Gunnison news-champion., 1910-04-22
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The care 81 the shoulders of yoanG
horses is one of the mnsi important
factors b. Keep an mand dsrlRg the
FIRST iew weeks of the sprsng work
A horse esnRo, d. satisfactory
work with shoulders thai pain k,aa
every time he takes a step. The
horse NAV be looked Bpoa as ma-
chine that rs expected - d. 80 much
work. and II some oi the mechanism
is ost 81 order. then the amount of
work is lesseaed Hut, also. the ami
NAL must be lsoked spoa az a crea-
tare with feeling and ambitian. tab
nag prlde IA It's work. that Is a wall
ing. obed,eut and therefDre valuable
servant. aud should be property
cared for.
The FIRST thing of Importance 10
consider in the draaght horse - the
collar Most of the injured shoal-
ders are the result uf poorly httine
collars, and the fault usually lies an
collar being TOO large ID Is a
good idea to have harness maker
ht the collars 10 yogr horses lie
may be able TO remove padding and
in other wavs make the collar over 50
that it will fit nicely Heavy collar
pads are TO be avoided II possible.
They are hot aud cause the shoulder
10 sweat; this keeps The pad aud
shoulder wet. aud the skin becomes
soft and bllsters easily.
Dirty collars are probably as re-
sponslble for sore shoulders as III
fitting ones. La the spring the
horse hair is long and holds large
quantities Of dirt and scales from the
skin. He is soft from lack Of work
and sweats profusely This forms a
gummy dirt that adheres TO the col
lar and makes, when dry, hard,
rough surface. The ordinary farm
hand feels that his duty is done if he
scrapes the dnt from the collar with
the back of his Jack knife. This
method, however, is not an especially
good one for the leather Of the collar
and smooth surface is not left. A
damp sponge used in the evening as
soon as the collar is taken of will, in
one or two minutes, remove the dirt
This may be followed by an oiled
rag; If this is done, the collar in the
morning should be soft and smooth
Careless driving, Jerking horse
out Of the furrow and into it again,
allowing him to work with his head
around ON one side, all tend % pro
duce sore shoulders
of course, the first precautlon 10
take is not to ask the colt To- do full
days work until he learns some
thing about his job and ceases 10
fret. The shoulder will then grad
ually become toughened. 1t is a
good idea to sponge the shoulders
with cold water lust plain cold
water. Alum water has been used
to good advantage; also weak solu-
tions Of tannic acid. Alcohol tends
to toughen the skin.
The injuries to the top Of the neck
very frequently terminate in fistelas,
witbers, etc. A blister near the
point OF the shoulder is likely To be-
come a callous and form what is
known as a "cold abcess." Ill fit
ting collars and poor drivers are
equally responsible for a condition
known as "sweeny
1t has been the earnest endeavor
of this article 10 show that the farmer
is directly responsible for the sore
shoulders of the young horses; that
by observing a few simple things he
may avoid loss Of time, expense and
suffering or perhaps permanent in
jury to his animals
II an accident occurs and in
spite Of careful attention a horse 5
shoulder becomes injured, do not
wait until fstula has developed. or
an abcess has formed, or the animal
is 'sweened," but seek the advise Of
a veterinarian while there is still a
chance to check the progress Of the
injury. This is not the proper place
to teach the treatment of such con
ditions after the injury has been
done: it takes wears Of school work
to do that, but u is a good oppor-
tunity to impress upon the minds Of
horse owners that such unfortunate
things may De entirely avoided