HORSE
SECRETS
WRITTEN, COMPILED AND NOW
DISCLOSED
BY
A. S. ALEXANDER
Professor of Veterinary Science, and in charge of the
Department of Horse Breeding, College of Agriculture,
University of Wisconsin.
ALAS! HE CANNOT TALK!
“I don’ see much use in de scientis’ folks studying
monkey talk, but a study of hoss talk dat ’ud let
de animal tell all about hisse’f befo’ a trade
comes off ’ud save a heap o’ hard feelings.”
“Uncle Ezra,” in Washington Star.
PHILADELPHIA—1909
WILMER ATKINSON COMPANY
Price, 25 Cents
Copyright, 1909
WILMER ATKINSON CO.
INTRODUCTION
Dr. A. S. Alexander, the writer and compiler of “Horse Secrets,” has had
upward of 25 years’ experience in matters pertaining to agriculture,
horse breeding, veterinary science, press writing and teaching. He was
the author of the first stallion service legislation and inspection
regulation in America, the first law of the kind having been written by
him and enacted by the Wisconsin Legislature in 1905. Similar legislation
now is in force in some 16 other states, and it is accomplishing much for
the improvement of horse breeding.
Horse trading offers unusual opportunities and temptations for sharp
practises. Both buyer and seller equally need to be horse-wise and alert.
Dishonesty is discountenanced in the great horse markets, but it is
common among scalpers, “gyps” and small traders outside of the recognized
markets and is likely to be practised by either the buyer or the seller.
The items published in these pages disclose many sharp practises which,
aside from their interest as facts not generally known, are valuable as
information for the man who would engage intelligently in horse buying
and selling.
The writer and publishers of this book desire to expose these tricks,
and to decry their practise in the markets and among outside dealers and
breeders. “Forewarned is forearmed,” and the information here given will
doubtless save many a man from loss, and tend to make dishonesty less
rife because less likely to succeed.
In mentioning the various tricks herein disclosed, the exact methods have
not been given in detail. We have no desire to instruct readers so that
they may “go and do likewise”; for the same reason doses have not been
given for the administration of the various drugs and “dopes” used by
tricksters.
The matter relating to the purchase of stallions should prove specially
interesting and valuable. It is a matter of general knowledge among
the initiated that stallions are frequently sold at excessive prices
to companies of farmers, and that “peddlers” of such stallions are
unscrupulous in their methods of obtaining signers to the notes taken for
the purchase of such horses. The facts published with respect to this
business should serve to warn farmers that they are apt to be cheated in
purchasing a stallion on the “company plan,” and that it is always best,
safest and most profitable to purchase a stallion direct from a reputable
breeder or importer, for by so doing much money will be saved and the
horse bought will be much more likely to prove sound and suitable and to
give satisfaction.
Dr. Alexander desires in this place to acknowledge his indebtedness to
the publishers of the various farm and stock papers from the pages of
which extracts have been taken.
WILMER ATKINSON CO.
Contents.
