses,
has much affinity with the grease, and is often
a concomitant of the same  distemper. When
a horse  is found to have cracks or scratches
in his heels, the best method in the first place
to be pursued, is to apply poultices made of
turnips  and linseeds, with a little common
turpentine and hog's lard, to bring on a dis-
charge :  this being done,  and a suppuration
brought on for a short  time, the cracks may
then be dried up, with the wash that is re-
commended in the preceding chapter.  It is
best after this to keep the heels supple,  and
softened with  currier's dubbing, or neat's
foot oil: this will  soften, or prevent the skin
from cracking, in  the same manner that it
preserves leather.   When the sores are deep,
and prove  obstinate, use the following oint-
ment—for no  foundation  for a cure  can be
laid, until the wounds are cleansed at the
bottom  : 
128
Carver's Farrier.
  Venice turpentine, four ounces ;  quick-
silver, one ounce—incorporated well together,
by rubbing it some time ; add to it sheep's
suet, and honey, of each, two ounces.
  If the heels are anointed with mercurial
ointment, after the wounds are thoroughly
cleansed, this will often make  a final cure.
Great care should be taken to wash the legs
clean with soap  suds,  after the horse has
come in from a journey.  During this treat-
ment, the  horse  should have two or  three
diuretick balls given him in a week. 
CHAPTER XXV.
        Of Sand cracks and Quittors.

  That which is called a sand  crack,  is a
little cleft, or crack of the hoof, and gener-
ally  makes its appearance on the inside of
the fore feet of horses, and runs in a straight
line from the coronet downwards, and pene-
trates  through the horny part of the hoof.
At times it proves troublesome to cure ; but
if it passes through the ligament that unites
the hoof with the coronet, is often  found to
to breed a quittor, or false quarter,  which is
hard to cure ;  but when the crack penetrates
only through the hoof,  it should be rasped
down at the edges, and  the crack should be
drawn open with a razing iron, and  the sand
which is  collected, should all be taken out.
The operator   having proceeded  thus  far,
he should then draw a stroke across the crack
with a hot firing iron, as near as possible to
the coronet : afterwards it should be dressed
with thick pledgets  of  cotton,  spread with
wound or basilicon ointment.   The dress- 
130          Carver's Farrier.
ing should remain on two or three days : by
this time  the pain will  have  left the foot.
When the dressing is removed, a  little pre-
cipitate should be applied to the crack, and
the foot dressed with a mild ointment, such
as elder or  marshmallows.   The dressing
should  be bound on with list.  When  en-
tirely taken off, the foot should be immersed
three or four times a day in cold water, and
fresh cow dung should be applied to the bot-
tom of the foot.
   A quittor is an ulcer, formed between the
hair and hoof, and on the inside  of the quar-
ter of the foot.  It often arises from the hor-
ses striking the part affected,  with the heel
of the other foot or shoe ; or as it is generally
expressed, the horse  has corked himself;
and the gravel  will work its way into the
wound and  lodge about the coronet.  If it
is taken in time, it may  be cured with cleans-
ing, dressing and bathing the coronet with
spirits of wine, two or three times a day ;
but if it has been of longstanding, and  the
matter has formed a lodgment, and become a
foul ulcer, the firing iron, or the  knife must
be applied.   I have performed cures both by
the knife and the firing iron.  With a round
pointed iron, about a quarter of an  inch thick 
Carver's Farrier.          131
I have  burnt a hole through the swelling,
beginning towards the heel and pushing it
forward to the toe of the  foot, as far as the
swelling continued.    After  the hole had
been made, I have rolled up a quarter  of an
ounce of corrosive sublimate in a piece of
writing  paper,  and made it about as  long
as the hole, and  as large  as a goose quill,
and  afterwards applied the strong wound
ointment, composed of Venice turpentine,
rosin, verdigris, and hog's lard.  The dress-
ing must be  made  secure,  and remain on
three or four days.  When taken off, it must
be dressed again with the  wound ointment,
and if the core does not come out, the subli-
mate must be applied again.  By this method
I have brought out cores as large as my thumb
and this has made  a complete green  wound.
When this has been affected, the wound has
been dressed with the tincture recommended
in a former chapter, and the ointment  of
marshmallows.  The  horse must be thrown
down to perform  the operation.   I have
also used the knife, but prefer the firing iron
in bad cases;  but in both operations  it re-
quires time for nature to do  her part.   The
owner of the horse must not expect him to
work in less time than two months, and if 
132          Carver's Farrier.

possible he should be turned out to pasture,
or the foot treated in the stable as recommend-
ed before with cow dung and cold water. 
CHAPTER XXVI.
           Of Relax, and Scouring.
           i
   It is evident, that at times horses are sub-
 ject to different kinds of loosnesses or scour-
 ing.   I shall not therefore trouble the reader
 with a tedious description of the complaint;
 but content myself with as brief a description
 as  possible.   A  lax,  or  scouring in  horses,
 is a freqnent discharge of thin watery mu-
 cus, phlegmy, frothy, fat, black matter, by
 the fundament, and mostly with excrements ;
 but sometimes without: at times it is attend-
 ed with  gripings  of  the guts.  This  com-
 plaint at times is thought  to be brought on
 by giving the horse unwholesome food, such
 as musty hay, stale shorts,  or damaged oats.
 From whatever causes the  complaint might
 originate, the stomach requires to be strength-
 ened ,  therefore,  a cordial  drink  should be
 given as soon as possible.   Give the follow-
ing drink :
  Take of anniseed and  carraway seed, of
each one ounce; juniper berries, twoounces;
                   M 
134          Carver's Farrier.

bruise  the seeds and berries, and boil them
in three half pints  of  good ale ;  add one
ounce of liquid laudanum, one gill of brandy,
and half a pint of molasses: this drink may
be repeated every three hours, if necessary. 
           CHAPTER XXVII.

Of the disorders of the Kidneys and Bladder.

  The signs of the kidneys of a horse being
affected,  or hurt, are weakness of the back,
and loins,  with a difficulty of staleing.   He
will lose  his appetite;  his eyes will appear
dead and heavy ; the urine will be thick and
foul; and will at times appear bloody.  If an
attempt is made to put him backwards in  a
straight line, he  will be in great pain, which
can be observed as soon as he is put to trial.
Bleeding plentifully is the principal remedy
to prevent inflammation, and particularly if
a fever attends, with a  difficulty of staleing.
A rowel  should be put  into his belly, which
I have found to be of great service.  If the
horse be  of great value, a great deal of cau-
tion and  care is necessary,  in order to  pre-
serve  his  life.   Give  the  following drink,
which I am confident, by repeated trials, will
be found to be the best  ever administered.
  Take one pint best castor  oil, two  ounces
of liquid laudanum,  two  ounces of sweet 
136          Carver's Farrier.
spirits of nitre, and half a gill  of spirits of
turpentine.
        A stimulating diuretick ball:
  Take of  juniper berries powdered, one
ounce ; half an ounce of camphire; sal prunel-
lo, six drachms; nitre, one ounce; make into a
ball with  honey or molasses.
  The loins of the horse should be  foment-
ed three  or four times a day, with a strong
decoction of herbs, such as wormwood, tansey?
or pennyroyal. A large piece of flannel should
be dipped in  the fomentation,  after it has
been boiled, and  laid on  the loins, as hot as
the horse  can bear it without scalding.  After
the drink, or the ball has been given, the
horse should be made to drink plenty of water
with gum arabic  dissolved in it.  Give the
following stimulating glister:
  Take juniper  and bayberries,  of each a
handful;  powdered nitre, one ounce ;  jalap,
one ounce ; boil into a decoction, add a pint
of Unseed oil. 
CHAPTER XXVIII.
          Of Alterative Medicines,

  What  is meant by alteratives, are those
medicines that have no immediate sensible
operation, but gradually gain upon the con-
stitution of all animals, and change the state
of the blood, and juices of the  body from a
state of distemperature, to  that  of health.
They correct the blood and juices of the
whole system, and accelerate the  motion of
the blood; and are often more beneficial than
purging medicines.  Nitre ranks first among
the alteratives ; sulphur and crude antimo-
ny are the next in repute.  I shall therefore
take upon me to recommend nitre, from the
opportunity that I have had in  the course of
my practice, to witness its powerful and bene-
ficial effects.   Nitre or purified salt-petre has
been long held in high estimation by those
who vvere  acquainted with its virtues. I have
depended more on nitre, in all inflammatory
disorders, than any other medicine ; it has an
extensive power in allaying fevers, taken in
                   2 M 
138          Carver's Farrier.
proper  quantities;  is excellent in cases of
surfeit,  hide bound, grease heels, and it will
greatly  assist in curing  the farcy, and many
other distempers to  which horses are subject.
It has a great advantage over other medicines,
its operation is chiefly by urine.   It neither
requires confinement or clothing.  The horse
can be moderately worked through  the whole
course.   There has been many trials made
in the London  hospitals of nitre, and it was
found to correct the acrimony of the juices
of the human body, and has been the means
of causing old  ulcers, and sore legs, to heal
up.   One of  the  most eminent physical
writers speaks of it in the highest terms of
praise.  Lord Bacon held it in such high
estimation, that he believed it would prolong
life.   As  a proof of  its efficacious powers,
those who  are in the practice of what is call-
ed curing or salting down beef and pork, are
certain that it will resist putrefaction.   If it
will thus preserve the flesh of dead animals,
why not the blood and flesh of living ones?
That the powers of it may be proved,  by
those that bleed horses, let them make a solu-
tion of it and mix with the blood that is drawn
from a horse, and they  will find that  it will
prevent the blood  from coadulation,  and
change its colour from a dark or black, to a 
Carver's Farrier.          139
beautiful florid and will preserve it for a con-
siderable length of time.
  If I am not  mistaken in the  name of the
author, Mulpighius, informs us that he inject-
ed it into the blood vessels of a dog, where it
immediately mixed  with  the blood without
any detriment to the animal; but it caused a
more copious  discharge   of urine.   It has
been known to destroy worms in the stomach
of different animals.  I am persuaded that
nitre is one of the best and safest alteratives
that has been discovered.
  The quantity of nitre that should be given,
is two ounces at  one time.   It should be finely
powdered, and  given in the morning for five
or six days running.  In cases of high fevers,
I have given  as much as half a pound a day :
and often given the horse  two or three horns
full of molasses, mixt with powdered ginger,
to make  it sit easy on the  stomach.
  To mix alterative powders for a  horse :
Take half a pound flour of brimstone,  half a
pound of powdered nitre, two ounces of crude
antimony ; mix  them well  together, and give
the horse two ounces a day for one  week;
then rest a few  days and repeat.  The pow-
ders may be given in his feed, and should be
given plentifully to a horse  that has  been
foundered. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX,
              Of Consumption.

   A  sonsumption is a defect or disease on
 the horse's lungs. The liver becomes putri-
 fied,  and the lights will be found to be full
 of black spots, about the size of half a dol-
 lar.   The  symptoms  of consumption  are
 as follows :—The  eyes look  dull, the ears
 and feet are generally hot, he coughs strong-
 ly, at times ;  sneezes much, and frequently
 groans ;  his flanks will have a quick motion ;
 he gleets often at the  nose, and  discharges
 a yellow curdled  matter, and loses his appe-
 tite.  At times he will eat grain, but refuses
 hay.   The  grain will cause him  to feel hot.
   Bleeding is one of the principle things to
 be  depended  on to effect  a  cure,  which
should be often repeated, by taking about one
 quart at a  time.  Mercurial purges  should
also be  given.   Half an ounce  of calomel,
mixed with a physical ball ;  and the  follow -
ing alterative powders should  be  given at
intervals of  time. 
142          Carver's Farrier.
  Take cinnabar of antimony,  one pound ;
powder fine one  pound  of nitre, add the
same qnantity of  gum guaiacum ; give an
ounce of these powders three times a day in
the horse's feed.
  The horse should be turned out to pasture
in the spring of the year.   The salt marshes
are to be preferred, and more to be depended
on  than medicines,  as the grass wilt  cause
great alterations in the blood and juices, and
he will receive the benefit of the fresh open
air,  and gentle exercise.  But,  if after all
that has been tried, the horse  relapses, and
a yellow curdled  matter  continues  to run
from the  nose, and he gets emaciated, and
sweats profusely, and the cough continues
with a rattling, there can be little or no hopes
of his recovery.  In order to save  expense,
it would be best to dispatch him, as an incu-
rable patient. 
CHAPTER XXX.
        Of Scratches, Rat tails,  &c.

  Horses, at times, are subject to a complaint
called the scratches ;  that is,  their heels are
swelled, and  full of  cracks in  the fetlock
joint, which  at times will cause them  to go
lame.   Great care and attention  are requi-
site  to perform a cure in this  disease.   The
scratches  have some  affinity  to the grease,
and are very often nearly the same complaints.
When either of these are found to have taken
place, the treatment should be  similar.  In
the first place, the heels should be poulticed
with  linseed, turnips, onions,  and wheat
shorts,  or bran,  boiled together  until all
becomes a pulp :  then add as much  hog's
lard as will keep the  ingredients soft,  when
applied.   The poultice should  be  kept on
a few days, in order to relax the  parts, and
make  the heels   supple.   Care  should be
taken to keep the  heels  clean,  by washing
them with warm water and soap.  If curri-
er's  dubbing is  applied, which  is made of 
144         Carver's Farrier.
oil and tallow, it jpll keep the skin  from
cracking, and preserve it as it does leather.
When they prove obstinate, and the sores are
deep, they must be laid open,  in order to lay
a foundation for a cure by going to  the bot-
tom, or what is called making a green wound;
afterwards, dress with the following ointment:
  Take of Venice turpentine, four  ounces ;
quick silver, one ounce ; incorporate togeth-
er, by rubbing some  time, then add honey
and  mutton suet, of each two ounces, with
half an ounce of verdigris, finely powdered :
anoint with  this  twice a day,  and if  the
horse is  full or fleshy, bleed and purge.   If
the  blood is in a bad state, give the altera-
tive powder, as recommended  in the chapter
on alteratives.
   Rat tails are excresences, which rise  from
the pasture to the middle of  the shank, and
they derive the name from the resemblance
they bear to a rat's tail.   Some are moist and
others are dry.   The  former should  be
treated with drying ointment, and washes ;
such as mercurial ointment: but if the  hard-
ness  does not yield to those  medicines, it
should be pared off  with a  knife, dressed
with tar, turpentine, and honey;  to  which
may  be  added verdigris, or  white vitriol : 
Carver's Farrier.         145
but before the knife has been used, the fol-
lowing ointment may be tried :
  Take of black soap,  half a pound ;  quick
lime, four ounces ; and vinegar, sufficient to
make an ointment.
  The crown scab breaks out round the cor-
onet of the foot, and is  attended with a scur-
finess, and itching.  The  best  method of
treatment in this disease,  is to mix marsh-
mallow ointment and yellow basilicon, equal
quantities of each, spread them on raw cotton
and  lay it round  the  coronet.   The  horse
should have a dose or two of physic, and di-
uretic balls given him at intervals of time, or
alterative powders, as recommended in a for-
mer  chapter.
N 
 
CHAPTER XXXI.
     On the Blood and Pulse of the Horse.

