Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1884-08-04

The eve of horse 10 as expressive as
the eve OF a human being" said Mr.. hey,
OF the Society for the Prevention OF Cruelty
to Animals, to a Star reporter. ''lt Will
express affection, pleasure. contentment,
care. fear and pain as plainly as the eye
of man. and as practical observer can
understand and correctly interpret the
VARYING conditions Of the mind as depicted
in The face OF person, so one VINO mas
studied the features Of animals can draw
from them a correct conclusion as to their
mental state.
DO YOU mean to say that by noting the
expression in the eye of horse you can
tell whether or not it is diseased, ana me
character of its ailment, II 1t has any
asked The Star reporter.
Yes and no. was the reply Il can
TELL whether or not the beast IS suffering,
but can not tell the cause. further ex-
animation is necessary TO ascertain that.
For example Last year l saw a horse
that by the expression of its eyes told me
that il was suffering acute pain. called
the attention Of the gentleman who was
with me to the circumstance, and, as the
driver was then absent, we waited Tor him
to appear and star the horse TO WORK. as
the law requires Us to see an act which
will constitute legal cruelty before we can
make complaint. As soon as he had
started the cart stopped him and made
an examination. | looked at the sboeing
of the horse looked at the harness; |
looked for swellings; but could hnd moth
ing. Still there was an expression OF
| pain staring through the eyes of the ami
! NAL. and was baffied al first, for | knew
| the horse was suffering. At last | pulled
| aside the heavy torelock, and there l dis
covered cloth, stiff and caked with blood
and pus, which had issued from wound
across the forehead given by blow with
club. SO you see now what | mean by
speaking Of the expression OF the eye AS
conveying TO an observer the condition OF
the horse"
Does it require any peculiar quality in .
the mind of a person to be able to perceive
and understand the expression IN the eye .
of an animal ?''
mo. Close observation and sympathy
i. all that is necessary. | was raised In
the blue grass region OF Tennessee and
Kentucky, and have been among horses all
NV life, and the knowledge which possess
OF them is the result Of a long and practi
cal acquaintance with them. You know
how a persons character becomes stamped
in his features, and it is so with the horse
He carries his character in his face as
plainly as YOU or l.. While Barnum's cir
Gus was here | went to his stables, and
afterwards told Mr.. Hutchinson that the
biggest show that saw was his horses.
They were no better fed, no sleeker, and
apparently no better cared for, than many
horses in this city. but they had happy,
contented expression of the eye that be-
| tokened perfect satisfaction. an expression
which is wanting in nlnety-nine out OF
every hundred horses here. ] tell you,
sir" and Mr.. Key grew little warm in
his interest in the subject, THAT the horses
in this city, almost without exception,
have a careworn expression they look as
| if they had something on their mind, and |
the universal appearance of gratitied de- /
| sires and the real contentment of the /
horses in the circus struck me with amaze |
ment and sought tor the explanation. l
found it after examining the feet of fifty
of them, and it is right here, they were
perfectly shod and their hoofs were prop
erly cared for. They stood on damp
ground and the frog of every foot was on
the ground. too. The frog of horses
foot forms an elastic cushion. which pre-
vents a sudden shock to his frame when
he is moving. but the ordinary blacksmith
never thinks of this. In fact, he has no
more idea of horses foot. its structure
and requirements. than if he never saw
one. When he operates on horse he is
not satisfied with pairing away the hoof,
and frequently he pares away too much,
| but in order to make the shoe fit more
closely he applies it hot from the furnace
to the horses foot drying up the juices,
closing pores that should be open. and
not content with this. nails On the shoe
and pares again by rasping off the
outside with file to make neat job.
The horse is then driven over the
hot pavement and placed in a stall
on dry floor, and very seldom does
the owner of the horse battle its hoofs,
while in reality the horse needs foot
bath as much as the owner himself. Is it
any wonder then that nine-tenths of the
diseases of horses in this city are the out
growth of bad shoeing? | went to the
blacksmith shop connected with the circus
after it had been here day and halt,
and could carry away in my hand every
boot pairing in the shop In the ordinary
way of shoeing the hoof shrinks and
cracks, and the frog of the foot is between
a couple of stills, so that it does not re-
ceive and modify the shock. can make
the statement positively that nne-tenths
OF the horse diseases arise directly and in
directly from careless and ignorant shoe
ing"
'Do you receive n willing cooperation
from the officials here in your work OF
preventing cruelty ?"
| Yes. indeed" said Mr.. Key, they
could not help me more than they do if
they were all kinsmen. have always
! found them ready to assist me by any
means in their power and with their aid
you will see that have been able to stop
some crying abuses Take the case of
the individual who came up here from AL
exandria last August, hired horse at a
! livery stable and run the pour beast to
death. We arrested him and Judge Smell
/ fined him Sl75 or six months in the work
/ house. He worked out his sentence We
struck off card giving the details of the
case and sent it around to the livery men,
and since then there has been a marked
/ Improvement in the treatment of horses
/ by persons who hire them. We have in
numerous instances prevented the spread
I of chambers and the work of tho socsatv