Page
HORSE FEEDING SECRETS 7
Secret of Hand Raising a Foal 7
Secret of Feeding Silage to Horses 8
Secret of Fattening Drafters 9
Secret of Feeding Molasses 10
SECRETS OF VARIOUS VICES 12
Secret of Stopping Halter Pulling 12
Secret of Preventing Mules from Kicking 13
Secret of Tying a Mare with a Foal 13
Secret of Handling a Balky Horse 13
Secret of Curing a Stall Kicker 16
SECRET TRICKS IN HORSE TRADING 18
Secret of Shutting a Heaver 18
Secret of Plugging a Roarer 18
Diamond Cut Diamond 19
Making a Horse Act Mean 20
Blowing Air Under the Skin 20
Stopping a Switcher 20
Turpentine and Gasoline Tricks 21
Gingering a Show Horse 21
Unnerving and Cocaining 22
Keep an Eye on the Sign Board 22
Secret of Hiding a Spavin 23
Artificially Induced Knee Action 23
Artificial Tail Trick 24
Keeping a Horse “In the Air” 24
The Loose Shoe Trick 25
Wire Marks Over Side-Bones 25
Wedging a Cribber 25
Making an Artificial Star 26
Black Spots on a White Horse 27
Broken Crest or Wrong Lying Mane 27
Concealing Discharging Sinuses 27
The Galloping Past Dodge 28
Keeping a Horse on Edge 28
An Eye for An Eye 28
Examine the Ears 29
Bishoping—An Old Trick 30
How Bishoping is Done 30
MISCELLANEOUS SECRETS 32
The Widow Trick 32
Landing a Sucker 33
A Horse That Was Right There 34
An Honest “Hoss” Dealer 34
A Sharper’s Smooth Sayings 35
The Winter Board Trick 35
How Horses Catch Cold 36
Tricks in Measuring Horses 36
SECRETS ABOUT STALLION SELLING 37
Palming Off a Grade Stallion 37
Stud Books Approved by the Government 38
Stud Books Not Certified by the Government 39
Story of a Company Stallion Deal 39
Horse Peddlers’ Confessions 41
The Sale of Les Epinards 41
The Sale of Transmigrator 42
SOME VETERINARY SECRETS 44
Secret of Preventing Navel and Joint Disease 44
Symptoms of Bad Teeth 45
Remedies for Tail Rubbing 45
A Cruel Cure for Heaves 46
An Astringent for Scours 47
An Old Operation for Spavin 47
Facts About Pigment Tumors 48
SECRETS OF BUYING AND SELLING HORSES 49
Auction Sale Rules 49
Reputable Dealers Protect Their Patrons 50
Two Sides to a Horse 51
A little Ill to Distract Attention From a Big One 52
Beware of Hoof Dressing 52
Buying a Pair 53
A High English Guarantee 53
An Unsound Horse Sometimes a Good Bargain 54
A Second-Hand Horse 54
“Protecting” the Buyer 55
Splitting the Profit Three Ways 55
A Glossary of Market Terms 56
Horse Feeding Secrets.
Secret of Hand Raising a Foal.
An orphan foal can be successfully raised on cows’ milk if the work is
intelligently and patiently conducted. Mares’ milk is sweeter than cows’
milk, but less rich in butter fat; therefore, in using cows’ milk for
foal feeding, choose that which is poor in butter fat—3 per cent. or
thereabout—and sweeten it with sugar or molasses. The latter sweetening
has the advantage of acting as a mild aperient.
It should be remembered that the first milk (colostrum) of the mare
contains a purgative principle for the removal of the meconium from the
intestinal tract of the foal, and as the orphan foal does not receive
this natural cathartic it is apt to suffer from constipation, which may
prove fatal. To prevent this inject into the rectum of the foal, twice
daily from birth, two or three ounces of warm water containing one to two
teaspoonfuls of glycerine, and continue this treatment until the bowels
have been moved freely.
A mixture of equal quantities of cream, molasses and warm water also
makes a good injection fluid for a young foal, and some horsemen insert a
small, thin tallow-dip candle into the rectum for a like purpose.
At first the foal should be fed once an hour, but gradually the times
of feeding may be reduced in number. Feed the milk blood warm, giving
at first half a cupful at each meal and with it three tablespoonfuls of
lime water to the pint of milk. The foal will take the milk readily from
a large rubber nipple fitted on the neck of a feeding bottle which must
be often well scalded. A kid glove thumb perforated and fitted over the
spout of a small teapot will do almost as well as a rubber nipple and
feeding bottle.
Hand-fed foals tend to scour. When such trouble starts withhold two or
more feeds of milk, and give one to four tablespoonfuls of castor oil in
milk, according to the severity of the attack and the size of the foal,
and repeat the dose every time there is any derangement of the digestive
organs.
Soon the foal may be fed but six times a day, then four times, and in a
few weeks it will freely take milk and lime water from a clean pail. At
this stage sugar may be omitted and the lime water be given only once a
day. The secret of success is to feed a little milk often and to keep all
utensils scrupulously sweet and clean. As soon as he will take to it,
the foal may be allowed to lick oatmeal in small quantities; gradually
increase the amount and add wheat bran. After six weeks give a little
sweet skim-milk in place of a part of the new milk, and by increasing
the amount day by day the foal may at three months old take skim-milk
entirely and continue to drink it freely three or four times daily while
eating grass, grain and bran.