  In this chapter I mean tobe very particu-
lar, as it is one of the most essential princi-
ples in the veterinary art, or farriery; and by
which  the practitioner  in  most cases ought
to be guided, especially in all kinds of fevers.
The heart  may be said to be the great reser-
voir, or fountain of life and blood in all ani-
mals ;  therefore a knowledge of the  circula-
tion or the rapidity  of the blood's  motion,
through the  heart and arteries,  is an essen-
tial point for the practitioner to be acquaint-
ed with.  By a knowledge of this science, he
will be  brought  to admire the power and
wisdom of the all-wise creator of the universe.
The heart  may, with propriety, be compared
to a large lake, which sends out its waters
into thousands of rivers and small streams.
In this  manner the heart  propels, or forces
the blood through thousands of arteries and
veins, in all living animals.  It is wonderful
to observe the rapid motion of the blood, and 
148         Carver's Farrier.
the force with which the heart and arteries
labour to propel it round the whole organi-
zed system.  The most accurate  calculation
that has been made,  is, that it beats about
forty strokes in a minute, so that in propor-
tion, as the number is increased, the fever is
rising.  When it increases to above fifty, we
may conclude the  fever is very high.  This
calculation is easily made  by placing the
fingers on   any part of  the arteries; those
that run  up on  each side of the neck  are
generally to be seen beating and likewise
felt, a little  above the chest.  There is also
one runs up on the inside  of each fore leg;
and one on the inside of each jaw bone.   A
strict attention to the pulse is very important
to the practitioner, as there ^are times when
a horse should not be bled, although he is
found to be unwell.  This must be determin-
ed by the  pulse  alone: an old experienced
practitioner's judgment is guided by it, there-
fore he makes as accurate  observations and
calculations as possible.
   There are diseases to which horses are sub-
ject, that will not admit of bleeding.  I re-
collect a case some years past, to which my-
self and Mr. William  Carver, of Chatham
street, was called; he was a countryman of 
Carver's Farrier.          149
mine, from  England,  and one of the  best
farriers that ever came to this country. There
are many others who profess to have a tho-
rough knowledge in veterinary surgery; over-
stocked with diplomas of which they boast,
like coxcombs with their fine coats, and a
little knowledge of the latin  language ; but
I never saw them perform cures equal to this
good old friend of mine.  He was a man of
sound judgment, and long experience.  We
went hand in  hand in  all difficult cases.  I
hope the reader will  pardon this digression.
   The  case alluded to was of a very fine
horse,  belonging  to a  gentleman in New
York.   The animal was taken sick, and his
disease  appeared to be a  very complicated
one.  The pulse was low  and  languid.  My
friend was for letting blood ; but I differed in
opinion, and said, that  if the horse was bled,
he would live  but a short  time.  I however
yielded  to his judgment.  He bled him, and
the horse  died in about half an hour after-
wards.
   I have  mentioned this case in order to
put  gentlemen and  others  on their guard
against letting stable keepers, ostlers, coach-
men, and grooms, bleed their horses, as they
are  generally ignorant of the  motion of the
                    n2 
150          Carver's Farrier.
blood.   So valuable an animal,  therefore,
should  not be tampered with by those who
know nothing of his economy.  It was my
opinion whilst writing this chapter that I could
not too much enforce  the  necessity of the
study of this important branch of farriery,
as the physicians'  judgment is generally di-
rected by it: for when a horse has been bled
prior  to  his attending, he cannot form that
correct judgment, because he had not an op-
portunity to examine the  quantity  and the
state of the blood.   Very accurate  observa-
tions can be made  with regard to the motion
of the blood, and the hardness of the artery
from  its  difficult vibrations.    This is the
only sure guide to distinguish an inflamma-
tory fever with dense sizy blood, from an ir-
regular depressed one, and how often bleed-
ing should be repeated in fevers, and  other
disorders.  Many a fine noble horse, has fal-
len a sacrifice to the ignorance of those who*
have bled and doctored them ; when a know-
ledge of this  important branch of farriery
might have saved and restored them to per-
fect health and soundness. 
CHAPTER XXXII.
     Of the Running Thrush and Canker.

   The  Thrush is an imposthume that gath-
 ers in the frogs of horses  feet,  and at times
 becomes  ulcerous, and discharges  a foul
 stinking  humour.  It often totally destroys
 the whole frog, and causes it to decay, or rot
 off;  and will frequently cause the horse to
 limp so much as to make it necessary to put
 bar shoes upon him to guard the frogs and
 heels.
   I recollect some time  past, that a Mr. Cle-
 ments,  who is said to be  in possession of a
 diploma from the Veterinary college, Lon-
 don, observed in  one of the  courts of justice
 in this city, (New York) that a horse never
went lame with the thrush in the frogs of his
feet; and  that a horse was never known to
 die with the bots.  So much for theory and
 a diploma.   If Mr. Clements had been in the
practice of shoeing horses  for  thirty years
 and like myself,  had  shod many  thousands
 of horses, he would have known that a great 
152        Carver's Farrier.
number of horses limp  in traveling, on ac-
count of the thrushes in the  feet; and that
they frequently die with the bots.   A  great
many theoretical authors like Mr: Clements
has recommended bar shoes to be put on the
feet, for the thrushes in  the  frogs, ♦ and say
that the  bar which covers the heel of the
foot should rest on the frog.  Reason and
common sense ought to teach us  that  this
theory is impracticable ; for how can the bar
of a shoe rest on the frog, when the whole of
the frog is destroyed, or rotted away with the
disease.  The least pressure  with the fin-
ger on the decayed part, will be painful to
the horse and cause him to flinch.   I write
upon the principles of long experience,  and
not on the vision of theories and diplomas.
The object I have  in  view7, is to prevent the
owners and lovers of horses from being im-
posed upon, and as they generally are, and
not for my own emolument or agrandizement.
As to horses  dying with the bots, almost
every superanuated old woman  knows that
the  bots destroy  numbers  of fine  horses.
But to  return to the subject of the  horses
feet: when  a  horse is discovered to have a
violent running thrush in his feet, no attempt
should be made to  put an immediate stop to 
Carver's Farrier.          153
 the discharge, because it is an effort in nature
 to relieve  itself from its  infirmities.  It is
 supposed to originate from a disordered state
 of the fluid system, and is an outlet  of foul
 matter,  in  order to renovate, or purify the
 general mass of blood ;  therefore no drying
 washes should be applied before the horse
 has been bled, and a purging ball given him ;
 he should likewise have a few diuretic balls,
 and the frogs should be daily washed clean
 with castile soap and rain water.   When the
 thrush has been  long neglected, it is apt  to
 produce a canker ; in order to prevent which
 the following wash should be applied.
   Take spirits of wine and vinegar, of each
 two ounces ; tincture of myrrh and aloes,
 each one ounce ; segyptiacum, half an ounce ;
 mix them together and bathe the frogs with it
 twice a day.
  If, after  all that has been done, a canker
 should take place, and the foot prove to  be
 rotten, apply strong oils, such as vitriol, aqua
 fortis, and butter of antimony till the  fungus
 is  destroyed.   Apply this daily,  and it will
keep  down the  rising  flesh.  A little  fine
 precipitate powders should be sprinkled over
the new7 grown flesh until the sole begins  to
 grow anew. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII.
        Of the diseases of the Feet.

  The feet of horses are subject to a variety
of diseases, such as hoof bound, narrow heels,
and  corns.  Many of these complaints are
brought on  by bad shoeing ; but  there are
others which are natural, and often incurable.
It may naturally be supposed that no person
can be more capable of forming a correct and
proper judgment of the horses foot, than an
old and experienced shoeing smith; and there
are a few such characters in this city, and
but few.  The greater  part  of them have
never  made  the  anatomy of the foot their
study. They are generally employed as jour-
neymen, and like birds of passage, are here
to-day and gone to-morrow.   Talk to them of
the internal structure of the foot, of the coffin,
and  coronet bones, and you  will find them
entir&ly ignorant, and know  no more about
the matter than the horse knows about them.
  A horse may  be said to be  hoof bound
when his foot is contracted; that is, too small 
 156           Carver's Farrier.

 in proportion to his  body.  The heels are
 narrow, and drawn  almost together.  The
 horny soal will be found to be exceeding hard
 and dry.  When this is the case, the hoofs
 should be opened with the butteriss and draw-
 ing knife ; but the points of the heels should
 not be cut away. What is called the outer soal
 of the foot, will often become bound, and so
 constructed, that it will press on the inner
 and fleshy soal, and cause lameness.   When
 this is  the case, the  foot should  be  stopped
 with cow  dung, or a poultice made of bran
 and hog's lard, and bound on the foot. It has
 been my opinion for  many years, that oiling
 the horse's feet is an erroneous practice and
 ought  not to be pursued, as it has a tendency
 to stop the perspiration, or circulation of the
 blood that is constantly moving through the
 whole  foot.  The oil will likewise cause the
 dust to adhere to  the foot,  and  stick to it
 like  glue or paste, consequently the pores
 must be  closed.  All that  should be done is
 to follow up nature as near as possible, and
 apply remedies similar to those the feet would
 partake of if the horse was out at pasture.
  We  never saw a tub of oil placed  out in a
field for a horse to  go  and plunge  his feet
into ; but supposing this to be the case, is it
reasonable to suppose that  he would delib- 
             Carver's Farrier.          157
erately go and dip his feet in it ?  certainly
not.   I have known a horse's feet to be con-
stantly oiled with lamp oil, so that when he
had been  newly shod, and the foot rasped
after shoeing, it had the appearance of an old
rusty bar of iron.  All that is requisite is to
stop the  cavities of the feet with clay or cow
dung, three or four times a week when stand-
ing in the stable  in perfect health.
   Corns in the  feet of horses are generally to
be found near the points of the heels of the
fore feet, which  at times will cause a horse
to limp exceedingly;  and are very painful
and tender.  They often lay deep under the
sole of the foot, and should be drawn out or
opened with a razing iron.   When this is
done, a little spirits of salts,  or oil of vitriol
should be  applied, and the foot stopped up
with tow or flax dipt in tar and  hog's lard,
and kept in with  splints under the shoe for
a few days ; then apply the cold stopping as
recommended  before.   It is  often found
necessary to put on bar shoes, in  order to
guard and protect the heels. Corns are often
brought  on by  improper shoeing, the  shoe
being too weak at the heals, and bearing too
hard  on the points.  See the chapter on
shoeing.
                    O 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV.
                Of Colds.

  Horses, as well as human beings, are sub-
ject to colds.  When a horse has taken a cold
he  frequently coughs and appears dull and
heavy, more or  less, according to the severity
of the cold.   His eyes are at times moist and
watery.  The  kernels about  the ears, and
under the jaw7s swell, and the  nose gleets,
together with a rattling in breathing.  When
the cold is violent, he will  be  feverish; his
flanks work quick,  loathe his food, and at
times, water.  When these symptoms  are
attended with a slimy mouth,  ears and feet
cold,  and great inward  soreness, they  are
evident symptoms of a bad fever.
  When a horse is in perfect health, the pores
and outlets of his skin are constantly breath-
ing out a  fine fluid steam, like that from hot
water, or smoke from a fire; but when he
 is in the state as before  described, the pores
are closed or  locked up;  the  perspirable
matter has not  a free passage,  and are pre- 
160          Carver's Farrier.
vented from going off; they recoil  on the
blood, vitiating its quality, and overflowing
the vessels; affects the head glands, or ker-
nels of the neck and throat, and other princi-
pal parts  of the constitution.   But if the
horse coughs strong, snorts after it, loses but
little of his appetite, pricks up his ears, moves
freely in the stall, dungs and stales freely, and
his coat does not stare, there is little or no
danger to  be apprehended; he will require no
medicines.  If he is strong, take about three
quarts of blood from him, and give him warm
messes of shorts; add an  ounce of nitre to his
drink two or three times a day.  If the disorder
should increase,  the horse  feel hot, and re-
fuse his feed, take again two quarts more of
blood, and give the following drink :
   Infuse three ounces of aniseeds with two
drachms  of saffron, in  three  half pints of
water: add to it  four ounces of honey, to
which put four spoonsful of sweet oil.   This
drink should be given every  night.  If the
horse be  costive, his body should b e kept
open with emolient clysters, or cream of tar-
tar dissolved in his drink, and  taken in quan-
tities of three or four ounces a day : or, take
the following excellent cordial ball, as recom- 
            Carver's Farrier.          161

mended by  the celebrated Dr. Bracken,  to
whom all lovers of horses are much indebted
for his works on Farriery.
   Take aniseeds,  carraway seeds, and the
greater cardimons, finely powdered, of each
two ounces ; flour of brimstone, two ounces;
turmeric, powdered, one ounce and a half;
saffron, two drachms; Spanish juice dissolv-
ed in water, two ounces ; oil of aniseed, half
an ounce ; liquorice powder, one ounce and a
half; wheat flour and molasses sufficient  to
make into a  paste,  give one ball a day, the
size of a pullet's egg.   This I think will have
the desired effect.
o2 
# * 
CHAPTER XXXV.
           Of a Broken  Wind.

