St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-07-08
HORSES IN SUMMER.
The Management They Should
Receive to Secure the Mos Eff
: ficient Service


Receive to Secure the Mos Eff
ficient Service.
The weakest part of the horse is the
foot, and this is the most important part
of the animal, for mo foot no horse" is
as true as it is trite and common adage,
and no other part of the anatomy of this
indispensable animal is so much mis-
managed as the foot, says the New
York Times. The foot is perhaps most
neglected during summer, season
when judiciOuS treatment is required to
repair the damage inflicted during the
hardshipS OF winter, and when the feet
ment most easily and effectively.
Shoes are used for the preservation of
the feet, and justly so during the winter
season, when the frozen ground wears
down the horn with great rapidity, and
by its uneven surface would bruiSe and
wound the worn and tender sole, unable
to repair by new growth the excessive
wear and tear of the roads. But when
this need has passed and the earth is
soft and yielding and the work of the
fields favor the new growth and eX-
panSion of the hoOf the shoes are no
longer required, but are an injury rather
than help. Under such circumstances
they are not only useless, but, being re-
tanned. they cramp and bind the hOOfS
and exert an injurious pressure upon
the horn and the exceedingly sensitive
membranes which connect this outer
casing of the foot with the vascular
tissue and tendons inclosed within it.
The horn of the foot may be we'll COM
pared with the bones of the head; the
hoof, in fact, in some respects, serves
similar purpose to that of the skull,
which protects the brain from in
jury; and when the hOof is struck
with hammer and the horse hinches,
quite as much pain is inflicted as
when man might be struck on the
head in similar manner. And when,
by congestion of the brain by infamma-
ton and excess of blood in it, the head
manner the foot suffers eXcruciating
pains, and the whole system is dis
turbed sympathetically, when the ex
tremely sensitive organs bound up in
the hoof are inflamed and distended by
the pressure of excess of blood. Thus
it becomes matter for serious care
how the feet of horse should be
managed at this season.
There is certainly no need for shoes
on the feet now, and more especially
none for the retention of the old shoes
which have done service up to this time.
These should be removed and care taken
todraw out all the broken nails. The
foot will then expand on every pressure
of the sole On the soil, and this healthful
action will rapidly encourage a new
growth of tissue, the increase of new
horn, and stronger and more elastic
foot and movement. Nothing is more use
full for hoof that has been contracted
by bad management or by disease
brought OH by bad feeding or injury,
than to remove the shoes and provide
work on plOwed ground or afford run
on smooth pasture. There is no ne
icessity for shoeing farm horses in the
summer; they will be far better without
shoes, but to permit the old shoes to re-
great mistake. Next to the foot the
STOMACH OF A HORSE
is the most ill-used part of the beast.
Feeding is usually done without any
care. The rack is filled with hay, and
the feed box with grain, and water is
given as soon as the animal is brought
out of the stable, to 60 to work with
the stomach filled with dry food. This
courts trouble. 1t makes waste of
food. 1t frequently causes fit of collie,
and it washes the food out of the stOm-
ach into the intestines, through which
it passes undigested and uselessly, often
injuriOuSly, aud escapes with the eXcre-
meut. Ample time should be given for
the animal to eat its food, and water
should be given in small quantity only
after the morning feeding, and always
before the noon and afternoon meals.
Cut feed is always better than dry hay
and whole grain in the summer.
1t is eaten more slowly; the coarse and
fine are thoroughly masticated together
and the digestion of it is better. 1t is
more laxative than dry food, and bran
may be fed in this way better than in
any other, and bran is an excellent sum-
mer food for horses. The hay, too,