Secret of Feeding Silage to Horses.
It is commonly believed that corn silage cannot safely or profitably be
fed to horses. Investigation shows that this belief is ill advised, for
some horsemen feed silage successfully.
A noted Wisconsin breeder has used corn silage extensively as a feed for
horses as a part of the winter ration during the past eighteen years. The
number wintered each year averages about 100. His method is as follows:
In making silage for horses the corn is allowed to stand until nearly out
of the milk, as better results have thus been obtained than when it is
cut greener. The silo is filled as rapidly as possible, and when full is
allowed to settle for four or five days, when it is again filled. Care is
taken to pack the silage tightly around the walls.
The silo is opened about November 15th, when the herds have been brought
in from the pastures. Care is taken to feed the horses lightly at first
so that they may become accustomed to the new food.
A large bin has been built, connecting with a room below the doors of
the silo. This bin is filled from time to time with a mixture of four
parts of hay and one of straw, cut about 3 inches long, by being run
through a silage machine. The silage is always mixed with this cut hay
and straw before feeding. The proportions are about one to five of silage
by weight. By cutting the hay and straw, the amount wasted is reduced to
a minimum.
The corn is never taken out of the silo before it is ready to be used.
The entire top is removed each day to a depth of about two inches. Any
silage that is spoilt is thrown away. The silage and hay-straw are mixed
thoroughly by forking over several times in the room, already referred
to. By doing this the horses do not obtain all the silage at one time.
Any grain that is fed is put in the manger with the silage.
The amount of ensilage fed to different horses varies with the animal. It
is found that no two horses eat the same amount and they are never given
more than they will eat. The average amount fed will be stated in each
case below.
Aged stallions, used for breeding purposes, receive during the winter
season about 24 pounds of silage per day. This is divided into three
feeds, morning, noon and night. Besides this they are fed long hay and
grain. During the breeding season they do not get any silage, as it has
been found that if it is fed at that time there is difficulty in getting
mares in foal and in raising a large percentage of colts. The reason for
this is not known.
Two-year old stallions receive about 20 pounds of silage per day with
their other feed. Yearling stallions receive about 15 pounds, with grain
and hay. Mares with foals receive about 20 pounds, and also grain and
hay while the colts are sucking. This is reduced to about 15 pounds, fed
twice a day in the stable, after the colts are weaned.
Mares and geldings, from one year up, run in a herd together. They are
fed morning and night about 15 pounds per day. During the day, if weather
permits, they are turned out in a pasture and fed hay upon the ground.
Colts, soon after they have learned to eat grain, are fed a little silage
in the box stalls with their mothers. For this purpose small feed boxes
are put in each stall near the mangers, where the mares eat. After being
weaned the colts are fed about 7 pounds of silage a day with the grain.
Alfalfa hay also is put in a rack in the yard, in which the colts are
turned out each day, and they eat as much of this as they care for.
The ration fed is higher than a balanced ration. There has never been
any sickness resulting from the use of silage. The animals always come
through the winter in good breeding condition and in proper shape to be
turned on to pasture in the spring.
Secret of Fattening Drafters.
The business of buying young draft horses and feeding them off for the
market has been profitably followed by many farmers during the past ten
years. The work requires skill and experience and is thus described by
Prof. W. J. Kennedy, of the Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station: “In
one of the large horse-feeding establishments of the West the following
method is practised: The horses are purchased, their teeth are floated
and they are all put in the barn and their feed increased gradually,
as great care must be taken for a few days to avoid colic. It seems
preferable to feed them grain about five times per day, due to the fact
that as the stomach of the horse is proportionately smaller than the
stomach of a cow, he needs his feed in smaller quantities and more often.
The hay is placed in racks so that access may be had to it at all times.