  This  disorder seems  to be little under-
stood.   Mr. Gibson,  who had obtained as
much knowledge of horses, as  most authors
who have  treated on  the  subject, thought
that it was  caused by  injudicious,  or hasty
feeding of horses when they are young.  By
this means, the growth of the lungs, and all
the contents of  the chest are  so  increased,
and in a few years become so enlarged as to
overfill  the chest,  and consequently leave
not room enough to expand themselves  and
perform their ordinary functions.   This cer-
tainly may be  deemed sound reasoning ;  for
a narrow constructed chest, with large lungs
may naturally  be the cause of this disorder.
In  the course  of my practice, I have opened
several horses after they were dead, and found
the heart and lungs  of more than natural
size.  Horses rising eight  years  of age are
as  liable to this distemper as  at  any period
of  life.   The  reason  why  this  disorder 
164         Carver's Farrier.
becomes more apparent at this  age,  is be-
cause the horse comes to his strength and
maturity.   At  six years  he  commonly fin-
ishes his growth in height,  and lets  down
his belly, and all his parts are grown to their
full extent; so that the pressure on the lungs
and midriff are more increased.
   The disproportion of the lungs have been
observed  to be almost  twice their natural
size, but perfectly secured, and  without any
ulceration or defect in the windpipe, or glands:
It therefore appears that the enormous size
of the lungs and the space they occupy, by
preventing the free  action of the midriff,  is
the cause of this disorder; and as the  lungs
are thus enlarged, they must of course lose a
great deal of their spring and tone.
   When we consider a broken wind in this
point of view, it must be said to  rank among
the incurable diseases of horses ;  and all
the boasted pretentions to cure are vain and
without foundation ; and can amount to no-
thing more than palliating the symptoms, and
mitigating  their  violence, so as to render
the horse  as useful as possible under this
afflicting malady.   It is generally the  case,
before a broken wind appears, that the horse
has a dry, obstinate cough, without the ap- 
Carver's Farrier.          165
pearance of sickness or the  least symptoms
of his  having lost his appetite ; but on the
contrary, he craves food,  and will  eat  foul
litter, and drink a great deal of water.
  When this  is discovered to  be the  case
he should immediately be bled to the quan-
tity of three  quarts, and  a  strong  purging
ball should be given him, and repeated two
or three times.  By this method, I  believe
the disease may be prevented : at least my
experience has proved it to my satisfaction.
  I wish to recommend the  following  balls
for  the purpose : Take gum ammoniacum,
galbanum, and assafoetida, of each two oun-
ces ; squills, four ounces ;  cinnabar of anti-
mony,  six ounces;  saffron,  half an  ounce;
make into  balls with  honey, and give  the
quantity of a pullet's egg every  morning.
  Broken winded horses should have their hay
and oats sprinkled with chamber lie, or fair
water : and I have seen them greatly relieved
by being constantly fed on potatoes.   Gar-
lick is  likewise found to be of great assist-
ance to the wind.  They should be carefully
fed and moderately exercised.
  I recollect  when I was a young  man, to
have seen a singular experiment  performed
on a mare,  belonging to a gentleman who 
166
Carver's Farrier.
held her in high estimation.   She was one
of the most beautiful creatures in creation
but  was exceedingly broken winded.  It
was the opinion of an old experienced far-
rier, that if the wind or air could be brought
off the lungs by any other conveyance  than
by the nostrils or mouth, it would give  relief
to the  animal.   Accordingly there was a
leaden pipe constructed of about twelve  or
sixteen inches in length, very  thin, and
about a half an inch in diameter ; at one end
of which  it was turned  over a little, so as to
form a foot, with small holes pinched round
so as to admit  a needle.   When every  thing
was prepared  and  ready for the operation
the mare was thrown down, and the old doc-
tor made an incision just above the  funda-
ment, so as to miss the gut called the rectum
through which the excrements  pass  from
the body.   The leaden  pipe was then  intro-
duced, over the gut,  and sewed in  with  a
strong  double silk thread.   This had the
desired affect: the  air rushed back through
the pipe,  and the animal could not  be per-
ceived to  be  broken winded.  I saw the
mare several years after, and  she bore  every
appearance  of  a  sound  horse.   I  should
like to try the experiment myself, for I must 
Carver's Farrier,         167
acknowledge I have the greatest confidence
in its  efficacy.  The expenses are  so tri-
fling, that it  can be no object to the owner
of a fine horse to have the  operation per-
formed.
  It has been the opinion of many  owners
of broken winded horses, that if they were
turned out to pasture,  they would recover :
but experience has proved the contrary; for
after their return to the  stable and  being
put on dry feed, they will  be more than ever
oppressed with short breathing, for want of
that open air and moist feed which they ob-
tain while at pasture.  In the spring of the
year the horse might have a few bunches  of
green grass given him in the  stable.  The
following is an excellent drink for thick win-
ded horses :
  Take of Barbadoes and common tar, two ta-
ble spoonsful, mixed with the yolk of an egg;
dissolve this in a pint of warm ale, and give
fasting two or three times a week, and par-
ticularly when the horse  is going a journey. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVL
    Of Surfeits, Hide-bound, and Mange.

  This is a  disorder that horses are subject
to in all  countries, when they are kept in a
domesticated state :  it arises from different
causes, and is  often  brought on by  some
old complaint  that has not been  properly
attended to and  cured.  A horse  may be
known  to be Surfeited when his coat stares
and he looks rusty and  dirty, although care
may have been  taken to keep him clean :—
the skin will be  found to  be full of  scales
and dander, which lie thick among the hair,
and come on in succession until they form
little bunches over  the  body and limbs  as
large as peas ; at other times there  will be a
moisture, attended  with great heat and in-
flammation,  and will  cause so  violent  an
itching as to make  the  horse rub himself
until he becomes  raw ; he will  have a very
unwholesome look, and  it will cause him to
be  dull, sluggish lazy,  and  hide bound.
Some horses appear  lean, and have  flying
                     P 
170         Carver's Farrier.
pains that will  cause lameness, similar  to
that occasioned by the rheumatism, with a
species of the scurvey ;  when a horse is af-
flicted with this disorder he should be  bled
two or three quarts, after which give the fol-
lowing ball :
  Take of sucotrine aloes one ounce ; gum
guaiacum, half  an ounce :  diaphoretic anti-
mony, two drachms; myrrh, two drachms,
and make  them into a  ball with  molasses.
This ball should be  repeated once a week
or at farthest every ten days, for some time ;
during the intervals give  the  alterative pow-
ders, as reccommended  in the  chapter  on
alteratives.
  When a horse is  discovered to have the
Mange, his skin is tawney, thick and full of
wrinkles  about the  mane, the loins and the
tail ; and  the little hair that remains, stands
almost straight up.  The ears and eyebrows
are often quite  naked : and when the limbs,
are attacked, it causes  them  to  have the
same appearance, and they will feel hot and
inflamed.   This distemper is contagious and
is  frequently caught by infection.
   I have known men who have taken care
of  horses with the mange to have  caught the
itch from them.  This disorder is often con- 
Carver's Farrier.         171
tracted by poverty, and low feeding.   When
this is  the case, the horse  must be better
fed, in order to mend the blood, and the fol-
lowing ointments rubbed every day into the
parts affected.
  Take powdered brimstone,  train oil,  and
tar, equal quantities, to which may be added
ginger, or white  hellebor : or, take quicksil-
ver and oil of vitriol, of each one ounce ; hog's
lard, one pound  ; sulphur of brimstone, four
ounces.  At the time  the horse  is  rubbed,
he should have two or three ounces of  sul-
phur of brimstone given him in a day.
   When a horse in labouring under this dis-
ease, by taking a microscope and looking at
him through it, you may  discover a number of
small live insects in the pustules.
  The following piece was published in  this
city (New York) in the   public  newspapers
in  July  1818.   I have  thought proper to
give it a place in thi s work for the benefit of
the public, as this may probably be the last
time they may hear from me on the subject
of that most excellent and noble animal the
horse ;  wishing that my fellow7 beings called
man, may perform their duty through life as
well as the  beautiful creature I have  just
mentioned,  and long admired, and endea- 
172         Carver's Farrier.
voured to relieve  when in distress, and to
protest against the brutality of the worst of
all animals, Man.
  It is a well known fact, that many coach-
men and grooms, who have the  charge or
care of horses committed to them, are con-
tinually  administering pernicious drugs, or
medicines, or, what is  called spiceing horses,
which has  a tendency to inflame the blood
and  ultimately destroy  the constitution of
the horse.   This treatment  will  cause  them,
for a time, to grow fat, make them high  spi-
rited, and the coat to look fine, but it often
happens, that the servants  who have given
these  medicines  quit  their places,  and
their successors omit  to continue them, the
consequence  is—the  horse falls off, loses
his appetite, and nothing can restore  him to
his former state  of health.   He will  appear
like a person  that has been in the habit of
drinking ardent spirits.
  When a veterinary surgeon is called on to
attend a horse in this  situation, it baffles all
his experience to find out the horse's disorder
and the person who administerd these medi-
cines takes  care  to conceal from  the  farrier
the cause of the  complaint.   A large portion
of these  drugs have lately been found con- 
Carver's Farrier.          173
 cealed  in the  stable of a gentleman of this
 city.  Many  of  the hackney masters have
 suffered greatly by this practice ;  and Mr.
 Yates, Maidenlane, in particular, who  gives
 me the  liberty of using his name.   The late
 Lord Pembroke,  who was* the admirer and
 lover of the horse, and who studied the con-
 stitution and  economy of that noble animal,
 remarked, that " any gentleman who permit-
 ed his groom to give his horses any thing but
 gruel and mashes, would soon  find  himself
 on  foot."  It is transportation, in England,
 for any  man to administer spice to a  horse
 belonging to another person.
  It has been my intention for  some time
 past, to write something on this subject, that
 the owners of horses might not be  thus im-
 posed upon.  The public and my fellow citi-
 zens at large,  may rely with confidence that
 I have  stated truths.   Facts are stubborn
 things.
  Great  care and caution should be observed
by those who purchase horses from the hands
of persons called dealers, or horse-jockeys.
  If gentlemen will  take the trouble  to go
into  their stables at the time their horses are
feeding, they may discover by smelling their
                   2 p 
174         Carver's Farrier.
breath or  the  mangers,  whether  they are
spiced or not.
  I have introduced into  this work, the ad-
vice of Dr.  Bracken, to the purchasers of
horses,  believing that few men nave had a
better knowledge than him of the  make or
formation  of the  horse.  Here the reader
will find a description of the age of the horse,
by his teeth, together with references to the
plate for further information on the subject.
  It is acknowledged by  experienced shoe-
ing smiths in this city (and there are but  few)
that the chapter on shoeing is perfectly cor-
rect, and  the best that can be given on  the
subject, and will stand the test of the strict-
est  scrutiny of any college bred gentleman.
  I perfectly agree with my friend Mr. James
Carver, veterinary surgeon, from the Farrier's
college  at London,  that  the  smiths called
horse shoers, are generally ignorant of their
business,  in consequence of  which   they
ruin many thousands of fine horses in shoeing
them.  They are so tenacious of their  own
opinions, and so perverse,  through ignorance
that they will not be taught.  Since I have
given up the  business  of horse shoeing, I
have frequently, at the solicitation of gentle-
men,  gone to smith's shops and shod their 
Carver's Farrier.          175
horses, in order that they might travel sound.
In many instances of this kind I have endea-
voured to instruct smiths in the principles
of shoeing; and this I have made as  plain
and  as  clear as  their understandings would
permit, or reason define ;  but the next time
they attempted to shoe, they could  not fol-
low the plan—they would still  cut down the
heels, frogs, and bars  of the  feet, against
which I have so much protested.
   Attempts have been made  to establish a
Veterinary College in the United States, but
all to  no purpose.  An  institution of this
kind could not fail to be of the utmost utility
and importance, in  cultivating that valuable
science, veterinary surgery ; but at this time,
it appears to me impracticable. Mr. Carver,
some time since attempted  to  effect the  es-
tablishment of one in N. York, but failed in
the accomplishment of his object; I presume
his son recollects the circumstances and the
futility of his efforts.
   I have perused, with considerable interest,
Mr. James  Carver's work on  Farriery, and
am clearly of opinion  that his doctrines  are
sound.   He reasons like a man of experience
and sound judgment.   I should like to hold
a correspondence with him.  His father and 
176           Carver's Farrier.
myself were as intimate as brothers, and I
regret the loss of his friendship and associa-
tions.
  In this edition as in the former one, I pre-
sume it will be found that I  have used every
endeavour  to simplify my  doctrines, and
render them plain and comprehensive to the
most ordinary capacities.  If I have commit-
edany orthographical or grammatical errors,
or erred  in any shape on the principles  of
the veterinary art,  or farriery; I shall ever
be ready to retract those errors, and return
my sincere acknowledgements to those who
may point them out to me. 
CHAPTER XXXVII.
    Diseases of the Mouth and Tongue.

  The present contagious disorder, that pre-
vails among horses in  Pennsylvania, and
different parts of the United States, originates
from an inflammation of the lungs and throat,
attended with  a violent  fever, difficulty of
breathing and loss of appetite ; the head and
throat greatly swelled, the jaws stiffened, and
the tongue swelled, and looking like that of
a person having the yellow fever or the small
pox, the pulse will beat fifty strokes a minute
instead of forty, as it should  do in a state of
good  health.   I  believe the  cause  of this
mortal disease originates from  the feed that
horses  eat, and not from the air, as  some
physicians have imagined : there is an herb
or weed that grows  in the  fields with  the
grass,  called John's-wort, that is possessed
of a great quantity of mercurial  properties ;
I have seen horses after they  had eat it  in the
fields  or in their hay, almost salivated with
it; their tongues have been greatly swollen, 
178          Carver's Farrier.
and large quantities of slime, and water has
continued to run from their mouths for hours
after they had partook of it.
  As soon as the horse is found to be attack-
ed with this disorder, no time should be lost
in attempting to give relief, to effect which,
four quarts of blood should be taken from
the jugular vein of  the neck, and one quart
more the  next day;  if the blood is found to
look black as on the first time of bleeding,
two quarts may be taken: in half an hour after
the horse has been bled the first time, give
him half  a pint of the best castor oil, and
half a pint of sweet oil, two ouncees of bal-
sam of capivi, two  ounces of sweet spirits
of  nitre,  mixed together in a bottle ;  if the
mixture cannot be  put down the  throat, it
must be poured down the nostrils, the horse's
head being raised up ; and sweet oil should
be rubbed in all over the head and throat—
to make  a gargle for  the mouth and throat,
take half a pint of sweet oil, one pint of the
best  vinegar, quarter of a pound  of honey,
one ounce of alum finely powdered,  simmer
them together over  a slow fire, then make a
kind of a mop, of a sponge put on a  stick,
and apply the mixture  to the mouth and
tongue, letting it go down the throat as much 
Carver's Farrier.          179
as possible ; this should be done every hour.
In six  hours after the foregoing drink has
been given, give the purging ball, as descri-
bed in chapter II, of this work, with the addi-
tion of twodrsjchirisof corrosive  sublimate
powdered and mixed with the  ball—if the
mouth is closed, dissolve the ball in a pint of
warm  ale  and give it as a drink ; repeated
clysters should be administered every hour,
two quarts at  a time, composed of sweet or
linseed oil, molasses and warm water; three
or four rowels should be introduced, dipped in
ointment made of Venice  turpentine, hog's
lard, and a small  portion of Spanish flies, to
bring on a quick  suppuration  or discharge ;
at the same time, give the  horse warm gruel
every hour.
   The following remedy  has proved  very
successful  in cases where the attack has not
been very severe :—give the horse one pint
of sweet oil and one pint of castor oil mixed
together, if it cannot  be given  down the
throat, owing to its being too  much swollen
 it must be  poured down  the nostrils, rais-
 ing the  head  for that purpose, and  warm
 clysters  should be given every hour made of
 sweet oil,  molasses,  soft soap, and  warm
 water; a large handful of squa root should 
180         Carver's Farrier.
be boiled in four quarts of water, until it is
reduced to three quarts, and then put in the
manger boiling hot, and the horse compelled
to hold his head over it; blood  should  not
be taken unless  the pulse beats fifty strokes
a minute.  A wash for the mouth should be
immediately  made,  composed of a pint of
sweet oil, a pint of  strong  vinegar, half a
pound  of hone)7, two ounces of alum, and
two ounces of powdered nitre, and simmered
over a slow fire  until  they incorporate, when
a swab  should be dipped in the mixture and
applied every hour to the  mouth  and  throat.
  Sweet oil is one of the best antidotes against ■■*
all kinds of poison, and poisonous insects; I
saved the life of a woman a short time past,
by pouring a gill of sweet oil down her throat J
after she had  taken a portion of oil of vitriol,
mistaking it for  sweet spirits of nitre.  The
owner of a fine horse  lately gave him  a pint
of spirits of turpentine, for the belly-ache, as
he supposed, (one half gill  is enough for a i
horse, mixed with other ingredients) I pour- |
ed a pint of sweet oil down the horse's throat, |
and he soon got  well : if a wasp or hornet is
touched with a feather dipt in sweet oil, they [I
will immediately turn black  and die; there
is no doubt but it would destroy all kinds of 
Carver's Farrier.
181
poisonous reptils,—I  presume it  would be
the best remedy to apply to a wound occasion-
ed by the bite of a  mad dog.   I have shewn
the effects of this sovereign remedy in a few
instances, and  could  enumerate many more
that have come within my knowledge.
Q 
 
         CHAPTER XXXVIII.

