The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-04-30
Freventlnr Sore sbo,lde-s

The Country Gentleman says that the
horse that remains idle most of the time
uring the winter must have its shoulders
toughened in some way, else the first month
OF hard pulling will make gals The best
way to tougher the unused shoulders is to
battle them with strong salt water. This
should be begun four to six weeks before
spring work. keep an old fruit can in the
stable. Tie rag around corn cob; throw
handful of salt in the can, fill it with
water, stir it till the salt is dissolved and
then apply it with the cob-rag arrangement.
The work can be done in few minutes and
should be done each evening.
This salt water bath should be kept up
after the horses are put to the pillow. AS the
harness is removed in the evening wash the
shoulders clean with clear water and then
apply the salt water. The horses will enjoy
it much. 1t cools and eases their feversh,
tired shoulders. After employing this salt
water bath for ten years / am convinced
that nothing else is SO good preventive of
CALLED shoulders.
An i'll fitting collar will produce gals as
soon as the horse is kept at hard work. Har-
ness is too careleSsly selected and fitted
often it is not fitted at all. Among horses
shoulders there is as great diversity Of shape
as among mems noses. Whenever a collar
is got for horse the horse should be brought
to the store that the collar may be fitted.
Make the merchant bring out every collar
he has if necessary to get fit, and if aft
cannot be got otherwise have the collar al
tered. This can be done by making slit
along the groove wherein the names fit, op-
poSite the spot on the face of the collar which
is too prominent Through the slit enough
of the packing can be removed and few
blows on the face Of the collar will then re-
duce the prominence Next, the collar must
be fitted to the names or the names
to the collar. The latter is the better
when it can be done without making the
names too weak. The names should be
shaved down until they fit close to the col
lar at every point.
Throwing the collar into pond for a
week, oiling it with "rattlesnake grease, -
ETC., is utter Stiffness. But keeping it we'll
oiled is good preventive of gals. The oil
keeps the leather soft and pliable, hence it
is not apt to chafe the flesh. and is more in
clined to adapt itself to the shoulder. For
oiling harness know Of nothing else so good
as mixture of two parts pure neatsfoot oil
and one part beef tallow. A little castor
oil may be added if the mice are inclined to
nibble; but it is better to get good mouser
than to use the castor oil. The collar should
be cleaned of sweat and dirt each morning.
A dirty collar chafes. For cleaning dull
knife for taking off the rough and cloth
for the finish are good. Cloth pads to cover
the entire face of the collar are now made
and are good. Many collars have one side
harder than the other; observe this and re-
ject such collars always.
Humane feelings aside, it is well to avoid
CALLED shoulders. The horse with whole
shoulders does more and better work. He
starts quicker, pulls harder and more steadily
and does not give up SO soon in tight place.
More, very sore shoulder seriously affects
the health of the animal. The pain affects
its nervous system and lessons digestion and
assimilation. The effect is of the same ma
ture, though perhaps not SO great, as like
pain would have upon you.