The horses are given all the water they will drink twice a day. The daily
practise is as follows: Corn is given at 5 o’clock in the morning; water
at 7; the hay racks are filled at 9 o’clock, when the horses are also
given oats and bran, the proportion being two-thirds bran and one-third
oats. At 12 o’clock they are fed corn again; at 3 in the afternoon oats
and bran are given and the hay racks are refilled; at 4 they are given a
second watering, and at 6 the final feed of corn is given. The proportion
for each horse when upon full feed is as follows: Corn from 10 to 14 ears
to each feed; oats and bran, about 3 quarts per feed, making in all from
30 to 40 ears of corn and 6 quarts of oats and bran per horse per day.
The horses are not given any exercise from the time they are put in the
barn until a few days before they are to be shipped. As a substitute for
exercise, and in order to keep the blood in good order, thus preventing
stocked legs, Glauber’s salt is used.”
In some instances horses fed in this manner have made a gain of 5½ pounds
a day for a period of 50 to 100 days. One horse gained 550 pounds in 100
days. In many instances from 12 to 20 horses have made an average daily
gain of 3⅓ pounds per day each for a period of 90 days.
Secret of Feeding Molasses.
The feeding of black strap molasses came into vogue when the United
States artillery and cavalry horses in Porto Rico required “plumping up.”
By free use of this readily assimilated fattening food mixed with cut hay
or grass, horses that had run down to skin and bone and become covered
with harness sores quickly gained flesh and acquired sleek, polished,
sound hides so that their former drivers or riders failed to recognize
them. Although large quantities of molasses were fed to each horse daily,
neither colic nor scouring was caused.
Dr. W. H. Dalrymple, veterinarian of the Louisiana Experiment Station,
says that the amount of molasses fed to the large sugar-mules of 42
plantations in his state is from 8 to 12 pounds per head per diem, or an
average of about 9.5 pounds; a gallon of black strap molasses weighing
12 pounds. He advises that less than this should be given at first and
gradually increased as the animals get used to it, though he adds: “We
have not experienced any ill effects from feeding the amounts alluded
to.” In fact, as high as 21 pounds per day has been fed in Louisiana
without any untoward results. The molasses is mixed with concentrates and
cut hay.
Here is a recommended formula for molasses feeding on a lesser scale to
working draft horses:
Molasses, 1 quart; water, 3 quarts; cut hay, 5 pounds; corn-meal, 4
quarts; coarse bran, 2 pints. Feed morning and night. Give usual quantity
of oats at noon, and add long hay at night.
The Department of Agriculture, in Farmer’s Bulletin No. 107, states that
molasses is an excellent food for horses and cattle. It produces energy,
maintains the vital heat, stimulates the appetite and increases the
digestibility of the other constituents of the ration. That cane molasses
is a satisfactory substitute for starchy foods, being readily digested
and transformed into work: that 5 quarts of molasses can be given daily
to a 1,270 pound horse with advantage to its health and the efficiency of
its work.
[Illustration]
Secrets of Various Vices.
Secret of Stopping Halter Pulling.
There are many different ways of managing halter pullers and of these the
following methods seem most effective:
Take a strong but thin rope about 20 feet long. Put the middle of it
under the horse’s tail like a crupper. Bring the two ends forward along
the back, knotting them together at the loins and withers. Then pass one
on each side of the neck, through the ring of the halter and tie to the
manger along with the halter shank.
Pass the end of tie rope or halter over the manger and tie it to one fore
foot, so that the pull is equal on the head and foot. This is simple,
safe and efficient.
Put a good strong halter on the horse with a rope that he cannot break;
then put him either on a plank floor that is about 4 inches higher behind
than in front, or on a hard earth floor of the same slope. Have the floor
very smooth, and wet it a little to make it slippery, if he is a bad one,
and pad the sides of the stall with old sacks or blankets, tying them on
with binder twine. As soon as the horse finds that he cannot keep his
feet he will give up pulling.