     JYicking, Docking,  and Cropping.

  These are surgical operations, and require
both care and judgment in the performance.
Nicking is  performed,  by cutting  asunder
the sinews that are on each side of the bottom
of the  horse's tail, in three or  four places,
leaving a space of about two or three inches
between each cut: but it should be observed,
not to  make the first cut too nigh the funda-
ment, as there is most danger after the nick-
ing has been performed, and the blood stop-
ped for eight or ten  hours.   The  wounds
should be  dressed  with drawing ointment,
such as basilicon, &c. in order to bring on a
discharge or suppuration, of good thick white
matter; but all horses should be physicked
and bled before nicking, to bring their blood
into  a good state.  It is not attended  with
much  difficulty  to nick a horse, but it is
often attended with trouble to cure him.  The
operator should  always have the  horse un-
der his own immediate  care, and not suffer 
184           Carver's Farrier.
any one to meddle with the tail—as many-
horses have died by the operation, although
they have been committed to the most ex-
perienced surgeons and farriers.   When the
tail is put to the pulleys, the weights should
not be too heavy—and the tail should be let
down about twice  a day, and  examined, to
see  if it  discharges  properly; and, at the
same time,  it  should be washed with cold
water, or sugar of lead water.   The horse
should be kept on low diet,  and exercised
once a day, and have  nitre given  him in his
messes or water.
   Docking, is taking off part of  a  horse's
tail; which at times is performed, by laying
the tail on a block of wood, and striking it
off with a chissel—or by placing an axe, on
a  block, and laying the tail on the edge of
the axe,  and striking the tail with a mallet
—but this must both  bruise and cut the tail
at the  same time : but the best instrument
for the purpose  is  somewhat  like a pair of
shears, with  long handles,  only the  rivet is
at one end, and the knife falls into a groove.
When the amputation is performed,  the tail
should be well held up, before the burning
iron is applied, which at times will cause the
horse to carry a good, or high tail, so that he 
Carver's Farrier.          185
will not require  nicking : it will be best to
keep the tail washed, a few days after dock-
ing, with cold water.   If it should be found
difficult to stop the blood, although the tail
has been seared with the hot  iron, with a
little powdered  rosin  melted  on  with  the
burning  iron, there  may  be  strong twine
thread tied round  tight, about  an inch from
the end, but this must be taken off in a few
hours,  or it  will  cause  the tail to swell, and
be inflamed.
  Cropping, is  best  performed with a pair
of irons, called  cropping irons, as they will
best cause  the ears  to represent  nature.
Young practitioners who have cropped horses,
have been  alarmed  to observe the  outside
skin of the ear drop away from the gristle,
and likewise by the flowing of blood;  but
nature  has constituted the blood as a balsam,
so that nothing should be applied after the
ears are taken.off, and the  skin will  return
to its  proper place,  without  any  further
trouble.
  Notwithstanding I have given the preced-
ing advice,  it has ever been my wish to pre-
serve the horse from the cruelty and barbari-
ty of  man.   The  docking  and nicking of
horses  is a cruel practice, and  ought to be
                   0.2 
186         Carver's Farrier.
abandoned by the whole  race  of mankind.
The scriptures tell us that " a righteous man
regardeth the life of his beast ; but the ten-
der mercies of the wicked are cruel."—Pro-
verbs xii. v.  10.   Every human being, pos-
sessed of a feeling  heart  and magnanimous
mind, must confess that both the docking and
nicking of horses is cruel;—but that  crea-
ture called man, attempts thus to mend the
works of his almighty  wise Creator, and in
the execution of which, he  frequently spoils
and  disfigures them.  What is  more beau-
tiful to the view, than to behold a fine horse
with an elegant long tail, and flowing mane
waving in the sports of the  wind, and  exhi-
biting itself in a perfect state of nature ? Be-
sides,  our Creator  has given them to the
horse for defence, as well  as beauty.  If the
poor animal was endowed with the  power of
speech, he would say to  his cruel oppressors,
" why deprive me of the faculties with which
nature has gifted me ;—I  could serve you
better  with thanwithout them ;  and by tak-
ing them from me, you pay  but little regard
to my  life  and feelings ! O, cruel master ! "
  At times there is great  danger  in  both
these  operations ;—many fine horses  have
died in consequence of them, setting aside 
Carver's Farrier.          187
the extreme pain the poor  animal  must en-
dure.
  In the course of my practice I had one fine
horse that died  by nicking, although every
care and attention was paid to effect his re-
covery ;  and I have known many others to
die  that had been nicked by able and experi-
enced farriers.
  Two years ago, a gentleman placed under
my care a horse that  had  been docked by
a blacksmith who had  permited the  wound
close up without a suppuration being brought
on.   This consequently produced a  violent
fever;  his muscles became stiffned, and it
was with the utmost difficulty  that he was
preserved from lock jaw.  This was done by
bleeding, purging, clystering, and foment-
ing  his  loins  with strong decoctions  of
herbs,  together  with blisters and alterative
powders.  At length,  after much pains and
trouble, the  horse recovered sufficiently to
be turned out to pasture, and was finally re-
stored to perfect health.
  About twenty years ago, William Consta-
ble, esqr.  arrived in  this  country, and
brought over with him several fine English
horses.   He was much of a gentleman, and
the  poor man's friend ; a lover and judge of 
188
Carver's Farrier.
horses.   I  attended several  of his  horses
under different complaints ;  he always ap-
peared  perfectly  satisfied, and would insist
on paying  me more than  I demanded.  He
once told me that he owned as fine a horse
as ever was mounted; and in hunting, he
would  carry him  over the highest five  bar
gate, with  ease ;  but he thought the horse
did not carry so good a tail as he wished ; he
therefore had him nicked,  and when  the
horse got well, he could scarcely carry him
over two bars.  Thus said he, I have spoil-
ed a fine horse, and no wonder, for it  weak-
ened him in the loins.—So much for nicking
his horse.
  A clergyman, a few miles from the town
I was born  in, took his horse to a blacksmith
to have him docked, and held the horse by
the twitch while the animal was undergoing
the operation.  Just at this time an old mil-
ler came in, and said, " why sir, has not the
Almighty made the horse good enough for
you, that you must alter him."  The person
was  struck  with   astonishment  and made
no reply, and well he might.
  The  French and Russians  never  cut,
dock, nick, or crop their horses;  for they
say they  will have none  but whole horses. 
Carver's Farrier.        189
This conduct redounds much to their honour
and humanity.
  The  reader  must observe  that  I  have
made these remarks contrary to my pecunia-
ry interest; but  I always, from my childhood,
loved and admired a horse, and if I can pre-
vent only one owner of a horse from perform-
ing this brutal practice on the  animal, my
wishes, in some  measure, will be gratified. 
 
APPENDIX.
ADVICE TO PURCHASERS OF HORSES.

               [BY DR. BRACKEN.]


