Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-06-08

must be operated on, and third for
convalescents.
The buildings are run on identically
the same principle followed in hospitals
for humans. There is a trained resi-
dent veterinarian. who resides in the
main ward, and who never leaves.
Under him is an army sergeant farrier.
who; though ,,a not "a. graduate OF
and caring for sick horses for twenty
five years and who knows his job. He
is second in command. and under him
are half a dozen helpers. who might be
termed horse internes 1t Is a common
thing for them to sit up with SICK
horse all night. taking it's temperature.
bathing it and giving 1T medicine, Tor
all the world like mother with SICK
child.
The hospital has its operating room,
too. one of the most unique in existence.
1t is a huge square room of white tile
and concrete with every article IN 1t
steriliZed to the last letter. In the center
of the room are two heavy iron pi'l.:.:s,
running from floor to roof. about ten
feet apart. Fixed to these pillars by siant
chains and hinges is great padded table
of steel covered with steriiZed canvas. At
various spots the able enormous
bands of felt-lined leathe" are fastened.
When not in use the table is tilted up
so that its sides lie parallel with the pill
lars, with a narrow pasageway between
the two. When ii is necessary to operate
the horse is led INFO this passageway-
and then the use of tie leather bands be-
cones apparent.
In the briefest instant one is fastened
about the animals neck, another around
his girth. others about his legs-and so
on until the horse, without being hurt
in the least, is nevertheless held SO fast
that he cannot move an inch. Then q
big crank at one side of the table is
turned. and in a moment the table Is low
cred Until it Is parallel with the floor. the
horse being lifted off his feet during the
process. Lying out fiat he is now await
ing the anesthetic and the knife.
4
An operation was performed the other
week. by the way, which may result in
the saving of the lives of thousands of
horses Opera ting on a colt which re-
fused to fatten the vet removed ten
thousand .'bots"-a bot being the grub
worm of the gadfy. This was an excep-
tional number, but, according to the
vet" every horse has bots to a GER
tain degree. The gadhy, it seems, lays its
eggs on the horses legs. These cause an
itching The horse scratches himself with
his teeth, and the eggs lodge on his lips
and eventually work their way to the
stomach, where they mature and them
selves feed on what the horse eats.
y the 1dIIu tHeN are HOW experiment.
ing with remedy for bots" and they
expect soon to find one that will cure
them. They already have a preventive
however-not only for bots out for all
other skin diseases. 1t is in the form of :,
huge swimming pool. which the folks
al the farm call the dip"
The dip is long, narrow building of
concrete. the floor of which slopes down.
ward to Il depth of twenty feet. This
slope is filled with an antiseptic solution
which will kill any germ that ever lit on
a horse.
Every week or so every horse on the
farm is led to the door of the dip, :
begins to step down the incline. and then
invariably tries to come back. But he
can't The incline is too steep-also too
slippery. So he must keep on going down
until he soon finds himself in place
where he cant find bottom There is
nothing to do but swim to the other side,
where there is a sloping ascent, and In
the process the horse gets a thorough
ducking and comes oLt sterllfzed from ear
to tail.
Probably this big multi-million dollar
farm of Uncle Sans is just about as
nearly real, genuine horse heaven as any
quadruped may ever hope to reach. The
pampered care bestowed on privately
owned mounts and steeds intended for
the prize ring of some show is not one
whit more painstaking than that given
every colt from the initial moment he ar
riyeS ut the remount station. There is
ample reason for this, too.
1t is conservative To say that 10 per
cent of Uncle SAINTS farm horses even
tually land in the prize ring themselves.
They are reared and sold primarily for
service but their careful rearing and
their exquisite breeding make them blue
ribbon winners, too.
Consequently it is not at all uncommon
for officer to buy a horse from the
farm. ride him daily in cavalry drills and
what-nots, and then, W Ell show comes
along to enter him alongside pampered
pieces Of equine aristocracy, who all
their lives have been trained without the
slightest idea of service but merely for