Use a good halter and 10 or 12 feet of strong rope or strap. Tie one end
of the rope around the pastern of a front foot and pass the other end
through the halter ring and fasten to a stout post or manger and let the
horse pull. This will cure an ordinary case. If it does not cure a bad
one, tie the rope to a hind leg, passing it through the halter ring and
between the fore legs to the hind pastern.
Tie a rope around the hind leg at the pastern and pass the rope to the
opposite side of the body; run it around the neck where the collar rests
and tie the foot up so that it will not touch the floor. Put a good
halter on the horse and he will not pull very hard.
Mr. J. S. Teesdale, of Multnomah County, Oregon, contributed the
following amusing account of the curing of a halter puller to the
Breeders’ Gazette: “I owned a horse that pulled back every time he was
tied up in or out of his stable. I got very tired of it. I took him one
day to a wharf over a river. There was, as is usual, a wall on the dock
a few feet from its edge. I led him on so that his face was near the
wall and his tail toward the water; and I stood him with his right side
close up to a partition that ran from the wall to the edge of the wharf.
I stood with my body close to his left eye, hiding the river from his
view, so that he could not see the water from either side. The river was
a very silent one. I held him in that position almost an hour until I
thought he had forgotten the river entirely, then I tied him to a ring
in the wall, holding a sharp knife in my teeth as I did so. As soon as I
had tied him he hung back as badly as ever. I cut the rope. He turned a
back somersault and dropped 10 feet into the river. When he came to the
surface and recovered from his daze, he swam down stream to the end of
the dock and landed. He never hung back again so far as I know, although
he was tied a thousand times.”
Secret of Preventing Mules from Kicking.
Mr. F. M. Walker, of Vernon County, Missouri, contributed the following
to the columns of the Breeders’ Gazette: “Take two straps 1½ inches
wide with a good ring; have the straps long enough to buckle around the
hind legs, one above the hock and one below. First buckle the ring in
both straps; then take a stout rope, put a ring in the rope, and tie it
around the breast of the collar so that the double will come back behind
the belly-band and make the ring stay. Now take another piece of stout
rope, tie in the ring on the hind leg, bring it up through ring at the
belly-band and back to the other ring on the hind leg. Do not leave any
slack for the horse or mule to get his feet over. An animal can walk or
trot in this rigging, but he cannot kick. I have broken several mules in
this way.”
Tying a Mare With a Foal.
To tie a mare so that her foal will not get hung in the halter strap,
use a ring in the manger instead of a hole. Thirty inches is plenty long
enough for the stale. Put a weight on end of the stale—an old bar shoe
will do all right. All good horses in Great Britain are tied this way,
except that the chain is used.
Secret of Handling a Balky Horse.
A tired, balky horse is less apt to balk than one fresh from the stable,
and such horses are oftentimes kept in harness right up to the time of
sale. This is a “David Harum” trick and well worth remembering. Also,
when a horse balks, be careful to examine his shoulders. Soreness of the
skin may be the cause. It is a trick of the “gyps” secretly to bathe the
shoulders of a horse with an irritating solution which in 12 hours or
less makes the animal refuse to pull in harness. They do this with horses
on which they purpose making a bid the following day in the hope that
when the victim balks the owner will become disgusted and discount the
price. Some horses balk when worked in single harness but go all right
when hitched double. Chloroform is sometimes used to make a balky horse
stupid, so that he will forget to balk.
Kindness, petting, coaxing with a lump of sugar, carrot, apple or other
dainty sometimes succeeds with a balky horse when harsh measures fail.
Cruel procedures should be discountenanced and punished and among these
the worst trick, perhaps, is to start a fire of paper, straw or brush
under the balker. Sometimes all that is necessary is to distract the
animal’s attention by pounding lightly with a stone on the shoe of a fore
foot, by tying a cord around the leg under the knee, or by holding up one
foot for a few minutes.
When a horse balks, one way of curing him is to remove the harness, put
on a halter, pull his head around to his side and tie the halter rope in
a slip-knot to a strand or two of the tail hair, so as to keep the head
well toward the tail. Then he is forced to walk around in a circle until
he staggers and is ready to drop, when the rope may be loosed and the
horse will be likely to behave and remember the lesson for some time.