  Nothing is more true than the common
observation, that in-the  art of horsmanship,
the most difficult partis that of giving proper
directions for the purchasing a horse free of
fault and blemish.   The deceptions in this
branch  of traffic being looked on in a less
fraudulent light than they  seem to deserve,
and of consequence are more frequently prac-
tised.   It shall  therefore be my business in
the following brief remarks, to shew, in the
best manner I  am able, the  imperfections,
which,  from either nature or mischance,
every horse is liable to.
   In the Stable.~\ See the horse you are about
to purchase in  the stable, without any person
being in the stall with him; and if he has
any complaint  in his legs he will  soon show 
192
Carver's Farrier.
it, by  altering the situation of them, taking
up one and setting down the other; and this
denotes his being foundered or overworked.
   On  ordering  him  out, let  no one be the  i
last  in the stable but yourself;  you should  j
also,  if possible, be the first in, lest the
owner, or some  of his quick emissaries, take
an opportunity  to fig him; a practice com-
mon among  dealers, in order to make the
tail shew as  if  carried  very high, when, in
reality, the day after, he  will in  appearance
be five pounds worse.
   The Eyes.~\  This is the proper  time to
examine his eyes,  which may be done in a
dark  stable with a  candle, or rather in the
day-time when he is led from the stall;  cause
the man who leads  him to stop at the stable
door just as  his head peeps out, and all his
body is still within.   If the white of the eye
appears reddish  at the bottom, or of a colour
like a withered leaf, I would not  advise you
to purchase  him.  A moon-eyed horse is
known by his weeping, and keeping his eyes
almost shut at the beginning of the distem-
per : as the moon changes, he gradually reco-
vers his  sight, ^and in  a fortnight or three
weeks  sees as well as before he had the dis-
order.   Dealers, when  they have  such a 
Carver's Farrier.         195
horse to sell,  at  the time of his weeping,
always tell you that he has got a bit of straw
or hay  in his eye, or that he has received
some blow: they also take care to wipe away
the humour, to prevent its being seen ; but
a man should trust only himself in buying of
horses, and above all be very exact in examin-
ing the  eyes : in this he must have  regard to
time and place where he makes the  axamina-
tion.  Bad eyes may appear good in winter,
when snow is upon the ground ; and often
good ones appear bad, according to the posi-
tion of the horse.   Never examine  a horse's
eyes by the side of a white wall, where the
dealers  always  choose to shew  one that is
moon-eyed.
   The moon-eyed horse has always one eye
bigger  than the  other, and above his lids
you may generally discover  wrinkles or
circles.
   If you observe a fleshy excrescence that
proceeds from the corner of  the  eye, and
covers  a part of  the pupil, and is in shape
almost like  the beard of an oyster, though
seemingly a matter of no great consequence,
yet it is what I call a witlow in the eye, and
if suffered to grow, it draws away  a  part of
the nourishment  of the eye, and sometimes
                   R 
194          Carver's Farrier.
occasions a total privation of sight.  On the
contrary,  if the eyes are round, big,  black
and shining; if  the  black of the eye fill the
pit, or  outward circumference,  so that in
moving very  little of the white appeareth,
they are signs of goodness and mettle.  The
eye which in general is esteemed the  best,  \
is that which is neither small nor large ; but
be sure  to observe that the  crystaline fbe
thoroughly transparent, for without that, no
kind of eye can  be said to be good.
   Countenance.~\ After having carefully satis-
fied yourself as  to  his eyes, let him be
brought out, and have him stand naked be-
fore you; then take a strict view of his coun-
tenance,  particularly with  regard to the
cheerfulness of it,  this  being an excellent
glass to observe his goodness and best per-
fections.   Be careful  you are  not deceived
by the marks in  his  face,  as frequently a
goodlooking star is  made of cat's skin.  If
his ears be small,  sharp,  short, pricked, and
 moving ; or if they are long, but'yetwell set
on, and well carried, it is a mark of godH- '%
ness; if they are  thick, laved, or lolling,
wide set, and unomoving, they are signs of
dullness and of an evil nature.
  A lean forehead, swelling outward, the mark 
Carver's Farrier.          195
or feather in his face set high, with a white
star or ratch of an indifferent size and even
placed, or a  white snip on the nose  or lip,
they are all marks of  beauty and  goodness :
on the  contrary, a fat, cloudy, or frowning
countenance, the mark in his face standing
low7, as  under his eyes, if  his star or ratch
stand away, and instead of a snip his nose
be raw  and unhairy,  or  his face generally
bald, they are signs of deformity.
   Strangles.^ Handle  his cheeks,  or chaps,
and if you find  the bones lean and thin, the
space wide between them, the thropple or
windpipe  as big as you  can gripe, and the
void place without knots or kernels, and the
jaws so great that the neck seemeth to couch
within  them, they  are  all signs of great
wind, courage, soundness of head and body;
on  the  contrary, if the chaps are fat and
thick, the space between  them  closed  up
with gross substance,  and  the thropple little
they are signs of short wind and much in-
ward  foulness.   Should the void place  be
full of knots and  kernels, beware of the
strangles  or glanders, the  former of which
may be easily discovered by  a swelling be-
tween the two nether  jaw-bones, which dis-
charges  a white  matter.  This disorder 
196         Carver's Farrier.
usually  appears at about  three, four or five
years old;  there  is  no  young  horse  but
what is  subject to  it, either perfectly or im-
perfectly : there is also a disorder which is
called the  bastard strangles, which appear
sometimes  like, and  sometimes  different
from the true strangles.   The bastard stran-
gles are what prove the horse has not thrown
off his true strangles,  but  that some foul hu-
mours arestill left behind ; this disorder may
come at four, five, six or even seven years
of age.  A  continual lang-our at work, and
seemingly perpetually  weary, without any
visible  ailment, is a  certain sign that he is
not  clear of this disorder, which sometimes
will affect the  foot, the  leg, the ham, the
haunch, the shoulder, the breast or the eye,
and without care in this  latter  case, may
corrupt the pupil of the  eye,  as the small
pox does in men.
   Morfounder'mg~\  There is also another
disorder, much  like the strangles, which is
called Morfoundering, and appears by a run-
ning at the  nose  ; but  the swelling under
the jaws is less.
   Glanders.~\   The glanders are discovered
by a running at the nose, either on the one
side or  the other  : Feel  if he  has any flat 
Carver''s Farrier.          197
glands fastened  to  the nether jaw, which
give him  pain when you  press them  ; and
remember that  a running at one nostril  is
worse than at both.
  Fives.']  When the jaws are strait so that
the  neck swelleth above them, it is a sign
i )f short wind ; but  if the  swelling belong,
and close  by  his chaps,  like  a whetstone,
then be sure  he has  the vives, which is a
distemper  most frequent in high mountain-
ous  countries, especially to horses  that are
not used to the crudities  produced in the
stomach by the spring and fountain waters
that rise  in hilly grounds ; standing waters,
or those of very little current,  are  the least
dangerous, and seldom cause the vives  ; but
very deep wells are bad.
  JSostrits.~\  If his  nostrils  be open, dry,
wide,  and  large, so as  upon  any straining
the inward redness is discovered; if his muz-
zle  be  small,  his mouth deep, and  his lips
equally meeting, they are signs of health and
wind :  but should his  nostrils  be  strait, his
wind is then little. Should you find the muz-
zle  to be gross,' his spirit will be dull.
  If his mouth be shallow, he will never carry
the bit well; and if his upper will not  reach.
                    r2 
198          Carver's Farrier.
his under lip, old age and infirmity mark his
or carrion.
  Age.~\  Respecting the age of a horse that
is fit for work, he should have forty teeth :
twenty-four grinders, which teach us noth-
ing ; and sixteen others, which have their
names, and  discover his age.    As mares
usually have no tusks,  their teeth are  only
thirty six.   A  colt is foaled without teeth;
in a few days be puts out  four, which are
called  pincers, or nippers ; soon after appear
the four  separators, next to the pincers : it is
sometimes three  or four  months before the
next, called corner teeth, push forth.  These
twelve colt's teeth, in the front of the mouth,
continue without alteration,  till the colt  is
two years, or two years  and a half old, which
makes it difficult, without great care, to avoid
being imposed on during that interval, if the
seller finds it is his interest to make the colt
pass for either younger or older than he really
is; the only rule you have then to judge  by
is his coat, and the hairs of his main and tail.
A colt of one year has a supple, rough coat,   J
resembling that of a  water spaniel, and the
hair of his main and tail feels like flax, and
hangs like a rope untwisted; whereas a colt
of two years  has a flat coat, and strait hairs,
like a grown horse. 
j*    Carver's Farrier.          199
   At about two years and a half old, some-
 times  sooner, sometimes later, according as
 he has been fed,  a horse begins to change
 his  teeth.  The  pincers,  which come the
 first,  are also the first that fall ; so that at
 three years he has  four horse's, and  eight
 colt's  teeth, which are  easily known  apart
 the former being larger, flatter, and yellower
 than the other,  and streaked  from the end
 quite into the gums.
   These four horse pincers have, in the mid-
 dle of their extremities, a  black hole, very
 deep ; whereas  those  of the colt are round
 and white.  When the horse is coming four
 years old,  he  loses his four separators, or
 middle teeth,  and  puts forth four others,
 which follow the  same rule  as the pincers.
 He has now eight horse's  teeth  and  four
 colt's.   At five years  old he sheds the four
 coinor, which are  his  last colt's teeth, and
 is called a horse.
   During  this year  also, his  four tusks
 (which are chiefly  peculiar to horses) come
 behind the others ; the lower ones  often
 four months before the upper ; but whatever
 may be vulgarly  thought, a horse  that has
 the two lower tusks, if he has not the upper
may be judged to  be 'under  five years  old,
 unless the  other teeth show the contrary; 
200           Carver's Farrier.    q
for some horses that live to be very  old,
never have any upper tusks at all.  The two
lower tusks are one of the most certain rules
that a horse  is coming five  years old, not-
withstanding  his colt's  teeth  may  not be
all gone.
   Jockies and breeders,  in  order  to make
their colts seem five years old when they are
but four, pull out their last colt's teeth ; but
if all the colt's teeth  are gone,  and no tusk
appear, you may be certain  this trick  has
been, played ;  another artifice they use, is to
beat the bars every day with a wooden mal-
let, in the place where the tusks are  to ap-
pear, in  order to make them seem hard, as
if the tusks  were just ready to cut.
   When a horse is coming six years old, the
two  lower pincers fill up, and instead of the
holes above-mentioned,  show  only a black
spot.  Betwixt six and seven the two middle
teeth filj up in the  same  manner;  and be-
tween seven and eight  the  corner teeth do
the like ; after which it is said  to be impos*
sible to know certainly the  age of a  horse,
he having no longer  any mark in the mouth.
  You can indeed only have recourse to the
tusks,  and  the  situation of the teeth, of
which I shall now speak. 
Carver's Farrier.           201
  For the tusks you must with  your finger
feel the inside of them from the  point quite
to the gum.   If the tusk be pointed  flat,
and has two little channels within side,  you
may be certain the horse is not old,  and at
the utmost only coming ten.   Between  ele-
ven and  twelve the two channels are redu-
ced t^ one, which after twelve is  quite gone
and the tusks are as  round within  as they
are without ; you  have  no guide then  but
the  situation  of the teeth.   The   longest
teeth are not always a sign of the  greatest
age,  but their hanging over and pushing  for-
ward, as their meeting perpendicularly,  is a
certain token of youth.
  Many persons whilst they see certain little
holes in  the  middle of the teeth,  imagine
that  such horses are but  in their  seventh
year,  without  regard  to the situation  the
teeth take as  they grow old.
  When horses are young their teeth meet
perpendicularly, but grow  longer and push
forward with age ; besides, the mouth of a
young horse is very fleshy within the palate
and his lips are firm and hard: on the con-
trary, the inside of an old horse's mouth, is
lean  both  above and below, and seems to
have  only  the  skin upon the  bones. The 
202         Carver's Farrier.
lips  are  soft and  easy to turn up with the
hand.
  All horses are marked in the same man-
ner, but some naturally, and others artificially
The natural mark is called Begne ; and some
ignorant  persons imagine such  horses  are
marked  all  their lives, because for many
years they find a little  hole, or  a  kind of
void in the middle of the separators and cor-
ner  teeth.  But when the  tusks are grown
round, as well within as  without and the
teeth point  forward, there  is room to  con-
jecture, in proportion as they advance from
year to year, what the horse's  age  may be
without  regarding, the cavity  above men-
tioned.
   The artificial manner is  made use of by
dealers and jockies, who mark their horses
after the age of being known, to make them
appear only six or  seven years old.   They
do it in this manner : They7 throw down the
horse to  have  him more at command,  and
with a steel graver, like  what  is used for
ivory, hollow the middle teeth a  little,  and
the  corner ones somewhat more; then fill
the  holes with a little  rosin, pitch, sulphur,
or some  grains of wheat, which they burn
in with a bit of  hot wire, made in proportion 
Carver's Farrier.          203
to the hole.  This operation  they  repeat
from time to time till they  give the  whole
a lasting black,  in  imitation of nature ; but
in  spite of all  they  can do, the hot  iron
makes a little yellowish  circle  round these
holes, like what  it would leave  upon ivory;
they have therefore another  trick to prevent
detection ; which is, to make the horse foam
from time to time, after having rubbed his
mouth, lips  and  gums  with salt,  and the
crumb of  bread   dried and  powdered with
salt.  This  foam hides the circle  made by
the iron.
  Another thing they cannot do, is to coun-
terfeit young tusks, it  being out of their
power to make those two  crannies  above
mentioned,  w7hich  are   given  by  nature.
With files they may make them sharper  or
flatter;  but  when they take  away the shin-
ing natural enamel ; so that one may  always
know by these  tusks, horses that are past
seven, till they  come to twelve or thirteen.
As the defects of the mouth may  destroy
a horse without any distemper, I shall here
just describe the  barbs, the lampas,  gigs
upon the lips, and gag-teeth.
  Barbs ] For the barbs look under his tongue
and see if he has not two fleshy excrescences 
204         Carver's Farrier.
on the under palate, like little bladders.  It
seems to be a mere trifle ; but these however
will hinder a horse from drinking as usual;
and if he does not drink freely, he eats the
less, and languishes from  day to day, per-
haps without anyone's taking notice of it.
  Lampas."]  The lampas is known by open-
ing the  horse's mouth and looking at his
upper palate, to see if the flesh comes down
below the inner teeth.   This gives him pain
in eating his oats, and even his hay, when
it is too harsh,  though he can very well man-
age bran, grass or kind hay.
  Gigs upon the lips.] When you have looked
into the horses mouth,  without finding either
of the two disorders above,  turn up his lips
both upper and under,  and  perhaps you may
find several small elevations, like little white
blisters,  which  make  the  inside of the lip
uneven.   This defect  may be felt with the
finger, and is what hinders  horses from eat-
ing as usual; and this  is what is called gigs
upon the lips.
  Gag teeth] Gag  teeth are a defect that
rarely happens to young horses; and are to
be discovered by putting the colt's foot into
the mourh, and looking at the large grinders
which, in this case, appear unequal, and in 
Carver's Farrier.          205
eating catch hold of the inside of the cheeks
causing great pain,  and making them refuse
their food.
  His breast.]  From his head look down to
his breast, and see that it be broad, out swell-
ing and  adorned with many fea tures ; for
this shows strength.   The  little  or small
breast shows  weakness; as a horse with a
narrow  one is apt to stumble.
  The Articor or Anticow.] Put your hand be-
tween his fore legs, and feel if he has a swell-
ing there from the  sheath quite  up between
the fore legs: such a swelling is called the
Anticor, or Anticow, and is mortal to horses
if they  are not soon relieved.   It proceeds
from  different causes viz. the remains of an
old distemper  which  was never  perfectly
Cured, or after which the horse was  too soon
put to  labour, from too  much heat,  con-
tracted  in the  stable, by  being  kept up a
longtime  without airing, or from having lost
too large  a  quantity of blood in what part
soever the vein  was  opened.   When you
touch a swelling of this kind,  the impres-
sions of the  fingers remain for  some  time
as if you  had  made  them in a  bit of puff
paste,  filling  up  again by degrees,  as  the
paste  would rise.  This swelling contains
                   S 
206          Carver's Farrier.
bloody  water, that insinuates between  the
flesh  and the skin, and proves that all the
blood in the veins is corrupted.
  His  Thighs an- Legs.] From thence look
down his elbow to his  knee, and  see that
the  fore thighs be rush  grown, well horned
within, sinewed,  fleshy, and  out-swelling;
those being signs of strength, as the contra-
ry of weakness.   If his knees bear a propor-
tion to each other, be lean, sinewy, and close
knit they are good ; but if one is bigger or
rounder than the other, the horse has receiv-
ed mischief ; if they are  gross, he is gouty ;
and if he has scars, or  the hair be broken,
beware of  a  stumbling jade,  and perpetual
faller.
   Splents.] From his  knees look  down his
legs to his pasterns,  and  if you find them
clean, lean,  flat,  sinewy,  and  the inward
bought of his  knee without seams, or  hair
broken, it shews a good shape and soundness;
but if on the inside of the leg you find hard
knots, they are splents, of which there are
three  sorts.  The simple splent, which ap-
pears within  the leg under the knee, remote
from the great  nerve and the joint of the
knee,  ought not to hinder a man frorn buying
a good horse, for it gives him no pain, is 
Carver's Farrier.         207
only disagreeable to the sight, and goes away
in time of itself.  All the three sorts of splents
are  known by the same rule;  for whenever
you see a tumour upon  the flat of the  leg,
whether within  or without, if it be under the
knee, and apoears hard to the touch, it is a
splent; and when it is situated as above des-
cribed, it  signifies nothing;  but when  it
comes upon  the joint of the  knee, without
any interval,  it loses the name of splent, and
may be called a fusee :  it then, as one may
easily concieve,  makes the leg of a horse stiff,
and hinders  him  from bending  his  knee ;
consequently it obliges him to stumble, and
even fall, and after a violent exercise makes
him lame.  Rest alone cures the lameness,
but not the fusee.
  The third kind of splent, whether within
or  without, is when you feel it between the
nerve and the bone,  and sometimes even at
the end of the nerve ; this is called a nervous
splent, and is the worst of all the kinds; be-
sides that, the horse is never here  so firm
footed, but that he limps at every little de-
gree of labour.  The French reject every
horse that has a splent, very often  without
knowing how to  distinguish them; and one
that has  only a  simple  splent, is as bad  in 
208          Carver's Farrier.
their eyes as one that has the other sort; but
a simple splent always goes away of itself by
the time a horse is eight or nine years old.
  ■Osselets.] There are also three kinds of
osselets, which are of the  same nature as
splents, and some persons take them for the
same thing; but there is this difference, how-
ever between  them, that splents come near
the knees, and osselets near the fetlocks.
Their seat is indifferently within or without
the leg.
   The first is the simple osselet, which does
not grow near the joint of the  fetlock or the
nerve.
   This need not hinder a man from buying
a horse, because it puts him to no inconve-
nience  and very often goes  away of itself
without a remedy.   The second is that which
descends into the  fetlock,  and  hinders the
motion  of  that joint: this occasions a horse
to stumble and fall, and with a very little
work to become  lame.   The  third  has its
seat between the  bone and the nerve; and
sometimes upon the nerve ; it so much in-
commodes a horse, that he cannot stand firm,
but limps on every little occasion.
   Windgalls.]  There are also  three kinds of
windgalls, which appear to the  eye much like 
            Carver's Farrier.          209
osselets,  but are  not however, just  in  the
same places ; nor do they feel like them ; for
osselets are hard; but windgalls give way to
the touch.   Some horses are more liable to
these than others, and that for several reasons.
Some proceed from  old worn-out sires, and
others by being worked too young. A simple
windgall  is a little tumour, between the skin
and the flesh, round  the fetlocks.   When it
appears at a good  distance  from  the large
nerve, it  does not lame the horse ; and if he
has but age on his side, that is, be under ten
years  old at most, he will be nearly as useful
as before, provided the work you put him to
be not of the most laborious kind ; however,
a horse  is  much  better without than with
even this sort of simple windgall, which con-
sists of thin skins, full of red liquid, and soft
to the  touch.  The nervous windgall answers
the same description, only, as the simple one
comes upon the fetlock, or a little above it,
upon the leg bone, in the very place of osse-
lets ; nervous ones come behind the fetlock,
upon  the great nerve which makes them of
worse consequence,  for  they  never fail to
lame  a horse after  much fatigue.   These
windgalls may happen upon any of the legs;
but some of them  are more dangerous than
                    s2 
210         Carver's Farrier.
others, in porportion as they press the nerve,
and  are  capable of laming the horse ; and
take notice, by the way, that windgalls are
more troublesome in summer than in winter,
especially in  very hot weather, when  the
pores are all open.  The third is the bloated
windgall, and is of the worst sort, when they
come over the hind part of the fetlock, be-
tween the bone and the  large nerve, and
make the horse  so lame at every  little thing
he does, that  he can scarce  set  his foot on
the  ground.   They appear on both sides of
the leg, without as well as within ; and when
you touch them with  your hand, or finger,
they feel like a pig's or cow's bladder full of
wind.   If under his knees there are scabs on
the inside, it is the speedy or swift cut, and
in that case he will but ill endure gallopping;
if above the  pasterns on the inside you find
scabs, it shows interfering; but if the scabs
be generally  over  his legs, it is either occa-
sioned by foul  keeping,  or a spice  of  the
mange.
  Pastern.] Take care that the pastern joint
be  clear  and well knit together, and that
the pastern be strong, short, and  upright;
for if the first be big,  or swelled, beware or
sinew strains; if the other  be long,  weak of 
               Carver's Farrier.         211
  bending, the limbs  will be  hardly able  to
  carry the body without tiring
    Hoofs.] The hoofs should be black, smooth
  and tough,  rather  long than round ; deep,
  hollow, and full sounding ; for  white hoofs
  are tender, and carry a shoe ill ; and a brittle
  hoof will  carry no  shoe at all : A flat hoof,
  that is pumiced,  shows foundering ; and a
 * hoof empty and hollow sounding, shows a
  decayed inward  part,  by  reason  of some
  wound or dry founder.   If the hair lie smooth
  and close about the crown of the hoof, and
  the flesh flat and  even, then all is perfect ;
j  but should the hair be there rough, the skin
  scabbed, and the flesh rising, you may then
  be  apprehensive of a  ring bone,  a crown
  scab, or a quitter bone.
     Circled Feet.]  Circled feet are  very easy
  to be known : they  are when you see little
  excressences  round the hoof, which inclose
  the foot, and appear like so many small cir-
  cles.  Dealers w7ho have such horses, never
i  fail to rasp round the hoofs, in order to make
  them smooth ; and to conceal the rasping
  when they are to show them for  sale, they
  black  the hoofs all over ;  for without that
  one may easily perceive what has been done ;
   and seeing the mark of the  rasp is a proof 
212          Carver's Farrier.
that the  horse is  subject to this  accident.
As to the cause, it proceeds from the re-
mains of an old distemper, or from having
been  foundered, and the disease been cured
without care  being taken of the feet, where-
upon the circulation of the blood not being
regularly made, especially round the  crown
between the  hair and the horn, the part lo-
ses its nourishment, and contracts or enlaifc '
ges itself in proportion as the horse is worked.
If these circles were only on the surface, the
jockies' method of rasping them down would
then  be good for nothing; but they form
themselves also within the  feet, as well as
without, and consequently press on the  sen-
sible  part, and make a horse limp with  ever
so little labour.  One may justly  compare a
horse in this situation, to  a man  that has
corns on his feet, and  yet is obliged to walk
a long way on shoes that are  too  tight  and
stubborn.   A horse  therefore  is  worth a
great deal less on this  account.
i   Bow-legged.] After having well examined
the feet, stand about three  paces from his
shoulders and look  carefully that  he is  not
bowlegged, which proceeds from two differ-
ent causes ; first from  nature,  when a horse
has  been  got by a  worn-out stallion; and 
Carver's  Farrier.         213
  secondly, from his having  been worked too
  young; neither in the one case nor the other
  is the horse of much value, because he can
  never be surefooted ; it is  also a disagreea-
  ble sight, if his  knees point forwards,  and
  his legs turn in under  him,  so  that  the
  knees come much  further  out than the  feet.
  This  is  what is called a bow-legged horse
  and such a one ought to  be rejected for any
* service whatsoever, as he never can stand
  firm on his legs ; and how handsome  soever
  he may  otherwise  be, he should on no ac-
 g count be used for a stallion, because all his
 * progeny will have the same deformity.
     Head.] Then stand by his side and  take
  particular notice that his head be well set on
  for if thick set, be assured it will cause him
  to toss up his nose for want of wind, which
  causes a horse to carry his head disagreeably
  high, and occasions a ticklish mouth.
     Neck.]  His neck should be small at the
   setting on of his head,  growing deeper  to
  the shoulders, with a high, strong and  thin
   mane ; long,  soft, and  somewhat curling;
  those being beautiful characters ; on the con-
  trary, a head ill set on is a great deformity.
     Pole-evil.]  To  have a large bigness  or
  swelling in the nape of the neck, shows the 
214          Carver's  Farrier.
pole-evil. To have a short thick neck like a
bull,  to  have  it falling in the  withers to
have  a  low, weak,  thick,  or falling crest,
shows want of strength and mettle.
   The Mane.] Much hair on the mane shows
dulness, as too thin shows  fury ; and to have
none, or shed,  shows  the worm in it, the
itch, or manginess.
   The Shoulders.]  In showing a  horse, a
dealer or jockey will generally place him
with  his four feet on a higher ground than
his hind ones, in  order that the  shoulder
may  appear further in his back,  and make*^
him higher in sight than  he  really is ; but  *
be sure to cause him to be led on level ground
and  see that his shoulders lie well into his
back ; for an upwright shouldered horse car-
ries his weight too forward, which is disa-
greeable and unsafe to the rider.   Have his
fore legs stand even, and you will then have
it in  your power to  judge of his shoulders.
If you do not observe  this, the dealer will
contrive that his near leg  stand  before the
other, as the shoulders in  that position ap-
pear to lie further in the back.  If his knees
stand nearly close,  and his  toes  quite in a
line,  not turning in, nor turnig out, be  assu-
red  he will  not cut; if he takes his legs up 
             Carver's Farrier          215
a moderate heigth, and neither clambers nor
yet goes too near the  ground he will  most
likely answer your purpose.
  Back, Body, &V.]  Observe that the chine
of his back be broad, even and  straight, his
ribs w7ell compassed,  and bending outward,
his fillets  upright, strong, short, and above
an handful between his last rib and his huc-
kle bone ; his belly should be well let down
yet hidden within  his ribs, and his testicles
close thrust  up  to  his  body, those being
marks of health and  goodness.  Be  careful
in observing that he has no swelling in his
testicles,  a disorder  that  usually  proceeds
either from some strain in working or from
the horse's having continued too long in the
stable, or from  his putting one leg, over any
bar, and being  checked by the halter, or, in a
word, from any other accident that confines a
horse,  makes  him kick or fling, and bruise
his cods and there is no other way of know-
ing  this distemper, but by  some  outward
 swelling  upon the part.
  The coming down of the testicles proceeds
from the  same causes, with this difference
only, that it is a long time discovering itself;
whereas the other may come in one night.
If his chine be narrow, he will never carry 
 216            Carver's Farrier.

