The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1885-08-07

The'coper'' does not believe in the tru-
ism of the phrase. If he wants to sell a
horse which is ''knocked," or lame, on
one leg, he proceeds to cure this lame
ness by producing a corresponding all.
inert in the sound one. This he does by
taking the shoe off the sound leg and
inserting a bean between the foot and
the shoe. after which the latter is fas-
tened again. With dexterous handling
the horse appears to go all right. be.
cause the lameness is equal in each leg
1t is needless to say that this trick also
is good only as temporary expedient.
Lameness in horses offers a wide field
for the cooper" Any defect of this
kind which is due to local causes is tenn
porarily abated by keeping the feet,
which have been placed in clay sockets,
well saturated with stimulating solu-
tons.
OF the broken-winded horses, which
the "copper" palms off as sound, there
are several varieties besides the whis-
tiers, grunters, pipers, roarers and high
animals may be called. A few days be-
fore the contemplated sale they are kept
short of water and hay and dosed with
antimony, linseed mash or shot, which
make them seemingly sound for day
or two. An affliction known as the
heaves will subside after an administra-
ton of about four ounces of bird shot.
That is, the horse will not heave until
the shot has passed through him. Then
the evil will be greater than before.
Aremedy for lameness, otter resorted
to by the cooper" is nothing less than
n surgical operation. 1t can hardly be
denounced as trick, because it effects
a cure in many instances, although the
animal remains cripple and is unfit for
any hazardous work. A small incisiOn
is made about halfway from the knee to
the joint of the afflicted leg. At the
back part of the shinbone a small white
tendon or cord will be found. This is
cut off, and the external wound is closed
with stitch.
Some of the ''coper's" tricks work
both ways. In other words, tricks are
not only employed to render an unsound
horse temporarily presentaole to cheat
the purchaser, but sound horses are fire.
quently rendered apparently unsound
to cheat the seller. In the latter in
stance the purchaser of course must
'.stand in" with the sellers Jockey.
Thus it will be seen that dishonesty is at
the bottom of every horse trick. If a
fine wire is fastened tight around the
fetlock of q horse, between the foot and
the heel, the animal will within few
minutes have all the symptoms of being
''foundered." The lameness disappears
as soon as the wire is removed. The
wire should not be left in place longer
than nine hours. A horses hair passed
through the outer and middle tendon
by means of needle, and cut off on
both sides to avoid detection, will also
have the effect of tanning horse Tempo
rarily. To make horse refuse food it
is only necessary to grease his front
teeth and the roof of his mouth with
common beef tallow. The horse will
certainly not eat until the mouth is
washed out. Artificial CHAMBERS may be
easily produced by pouring melted but
ter into one of his ears. There will
soon be a discharge from the ncstrils
looking to all intents and purposes like
genuine CHAMBERS. A horse can be
made balky for day or two by bathing
his shoulder in a solution of canthari-
deS and corrosive sublimate.
In short, there are so many jockey
tricks that the purchase of horse is as
uncertain thing as the venture of
some folks in the matrimonial line-or
any other kind of lottery, for that mat
ter.-Chic0gO Herald