The Arizona sentinel., 1889-06-15
HORSES IN SUMMER.
Timely Suggestions Concerning Shoeing
 Feeding and Harnessing.

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 horse, is as true as it is a trlte and common adage. and no other part Of the anatomy of this indispensable an- imal is so much mismanaged as the 1 foot. The foot is perhaps most neg lected during the summer, a season when judicious treatment is required to repair the damage inflicted during the hardships of the winter, and when the feet may be brought under repara- tive treatment most easily and effect ively.
 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 rapid ity, and by it's uneaven 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 expan- sion of the hoof the shoes are no longer required, but are an injury rather than help. Under such cir cumstances they are not only useless, but, being retained, they cramp and bind the hOOfs and exert an injurious pressure upon the horn and the exceed ingly sensitive membranes which con- meet this outer casing of the foot with the vascular tissue and tendons in- closed within it. The horn of the foot may be we'll compared with the bones of the head; the hoof, in fact, in some respects, serves a similar purpose to that of the skull, which protects the brain from injury, and when the hoof is struck with hammer and the horse dinches, 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 infam- nation and excess of blood in it, the head suffers so severely, in much the same manner the foot suffers eX- cruciating pains, and the whole system is disturbed sympathetically, when the extremely sensitive organs bound up in the hoof are inhamed and distended by the pressure of excess of blood. Thus it becomes a 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 to draw 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 @ new growth of tissue, the increase of new horn, and stronger and more elastic foot and movement. Nothing is more useful for a hoof that has been contracted by bad manage ment or by disease brought on by bad feeding or injury than to remove the shoes and provide work on plowed ground or afford run on a smooth pasture. There is no necessity for shoeing farm-horses in the summer; they will be far better without shoes, but to permit the old shoes to remain to be gradually worn off is a very great mistake.
 Next to the foot the stomach of horse is the most ill-used part of the beast. Feeding is usually done with out 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 go to work with the stomach filled with dry food. This courts trouble It makes a waste of food. It frequently causes a fit of collie, and it washes the food out of the stomach into the in- testines, through which it passes un- digested and uselessly, often injurious ", and escapes with the excrement. 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. It is eaten more slowly; the coarse and fine thoroughly masticated together, and the digestion of it is better. It is more laxative than dry food, and bran may be fed in this way better than in any other, and bran is an excellent S,,,oy,,or food for hOpcaS Tho bov too, tends to neutralize the effect of the green food used, by which the ac- ton of the skin is increased, and ''soft- ness'' or excessive precipitation is in- duced.
 The ease and comfort of horse and consequently it's profit to it's owner are increased by well-ftting harness. It is shame to an owner that his animal should be galled and raw by the chafng of collar or a saddle. Horses differ in their make up; in some the bones are more prominent than in others, the limbs are more angular, and the shoulder slopes differently; but nevertheless, as a rule, collars and harness are made on fixed model. This causes gals and sores, which greatly interfere with the usefulness of the animals, not to speak Of the tenderness of the skin caused by the profuse precipitation. The shoulders should be washed with salt water every evening; on the least sign of in- 1, 4l. I h.