 a saddle well ;  and to have it bending  or
 saddle backed, shows w eakness.   If his ribs
 be flat, there is  but small liberty for wind.
 Should his fillets hang low, or weak,  he will
 never climb a hill, or carry a  burden well.
 A belly that is clung up,  or  gaunt, and tes-
 ticles hanging down loose, are  signs of sick-
 ness, tenderness, foundering in  the body :
 and  unaptness for labour.   His buttocks
 should be  round, plump, full, and in an even
 level with his body.   The narrow, pin but-
 tock, the hog or swine rump, and the falling
 and down  let buttock,  show  an injury in
 nature.  The horse that is deep in his girth-
 ing place, is generally  of  great strength.
 His hinder thighs, or gas tains,  should  be
 well let down, even to the  middle joint, thick,
 brawny, full and swelling, this being a great
 sign of strength and goodness ; lank and slen-
 der  thighs show  disability  and weakness.
 From the  thigh bone to the  hock it  should
 be  pretty long,  but short from the hock to
 the pastern.   Observe the middle joint be-
 hind, and if it be nothing but skin and bone,
 veins and sinews, rather a little bending than
too straight, it is perfect as it should  be ;  on
the contrary, should it have chaps or sores on
the inward bought, or  bending,  it is a sal-
 lender. 
Carver's Farrier.
217
  Spavins.] Should  the joint  be  generally
swelled all over, he  must have  had a blow
or bruise ;  if in any particular part, as in the
pot, or  hollow part, or on  the  inside,  the
vein full and  proud, and the swelling soft,
it is a blood spavin.  You cannot therefore
take too much care in examining the houghs
of delicate horses, for let the swelling appear
ever so small upon the flat of the lower part
of the  hough,  within side, though  the horse
may not limp, you ought to be apprehensive
that in time and with but little labour, the
spavin will increase on him.
   The fat  spavin comes almost  in the same
place as the other, but is larger.
   A third  kind is the ox spavin ; and this is
thought the worst of the three.   If the swell-
ing be hard, it is a bone spavin ; you should
examine a horse thoroughly, therefore, be-
fore you buy him ; and, in  particular, see if
all the joints  of his legs move with  equal
freedom.  Most horses  that have the bone
 spavin, are very apt to start when you go to
 take up their legs, and  will hardly  let you
 touch them with your hand.  Examine them
 well, therefore with your eye, and see if, be-
 tween the fetlock  and the crown,  the  leg
 descends  even and smooth ; for if  you see
                     T 
218
Carver's Farrier.
 any proturberance between the flesh and the
 skin, that  looks like a sort of knot, or ker-
 nel, you have found the defect.
   A Curb.] If you observe the swelling to be
 exactly before  the knuckle,  it is a curb;
 which is an  accident that may happen  in
 different manners; such as a strain in work-
 ing, slipping his foot in a hole, or in marshy
 ground &c. out of which  he  pulls it with
 pain, and by that means wrenches his hoof,
 without dislocating  any  thing,  and  yet,
 without speedy care, he may be lamed.
   A  Rat's Tail.] There is also a defect
 which is more common  in the hind than the
 fore legs, though the latter are not quite ex-
 empt from  it, and it is called the rat's tail,
 and is thus known : when you see, from the
 hind part of the fetlock, up along the nerves,
 a kind of line  or channel that separates the
 hair to both sides, this is a rat's tail.  In
 summer, there  appears a kind of small dry
 scab along  this channel; and in winter, there
 issues out  a humidity, like the water  from
 the legs.  A horse may work notwithstand-
 ing this disorder, for it seldom lames him ;
 it sometimes occasions a stiffness in the  legs
 and  makes horses trot like  foxes,  without
bending their joints.   The hind legs should 
Carver's Farrier.          219
be  lean, clean,  flat, and sinewy; for if fat
they  will not bear labour;   if swelled, the
grease is molten into them; if scabbed above
the pasterns, it is the  scratches ;  and if he
hath chops under his pasterns, he hath what
is generally called the  Rains.  If he has a
good buttock, his tail  cannot stand ill,  but
will be broad, high, flat, and couched a little
inward
  A  Walk and Trot in Hand.] Having with
care examined the horse,  let him be  run in
hand  a gentle trot; by this you will soon
perceive,  if he is lame or not.  Make  the
man lead him by the end of the bridle ; as in
this case you cannot be  deceived by the man's
being too near him.  The far fore leg,  and
near hind leg, or the  near fore leg and far
hind leg, should move  and go forward at one
and the same  time ;  and in this motion, the
nearer the  horse takes his limbs  from  the
ground,  the   opener,  the evener,  and the
shorter is his pace.
  Forgirig.] If he takes up his feet sloven-
ly, it shows stumbling  or lameness ; to tread
narrow, or  cross, shows interferiner, or fail-
ing : to step uneven, shows weariness ; and
if he treads long, you may be apprehensive
he  forges: by which I mean, that when he
walks, or trots,  he strikes the  toes  of his 
220
Carver's Farrier.
hind feet against  the  corners of his shoes
before,  which  occasions a clattering noise
as you ride : and this proceeds generally from
the weakness of his four legs, he not having
strength in them to raise them up sufficient-
ly quick to make way for the hind ones.  A
horse of this kind is not near so serviceable
as one  exempt from it ; and the dealers, to
get rid of him, will make abundance of pre-
tences.   If he has been just shod, they will
say, the farrier has put on  him too  long
shoes.   If his  shoes are old,  they will tell
you he has just come off a  long journey, and
is much fatigued.  You must not therefore
be over credulous to any thing a jockev or
dealer affirms ; for what they say in this man-
ner, is too often with  an intent to deceive  ;
and it is very certain, that a horse who forg-
es can  never be  surefooted, any more than
one who has tottering and  bow legs.
   Walk and Trot mounted.]  On  his being
mounted, see him walk.  Observe his mouth,
that he  pulls fair,  not too  high, nor bearing
down : then stand behind  him, and see if he
goes narrower before than behind : as every
horse that goes well on his legs goes in that
manner.  Take notice  that he brushes not
by  going too close ; a certain sign of his cut- 
Carver's Farrier.          221
 ting, and tiring in travelling.   Have nothing
 to  do  with that horse who throws his legs
 confusedly about, and crosses  them before :
 this you may observe by standing exactly be-
 fore or behind him, as he is going along.  In
 his trot, he should point his fore-legs  well,
 without clambering, nor yet  as if he were
 afraid; and that he  throws well in his hind
 legs, which will enable him to support his
 trot, and shoot his fore parts forwards.
  A Canter or Gallop.]  In his canter, ob-
 serve he does not fret, but goes cool in his
 pace; and  in his gallop, that he take his feet
 nimbly from the ground,  and do  not  raise
 them too high ; but  that he stretcheth out
 his fore legs, and follows  nimbly with his
 hind ones ; and that he cutteth  not under his
 knee, (which  is called the swift or speedy
 cut) that he crosses not, nor lays one foot on
 another; and ever leadeth with his far fore
 foot, and not with the near one.   If he gallops
round, and raises  his fore feet, he may7 be
 said to gallop strongly, but not swiftly ; and
 if he  labours his feet confusedly, and seems
to gallop painfully, it  shows  some hidden
lameness;  for in all his  paces, you should
particularly observe that his limbs  are free,
without the least stiffness.
                  2 t 
222          Carver's Farrier.
  Tottering legs.] Now that he has been well
exercised in those different paces, it is your
time to examine for an infirmity  not easily
discovered, and that is what I call Tottering
Legs: You cannot percieve it till after a horse
has galloped for some time ; and then, by let-
ting him rest a little, you  will  see  his legs
tremble under him, which is the disorder I
mean : how handsome soever the legs of such
a horse may be, he never can stand well on
them ; you are therefore  not to mind what
the jockey says, when he talks of the beauty
of the limbs; for  if you oblige him to gallop
the horse, or fatigue him pretty much, (which
is commonly done in order to try the  crea-
ture's bottom) you will, in all likelihood, dis-
cover this defect,  unless you suffer the groom
to gallop him to the stable door, and put him
up  in a moment;  which he will  certainly en-
deavour to do, if  he is conscious of  it, while
the master has another horse ready  to show
you, in order to take off your attention from
what he is afraid you should see.
  Thus having, to the best of my judgment,
gone through  every requisite  observation
relative to the purchase of a horse, studiously
avoiding its being drawn into an unnecessary
length, yet at the same time being as careful 
Carver's Farrier.         223
 to avoid an affected brevity, the  gentlemen,
 to whom many of my observations are famil-
 iar, will please to observe, that I have endea-
 voured, as much as possible, to write for the
 information of a person entirely unacquaint-
 ed with the qualifications which form a com-
 plete horse; in the purchase of  which,  the
 person should particularly  consider  the end
 for which he  buys; whether for  running,
 hunting, travelling, draught or burden: and
 it is therefore almost unnecessary to remind
 him, that the biggest and strongest are fittest
 for strong  occasions, burdens, draught,  or
 double-carriage ;  as the middle  size is for
 hunting, pleasure, general employments, and
 the least for summer hackneys.   The last
 thing I shall take the freedom to observe to
 my reader, is, that  a very  small  portion  of
 this treatise has been taken form a late publi-
 cation, deficient in many respects, though,
at the same time, containing some trite ob-
 servations ; and that the bulk of it has been
 compiled from my own  experience, assisted
 by various authors on the subject, of which
 Monsieur  Saunier  is the  principal.  All I
 have therefore  to observe is, that it was com-
 piled at the request  of  the publishers, as a
 suitable companion to a book of the same 
224          Carver's Farrier.

