The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1914-04-17
ST. FRANCOIS COUNTY
FARM BUREAU.
"a. W. Tcrrill. Farm Adviscr.)
CARE or HORSES SHOULDERS.

regular work during the winter so as
to keep his muscles and skin under
the collar hardened II will save him
many hours Of torture and his mas
ter many of toll and worry. Very
many horses, however, are worked in
termlttantly during the winter, and
! when the spring work comes on with
rush. as il generally does, especially
during backward season like the
present, they are not IN condition to
20 into the field for long hours Of
Ceascless labor on the disk or plOw
until they become hardened. Unless
great care is used in this hardening
process, the animal may be incapaci-
! tatod during the rest of the whole
season. The horse may be looked
| upon as machine that is expected
to do so much work, and if some Of
| the mechanism is out Of order the
| amount of work is lessened. But we
| must also look upon the horse as a
creature Of feeling and ambition, taxi
| ing pride in its work if in the right
! condition, as willing, obedicnt and
valuable servant that needs the very
| best of care and attention.
Especial attention must be paid to
! the young horse that is laborlng for
| the first season; ,his muscles are soft
and his skin tender and these things
must be corrected gradually,
First of importance is the collar and
| fit Of the harness. Have the harness
to fit just snug enough to prevent as
/ far as possible any undue motion, rub
bing and chatting and see that when
| pulling the tugs are IN straight line
! with the line of draft, which in the
/ case Of the pillow runs from a point
I just above the point Of the pillow
/ through the clcyicc hitch and on to
the point whore the tugs attach TO
/ the name. The collar should receive
] q great deal of attention. 1t should 1T
] just SO the band can be inserted be-
I tween the bottom of the neck and the
/ collar at the lower end when in posi-
/ tlou, at tn sides the fingers should
! just be able to be inserted between
| the collar and the neck The hamcs
! should fit the collar at every point
and adjusted so that the traces or
/ point OF draft comes about Unc-thlrd
/ Of the distance up from bottom. If
| the point of draft is too low it causes
| under pressure on the point of the
| shoulder and tends to make sore
! there. If too high, it will tend to
| cause sore high up on shoulder pr
neck.
4 new collar should be fitted on
one holSe and never used on another
| If a new collar is soaked in a tub of
| water over night and the surface al
lowed to dry and oiled lightly the
| next morning before being used, the
collar will set to the shoulders some
what quicker than if used dry. Never
scrapc collar with the back of a
| knife blade or any other instrument.
| as it makes a regular rasp to work
| on the skin. If the sweat and gum
/ are sponged off each noon and night
| with water, and the surface run over
| with an oiled rag at night, the leather
| will stay pliable and smooth. Avoid
all heavy collar pads. They are hot,
| become wet, hold the sweat, the skin
becomes soft and scalds easily. Have
a properly-ftting collar and pads are
! Unnecessary.
While in the field stop at short in
tervals, raise up the collar, let the
air under and rub the shoulders with
the bare hand to restore the circua-
ton and lift up the matted hair. Every
noon remove all harness and bathc
the shoulders with cold water. At
night bathe the shoulders with water
that has tablespoon of tannic acid
and one bichloride of mercury tablet
dissolved in every quart. Also wash
collars off with this after the gum
is sponged off. This tends to harden
the shoulders. (Tannic acid, you know,
is what tanners use to tan hides with
and the bichloride of mercury will
kill germs and prevent infection. AL
cohol will also toughen the skin. Alum
water is good, and a dilute salt solu-
tion will often give good results,
while a good bathing of plain cold
water is by no means to be despised
A few minutes given each day for
u week or two on the start to looking
after these things will save many
hours of lost time and inefficient work,
not to mention the suffering of the
horse later on. Often if will save the
whole service of the horse that other
wise would be entirely lost. 1t will
save many fistulas, sweeneys, cold
abcesses, sit fasts, etc.
If the shoulders become raw, air
Stacked lime sprinkled on is good. If
a lump forms, daily painting with
tincture Of iodine is good. If an alb
cess breaks, swab out with the same
medicine every other day and pack
with oakum saturated with equal
parts of turpentine and linseed oil.
If fistula threatens bathe with alcohol
in each quart of which two bichloride
Of mercury tablets have been dis
solved and paint with tincture of TO-
dine. In early stages of sweensy
bathe for long periods with alternate
| ly hot and cold water, or either one,
and knead and pull the skin with the
hand. Later a blister is recon-
mcRded.
Where these remedies won't work
n cure, it requires the attention Of Il
competent veterinarian. In each case
where the collar presses on the sore
the padding will have to be cut out
to prevent this pressure and the horse
may have to be rested for n few days.
Don't expect soft horse or young
one to do full days work on the
start. Work them lightly and for
short periods in the beginning, gradu-
ally increase the period of hard la
bor. Careless driving, jerking a
I horse out of the furrow and into it
again, allowing him to work with his
head around on the side jumping into