size, entitled, The Gentleman's Pocket Far-
rierry ; showing how to  use  a horse  on a
journey ; and what remedies  are proper for
common accidents that  may befal him on the
road:  which having been universally ap-
proved, and met with a very  extensive sale,
they are hopeful, that a well drawn up assis-
tant  towards  the purchase of a horse,  des-
cribing the disorders, &c. to which he is lia-
ble,  might stand fair to  be  received with
marks of the same public approbation.
           THE  STALLION.
        [From the Farrier's Dictionary, by Dr. Hunter.]
   Stallions should be chosen as free as pos-
sible from all kinds of natural imperfections.
They  should in particular be  totally free
from moon, watery, and blood-shotten eyes,
splents, spavins, curbs, &c. for all  these im-
perfections are liable to  be entailed on their
stock, which must of course render them infi-
nitely less valuable than such as are free from
every thing of the kind.   Perhaps it  is ut-
terly impossible to find a stallion that is total-
ly free from  imperfection,  but they should
at least have none  of  the gross ones above- 
Carver's Farrier.          225
mentioned ; in addition to which they should
be bony, of a good colour, a fine shape, and
above all, high spirited and full of mettle.
  At four  years of age, a stallion  is fit for
covering, and most of them  will  continue
able to get colts till they are twenty or up-
wards, though it is suspected that the stock
of old  horses is far inferior to that got by
them in their prime and vigour.
  Stallions should  be  so  high fed  as to be
full of  lust and vigour, and twelve,  fourteen
or at most, twenty mares, are as many as  a
good horse  should be  permitted to cover in
one season.  It may not be amiss to observe,
that when  mares are covered in hand, or at
large, they should have the same kind of
feeding as the stallion, that is to say,  if the
horse is at hard meat, the mare should be so
likewise, or  she will be apt not  to hold to
him so well.   In like manner, if the stallion
is at grass,  the mares should  be  at  grass
likewise.
  When the stallion has done his  duty, let
him be removed from the mares : they like-
wise should  be  put   into  fresh  pasture.
Those mares that are in midling case gener-
ally conceive the most easily, whereas those
that are fat and gross  hold with more difn- 
226
Carver's Farrier.
culty ; such, however, of both descriptions
as are hot, and in  season, retain a  great deal
better, their heat exciting the stallion to per-
form  his  part of the  action  with  greater
vigour and ardour.
  When you  have a mare  covered in hand
that she may the  more certainly stand to the
horse, let  the mare and stallion  stand  in the
same  stable  for some  time,  that they may
see each other, which will make them both
more  keen, and  consequently more apt to
generate.
  It is the opinion of many,  that a stallion
should be  well fed for at least three months
before he  is to cover.   He should also be led
out to water twice a day  at least, and gently
exercised  each time  for an hour or therea-
bouts, but not so as to make him sweat. For
if he be not thus brought into condition and
wind  before he covers, he will be in  danger
of becoming pursive,  or broken-winded, and
if he is not  well  fed  at  the  same time,  he
will be unable to perform his task in a proper
manner, at  best  his  stock would be poor,
pitiful, weak things, and no credit to their
sire : and besides, if he was  not in a proper
condition  at  the  commencement of the sea-
son, he would be so reduced  before it  is 
Carver's Farrier.          227
concluded, that though you take all imagina-
ble care and pains of him after, he will  con-
tinue very weak for a long time.
  If he is put to too many mares, it will soon
wear him  down, and his mane and tail will
fret and fall off through mere poverty, and it
will be  found a difficult matter, notwithstand-
ing the length  of ti ne that intervenes,  to
bring him into condition against the season
following.
            BREEDING MARES.
    In speaking of mares, we shall only consid-
  er them as kept for breeding; for which pur-
  pose they should be chosen as free from de-
  fects as possible, and should  (no more than
\  stallions)  have  either  moon, watery,  or
  blood-shotten eyes, nor  any splent, spavin,
!  curb, or other natural imperfection,  as  the
i  colts would be  apt to have the same.  But
I  choice should be made of the best and ablest,
  the  highest spirited, and finest shapes that
  can be,  for such only can  be expected to
s  breed valuable colts.  As for example, if you
  would breed for the manage or pad, let your
  mares have fine forehands, their heads well 
228         Carver's Farrier.
set on,  large  sparkling eyes, broad roomy
breasts, and legs not too long.  They should
be of a gentle disposition, and all their mo-
tions both nimble and graceful.  But if you
would breed for hunting or racing, the mares  !
must be lighter, with short backs,  and long  |
sides;  their legs must likewise be longer,
and their breasts not so broad ; but above all
things, be sure to make choice of such mares
for this purpose, as have got good  blood  in
their  veil s.   If you  have  tried the  speed
and w7ind of any mare that you wish to breed
from, and find her to your mind, you  need
not fear of having a good colt, providing she
is in health and vigour, and  you put her to a
good horse.
  A mare may be put to the horse when she
is past two  years old, but the best age for a
breeding mare is from  four to seven, for  al-
though she may breed  to fourteen or fifteen,
she cannot nourish the colt so well, and be-
sides it has long been remarked, that an old
mare's colt is  more dull and heavy at labour,
than that of a  young one.   Some people will
tell you, that the best time for a mare to be
covered, is from the end of the first quarter
to the full of the moon, and that colts got at
that time will  be much stronger and hardier, 
            Carver s  Farrier.          229

than such as are got during the other periods
of the moon's age ; this, however, is but little
regarded among  breeders, nor do I believe
that those who are the greatest advocates for
such a notion, can advance one sound argu-
ment in support of it.  It will not, however,
be amiss ^o take the mare into the stable, and
have her well fed with good hay and oats for
a few weeks before she is covered, that she
may have strength and vigour to perform the
office of generation.   It is not uncommon to
take about a quart of blood from  each side
of the mare's neck a few days before  she is
put to the horse, in order that she may the
more certainly concieve, or stand to him.  As
for the manner of covering it  is pretty well
known that the mare  should be brought out
into some roomy place, and be either tied to a
post, or held in the hand, while some stone
horse of little value is brought out to try her,
and provoke her lustful appetite ; after which
the stallion should be  led to her, and suffer-
ed to leap her, and when  he is dismounted,
let a pail of cold water be thrown over her
hinder parts,  which will  make  her  shrink
and truss up  her body,  and  consequently
must occasion her to retain the seed more cer-
tainlj than otherwise  she might do.  Let her
                   U 
22LO          Carver's Farrier.
 then be taken away out of the hearing of the
 horse, and let her neither eat nor drink for
 four or five hours ; but at the end of that time
 give her a mash, and afterwards feed  her as
 usual. You will  soon be able to tell whether
 she  stands to her covering, by her keeping a
 good appetite, and not neighing at the sight of
 a horse.   While, on the contrary, you may
 conclude,  that  she does not stand,  if  she
 neighs at every horse that comes in her sight,
 or stales  often,  and frequently  opens and
 shuts her shape.
   The same method of feeding the mare with
 good hay and oats should be followed for a
 few  weeks after  covering, during which time
 she  should be kept in  the  stable, with little
 or no exercise,  and be well cleaned; after
 which she may be turned out for the summer,
 and  taken up again towards the latter end of
 September, after which she should continue
 to be housed till after she has foaled.
   If there should happen  any  difficulty in
 foaling, authors recommend holding the nos-
 trils so close, that the mare cannot take  wind ;
 and if that has not the wished for effect, they
 recommend a decoction of madder roots or
 fennel in water,  with the addition of a little
wine, or ale, to be given luke-warm.  Some 
Carver's Farrier.          231
mares are apt to eat the secondines after foal-
ing, but they should be prevented if possible,
as it is unnatural food, and will  injure their
health.   When  the  foal has been licked,
and before he is permitted to suck, let some
one milk the mare, which will  both cause
her milk to come down more easily,  and in
greater abundance,  and likewise prevent her
udder from becoming  wedged,  which often
occasions them to go dry, or at least to ap-
pear so ;  though while  this is a recent thing,
the cure  is frequently very easily effected by
the following simple application.
  Let as much milk as can be obtained from
her, be boiled with  some lavender flowers in
it, and the udder thoroughly bathed with the
warm  decoction three  or four times a day.
But if no milk can  be  obtained,  cow's milk,
or even water, may be substituted in its stead,
as the effect is produced entirely by the heat
of the liquor, and the penetrating  qualities
of  the lavender flowers, which  together
mollify and soften the tumour; and then the
colt, by  sucking more and more  as it gets
strength, will  prevent  any accident of that
kind from happening in future.
  The water that is given to mares for the
first month, or  thereabouts,  after foaling, 
232          Carver's Farrier.
should have some  bran put into it, and  be
stirred together till the  mixture becomes
white.  This is what horse-dealers call the
white mash. ' At the end of the  month she
may  have a little brimstone and savin given
her in a moderate  strong decoction.   And
after that, she may be put occasionally to any
moderate exercise, which will be of service
to both her and the colt ; only care should
be taken not to let the  latter suck while the
mare is hot, as he might be surfeited thereby,
and his growth  greatly hindered.
   A great many receipts are given by differ-
ent authors for preventing mares from going
barren, slipping their foals, &c. but they ap-
pear too trifling and insignificant to be intro-
duced in the present work.
   Mares are  said to go eleven months, and
as many days with foal, as they are years old,
but I imagine that they are no more exact in
bringingforth their young to a few days, than
other animals.
    PARTS OF A HORSE'S BODY.
  1. The hair and hide, which includes all
the hair and skin on the horse's body. 
Carver's Farrier.          233
   2.  The mane,  or  that long  hair on  the
 horse's neck.
   3.  The fore-top, or topping, which hangs
 down the face.
   4.  The fetter-lock, or fetlock, the hair that
 grows behind the feet.
   5.  The coronet or cronet,  the  hair that
 surrounds the top  of the hoof.
   6.  The brills,  which is the hair on  the
 eyelids.

   The external parts of the head and  neck
                 are  as follow :
   1.  The crest or crist,  that  ridge on the
 neck  on which the mane grows.
   2.  The neck itself, by which is meant the
whole of that part of a horse  which is be-
 twixt his head and breast, or shoulders.
   3.  The breast, brisket, or chest, is the fore
 part of  the neck,  from the shoulders down
to the fore legs.
   4. The star, or blaze, is in the forehead.
   5. The rache, down the face, when the
hair there is of a different colour to that on
the other parts of the  head.
        The parts of the body are:
   1. The withers, the top of the shoulder
blades, at the  setting on of the neck.
                    u2 
234         Carver's Farrier.
  2. The dock, or  place where the  saddle
is put.
  3. The navel-gall, or that part of the back
opposite to the navel.
  4. The reins, are all the middle  part  or
ridge of the back, from the mane to the tail.
  5. The dock or strunt, which is the tail of
the horse.
  6. The fundament or tuel.
   7.  The swayed back, is the hollow or sink-
ing down of the back bone.
   8.  The thropple or  windpipe
  9. The girth place, or the fore part of the
belly.
  10. The belly or navel place, the  middle
of the belly, or that part where the navel is.
   11. The flank, or the hinder part  of the
belly next the sheath.
   12.  The  groins, or  hinder parts near the
thighs, on each side.
   13. The  sheath in which  the  yard is in-
closed.
   14. The yard itself.
   15. The nut, or glans, at .the extremity of
 the yard.
   16. The cods, or the loose  skins which
 contain  the stones.
   17. The fillets, or fore parts  of the shoul-
 der next the breast. 
             Carver's Farrier.         235

   18. The two sides, near and off, or farther
and rising sides.
   19. The buttocks, or hindermost parts of
the horse's body.
  20. The top of the buttock, or  that part
next the ridge of the back and the tail.
   The parts of the legs and thighs are  rec-
oned in the following manner :
   1. The stifle, or stifle joint,  which is the
first joint or bending at  the  buttock  and
above the thigh.
  2. The thigh or that part betwixt the stifle
and the gambril.
  3. The gambril, or elbow, is that joint or
bending of the  upper part of the  hind leg
that bends backwards, whereas the bend of
the stifle  comes forwards.
   4. The ham and bight, or bought, or the
inward bending  of the chambril.  The ben-
ding of the knees in the fore legs  are like-
wise characterised by the same name.
   5. The  hough,  leg, or  shank.   This
reaches from the chambril to the fetlock, or
pastern joint.
   6. The small  of the legs, is  the  smallest
part of both the  fore and hind legs.
   7. The foul of the legs. 
236         Carver's Farrier.

   8. The back sinews,  which are the back
parts of the legs, just above the fetlocks.
   9. The pastern joint, fetlock,  or  ancle,
is the joint in the fetlock which  in all the
feet bends forward.
   10. The coronet  is  the  foot  above the
hoof of the ancle joint, and is called by the
same name in all  the feet.
   11. The curb.
   12. The shoulder is that  part which ex-
tends from the withers to the top part of the
fore thigh.
   13. The thigh  reaches  from the  bent of
the thigh to the knee.
   14. The off legs are those on the right
side, and the near legs those on the left,
which is likewise  called the rising side.
   The feet consist of the following parts :
   1. The hoof or horn.
   2. The coffin, or the hollow of the hoof in
which the foot is fixed.
   3. The frush, or that  tender part of  the
hoof next to the heeL
   4. The sole of  the foot.
   5. The frog, or as some call it, the ball of
the foot.
   6. The riff of the hqpf, or the part that is
pared or cut off when grown too long be-
twixt the frush and the heel. 
             Carver's Farrier.          237

   7. The heel,  or  the rising in the middle
of the sole.
   8. The toes, or fore parts of the hoofs.
   9. The quarters,  or insides of the hoofs.
   10. The pastern, or that part which reach-
es from the fetlock to the hoof.
   The parts of a horse's  body which many
people suppose most proper  to draw blood
away from, are the following:
   1. The jugular veins, which lie on each
side of the  neck, and these are commonly
opened for the farcy,  mange, repletion, &c.
  2. When a bite or blow has  been receiv-
ed in t he eye, it is usual to take away blood
from the  temples with a very small lancet.
  3. Farriers  have a lancet  made on pur-
pose for opening the veins under the tongue
which operation they perform for head-achs
or for being disgusted or overheated with
hard labour, as  likewise for the vives,  &c.
  4. It is usual to bleed  horses in the gris-
tle of the nose for the same complaints, but
it is sometimes  rather a difficult matter to
hit the vein.
  5. Some let horses blood in the middle of
the palate, either with a lancet or sharp horn
for the same disorders.
  6. Blood  is  taken from the veins in the 
238          Carver's Farrier.

thigh for  strains in the shoulders, or for the
mange in those parts.
   7. Horses  are bled in  the  pasterns  with
either a fleam or a lancet, for strains, or other
infirmities of the hams or knees.
   8. They are likewise let blood in the toes
with a buttress or drawing-knife,  for  swell-
ings in the legs,  and  the like.
   9. The veins in the flanks  are sometimes
opened with a small lancet made on purpose
for the farcy  in the adjacent parts.
   10. Sometimes  blood  is  drawn  with
fleams from the  flat  part of the thighs, for
blows or strains in the haunches;  and
   11. They  sometimes bleed horses in the
tail or dock, with a long lancet, for fevers
and short or thick-windedness ;  it is, howe-
ver, a matter of little moment,  some  few
cases excepted, from  what part of the  body
blood is drawn, notwithstanding the  diver-
sity of opinions entertained about it.
  SIGNS OF DISEASE IN HORSES.
  The  first symptom  of indisposition in
these creatures is their loathing their food,
and whenever  this takes place, the master 
Carver's Farrier.          239
of the beast  should take the alarm, and en-
deavour to  find out the cause, that a timely
remedy  may be  applied.  In order to do
this,  observe if he looks wild and haggard
or dull and stupid, also whether his ears  are
cold or warm, his mouth  hot, foaming,  dry,
or clammy; or if the hair about his flanks is
rough and  staring,  and  his dung hard, or
black,  or of a  greenish  cast, or his urine
pale  and like water ;  from  which appearan-
ces you will be  enabled,  in some measure,
to judge of  the nature of the complaint, and
of the cousequences with which it is likely
to be attended.
   When a  horse that has been long ill stales
without striding,  or even without drawing
his sheath,  letting the water drop from  the
skin, it is almost  a sure indication of death,
unless, as is the cas e with some horses, they
have been accustomed to stale in this man-
ner when they were in health.
   It  is likewise a bad sign when the  hair on
his scull, or that on  his  tail, can be easily
pulled  off.
■-   Another  dangerous symptom  is, that if a
horse  never lying down during his  illness,
or if he does, starting up again immediately ;
 such horses seldom  recovering. 
240
Carver's Faarier.
  When the eyes of a horse are subject to
weep, and he  hangs down his head and ap-
pears heavy, stumbles  as he walks, and is
slow, though he used to be lively and vigor-
ous, never minds other  horses, frequently
lies down and gets up again, looks  towards
his flanks, and is indifferent and mindless of
what is done about him, that horse is in dan-
ger.
   But to speak more  particularly, if a horse
is heavy in the countenance, much scoured
or very costive, short  of  breath,  troubled
with a hollow cough, works in the flanks,
and hangs down his ears, it is a fever ;  and
sometimes  these symptomes are the  fore-
runners of the staggers.
  When a horse turns his head back  fre-
quently to his right side it indicates some
obstruction, or disease  of the liver ;   but
when he puts it down, almost under his bel-
ly, it is a sign that he is troubled with worms
or bots, or else that he is afflicted with  pain
in his bowels from the cholic, or some other
cause.
  A stinking breath, or foul matter proceed-
ing from the nostrils, indicates an ulcer or
imposthume in the head ; and if the matter is
black, white, or yellow, and  very offensive, 
Carver's Farrier.          241
it is a fatal sign, as it shews that the glanders,
or a consumption of the lungs, are the occa-  -
sion.
  The breath, or body being very hot, indi-
cates a feverish disposition, or a preternatu-
ral  heat at the stomach; and the  tongue
hanging out, and being swelled, betokens an
inflammation of the liver, or some other of
the principal viscera.   The strangles occa-
sion a horse to heave  violently in  the flanks,
as likewise  do most  feverish complaints.
Sometimes however, this symptom is owing
to the horse's wind being touched, or bro-
ken.
  A swelling under   the  throat, attended
with a continual  propensity  to cough, is a
sign that the glanders are to be  feared ;  if
the swelling is about the root of the tongue
perhaps the strangles  are the sole cause of
it ;  and if there is nothing but little knots,
like waxen-kernels, they may have been oc-
casioned by a common cold, without  indi-
cating any disease whatever. Whenever a
horse  appears  scabby, and  looses the hair
from his body and neck, it is a certain sign
that he has got the mange ; and ulcers, full
of knots, spreading about the veins, charac-
terise the farcy, or canker.
                   X 
242          Carver's Farrier.
   When the left side swells without any ap-
 parent external cause, there is reason to sus-
 pect that the spleen is diseased.   The cho-
 lic will sometimes occasion a tumour in the
 flank,  and it is a common case to see the bel-
 ly and legs of such horses as are inclined to
 be dropsical, swell, and become much larger
 than they were in a state of health.
   When a horse's coat  stares and is rough
 it may be owing to being badly cloathedand
 looked after, but is not unfrequently the ef-
 fect  of a  bad  stomach, or the symptom of a
 foundering in  the chest.  Leanness  and
 gauntness are generally accompanied by hide
 bound, inflammation of the liver, chest foun-
 dering, worms, cholic, or the yellows; stal-
 ing with  difficulty is a  symptom of the  stone
 or wind cholic ; and if the urine he passes
 be thick, and of  a blackish colour, it  indi-
 cates that  one  or  both of the  kidnies are
diseased.
  Trembling is indicative of a fever, par-
ticularly  when  a horse   shivers  violently
after drenching.   Scouring indicates  great
heat in the liver, and costiveness is a sign of
the yellows, or other diseases of the gall and
liver.       ,
 . If you  see a horse frequently striking at 
Carver's Farrier.         243
his belly, you may conclude that he has got
the cholic ; but if at the same time he frisks
his tail, it betokens his being  infested with
worms or bots.
   When  a horse that has been  some  time
sick, stales clear,  and there is no sediment
formed therein on  its being set by, it is rath-
er a dangerous symptom, but if it turns of a
reddish or yellowish colour, and has a cloud
swiming  in  it that is  neither black  nor
earthy, and  deposits a kind of brickdust-
like sediment,  smelling strong at the same
time, it is a good sign in general, and is fre-
quently the prelude  to a speedy recovery.
   If at different periods of the disease it
varies  greatly, sometimes appearing of an
healthy aspect, and at  others quite the re-
verse,  there  is danger to be apprehended
as it is a sure indication that there is a  con-
siderable  degree of malignity in the disease.
The best appearances of a horse's urine are
a yellowish colour, a thickish consistence, a
strong smell, and  penetrating  quality, for
these all betoken health and vigour, whereas
the contrary  of any of these  indicate ap-
proaching disease.
   But there is nothing by which an intelli-
gent person can judge better, respecting the 
244          Carver's Farrier.
health "of  his horses, than by their dunging.
For the colour and consistence of a horses ex-
crements, are sure indications of the inward
state of his body,  and ought to be well at-
tended to when he is in his best health, and
at best feeding,  that  when  he is found to
alter therefrom in any particular, a judgment
may be the b etter and more clearly formed
respecting his  health or sickness.   The
dung" of  a horse  that is clean, well  fed,
and  free  from disease, will ever be  found
clear, crisp,  and of a pale yellowish hue,
hanging   together, and not easily separating
more than as it  is broken  in falling to the
ground by its own weight,  and is of such
a consistence that it will be a little flatted by
ils fall to the ground,  \i his first and second
dung be well coloured, and yet fall from him
in round pellets  or scybals, and the rest be
good, there is no harm to be  dreaded, for
this  is only an indication that he has been
eating hay lately, which will always produce
this  effect, but  if all  his dung is of  that
hard kind, it betokens  foul feeding, and that
he has eaten  too much litter or hay, and too
little corn.  When a horse's  dung is voided
in round  hard  pellets, of a dark  blackish
brown  colour, it discovers  inward heat of 
Carver's Farrier.          245
the body ;  if  it be  greasy, it is a sign of
great foulness.   Again, if  the  dung be
strong and hard, it indicates that his  heats
have been too violent, and if care  is not ta-
ken to  prevent it, costiveness will ensue.
If it be pale and loose, it shows he  has had
too much moist and corrupt feeding, or that
his body is inwardly  cold.
   The disease of the  Mouth and Tongue, is
indicated by an inflammation of the lungs and
throat, attended with  a violent fever, difficul-
ty of breathing and loss of appetite;  the head
and throat swelled, the jaws stiffened, and
the tongue swelled, and looking like that of
a person having the yellow fever or the small
pox, and the pulse will beat fifty strokes a
minute instead of forty, as it should do in a
state of good health.
   After all that can be said on this head, the
most experienced farrier will frequently find
himself at a loss to distinguish one complaint
from  another,  as he  has  nothing to  assist
him in  making the discovery  but his  own
judgment, and such symptoms as are  most
predominant  at  the  time,  many  of which
are common to several diseases.  It is  well
however, in such  doubtful cases, to be ac-
quainted  with all the principal symptoms
                   x2 
 246         Carver's Farrier.
 with which the diseases of this noble animal
 are accompanied, as such  a knowledege,
 though it will not always prove an infallible
 guide, will give  the  person who possesses
 it a decided  superiority over him  that  has
 neglected to make so  useful an acquirement
his own. 
CONCLUSION.
   Every- person that has had a long expe-
rience and  is acquainted  with the power of
drugs, from his  own  knowledge  must be
aware of the extreme difficulty of ascertaining
their medicinal properties, and their effects
on different constitutions, and also in the dif-
ferent stages of the same disease.  There are
many circumstances to which the practition-
er does not, or perhaps cannot sufficiently at-
tend ; whic h vary their operation and effects,
and  is frequently disappointed  in his calcula-
tions and expectations of those medicines with
which he is best acquainted.
   Thus briefly, I have thought necessary to
inform gentlemen of  the  great uncertainty
of medicines in general; to the end that they
may  not be  imposed on by the trifling reas-
onings of those who pretend to the healing
art in  horses ; and  who  are often pouring
down nauseous drenches into the stomach of
the animal,  and if  he was not  almost proof
against them, he could never bear the attacks
of those  combustibles.  It is  the judicious
timing and adapting the medicine to the na- 
248          Carver's Farrier.
 ture  of  the  disease,  that  will constitute a
 beneficial remedy.
   It  has often occured to  me, that if a few
 young men in this country would turn their
 attention to the cultivation  of this important
 branch of  science, and make the veterinary
 art their study, they might  become useful to
 the community and rise to  opulence, by the
 profession.  There are many who have good
 educations, and although there are  no vete-
 rinary colleges in this  country they  might
 derive the necessary  information from the
 study of the most celebrated authors, sue h
 as Barcken, Gibson, Bartlet, Taplin, &c. and
 the books of the  veterinary college  at Lon-
 don, written by Mr. Blame.  These gentle-
 men were  all surgeons and physicians, and
 thought is  no disparagement  to make the
 anatomy and  economy of  the horse their
 study.   By a proper   application to these
 works, a young man, even of ordinary capa-
 city, might in a short time become a profi-
 cient in Farriery.   While a great number of
coxcombs are boasting of their diplomas and
 smattering of Latin, &c. and at the same time
are destitute of a  knowledge of the  laws of
nature ; a young  man, by attending to the
works, which I have just mentioned, might 
Carver's Farrier.          249
rise  superior to  all their bombast, and as I
before observed  acquire an ample  fortune.
It is by the study of those books, and an ex-
tensive practice that I have obtained a knowl-
edge of the horse.
  The  receipts which I have given, I hope
will not be thought too numerous or compli-
cated.   I have avoided as much as  possible
a numerous composition of drugs and herbs,
such as most authors have prescribed ; and
for  this reason,  that before they could be
obtained and prepared, the horse would be
dead ;  almost all  the medicines which I have
recommended can easily be procured, and
administered in a short  space  of time ; be-
sides, there is a difficulty in adjusting  the
quantities and qualities of drugs, even among
persons who are well acquainted with them.
In short I have endeavoured to prescribe the
cure by the most expeditious  method pos-
sible.
  It cannot  be  expected that  an extensive
progress in the art of Farriery   can be made
in this country,  until some ingenious young
men apply themselves  to  the  study of  the
anatomy and dissection  of  the  horse in all
his  parts.  This alone  will unfold to their
minds a new scene of contemplation,  instruc- 
250           Carver's Farrier.

tion and delight.  They will then behold
the wonderful wrorks of nature in the forma-
tion of that noble and valuable animal, and
exclaim with Galen, who was said to have
been an atheist, on his finding a human skele-
ton ;—This said he is of too great a construc-
tion to be  the production of chance.   By
pursuing this laudable  method,  the young
student will be led to dissect other animals
and  become  acquainted with comparative
anatomy.   He may  become  an ornament to
society  in  his day and  generation ; and it
will lead him to  contemplate nature and her
immutable laws, and without a  knowledge
of those laws, the greatest professional cha-
racter must be an ignoramus.
   As the first edition of this  work was dis-
posed of in the course of eight months, it was
thought advisable to publish a second, under
the impression that the first met the appro-
bation  of the public.  It will be found that
the second far exceeds  the  first in point of
size ; and contains an original treatise on the
subject of the origin, progress, and mode of
treatment to be  observed  in  the  distemper
that has recently made its appearance among
horses, in Pennsylvania, N. York, and several
other states.   The  present  edition is em- 
Carver's Farrier.          251
bellished with three excellent engravings on
wood, of the skeleton of the horse, exhibiting
a clear and comprehensive view of the intes-
tines, and another  showing the  age of the
horse by his teeth.
  It will be of the utmost importance for the
reader to attend to the chapter on alteratives,
and particularly  to  the use of nitre,  as  by
practical experience,  I have given  to the
quantity of half a pound per day, particularly
in fevers and inflammatory  cases, with  good
effect.   Almost all physicians have attacked
the  solids, and neglected too much the fluid
system.
  Hoping this work may prove of utility to
the  owners and lovers of horses, the author
takes his leave of the public, and subscribes
himself
            Their obedient servant,
                WILLIAM CARVER.
  New York, May, 1820. 
 
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