Some horses balk by lying down and refusing to budge. If the four feet of
such a sulker are “hog-tied” together and he is abandoned and allowed to
remain tied for an hour or two, he will usually be thankful to get up and
go on when set at liberty.
One owner broke a balker by working him on a mower for a few days with
his tail tied to the singletree tight enough to take part of the strain.
After that he would pull by the tugs without having his tail tied.
The “guy rope” plan is sometimes effective. A small rope is tied around
the horse’s neck and a half hitch taken with it on his lower jaw. A husky
man then pulls steadily upon the rope and the horse will usually start
forward with a lunge. If not a confirmed old balker he may give up the
standing habit if treated in this way a few times.
Light, rapid switching across the nose with a light whip sometimes starts
a balker, but severe whipping has an opposite effect.
The writer once was called to see a draft work-mare that was “down” in
an Irish teamster’s yard and refused to get up. The poor brute was
surrounded with whips and sticks that had been broken over her back, and
her body was covered with welts from the whipping. The neighbors thronged
around to see what would happen when the “Doctor” tried his hand at a
job which had baffled their attempts. Examination of the pulse showed
a normal condition and the membranes of the eyes gave no indication of
sickness. After the mare’s head and neck had been patted and stroked for
a few minutes, and she had been spoken to kindly and gently, she got up
at once when the halter was pulled upon and the word of command given.
Then she followed the veterinarian about the yard like a dog, recognizing
him as her only friend, and ever since that teamster has said, “Sure that
mon has the power iv healin’ in his hands!” Whereas, the abused mare only
needed and wanted a little kindness and coaxing.
Here is a cure for balking recommended by E. A. Gerrard: “In order to
break a balky horse it is necessary to have the appliances, though the
first requirement is a cool head. Next you will want a steady horse to
hitch with the balky one, together with a strong hopple strap, a rope and
a covered swivel pulley, and a good harness and wagon with a long tongue,
though one of ordinary length will do.
Fasten your pulley on the end of the tongue so that it will work free;
put the hopple on the balky horse’s hind ankle, next to the tongue, and
tie the rope in the hopple ring. Now run it through the belly-band, up
through the pulley and back to the end of the doubletree on the side of
the balky horse, and tie it fast. See that your horses are standing even,
making the rope snug, so that the horse can stand easy. Take off your
stay chains, sever the line from the terrets on the balky horse, get into
the wagon, gather your lines so that you can have control, keep cool, and
wait half a minute; then speak to the team and start the steady horse.
As he starts he pulls his end of the doubletree forward and draws on
the wagon, the other end of the doubletree going back, pulling the rope
through the pulley and lifting the balky horse’s foot. He tries to put
his foot down and in doing so he takes a step.
Say, ‘whoa!’ and stop your steady horse. Do not let the balky horse
make more than one step. Now sit still for half a minute, then start
again, stopping as soon as the first step is made, by the same process.
Sit still for another half minute, then repeat. Each time you will have
taught your horse that when you told him to go he had to step.
Now if you are a horseman get down, go to your horse’s head, pat his
neck, tell him he is doing well and that he will be the best pulling
horse on the place. Then try him again. If he is very anxious to go at
the word, let him make six or eight steps, then stop and sit quiet for
half a minute. Gradually increase the distance you allow them to go each
time, not forgetting to stop long enough to allay any excitement before
starting again. When you have driven half a mile be sure you are back at
the stable, take your horse out, have a bottle of strong borax water at
hand and bathe his ankle for five minutes where the hopple rubbed it.
On the next day hitch up with the balker on the other side of the tongue.
With most balky horses two lessons will prove enough; often one will
answer. But if the horse is old he may forget in two or three weeks, if
rested much, so you will need to keep your appliances ready and put them
on at the first sign of balking.
There is little danger of a horse forgetting if he is worked with the
same mate and driver; therefore if you want a perfect job you will do
well to change the driver and the mate while the lesson is fresh.”
Mr. F. H. Osburn, of Benton County, Indiana, is the author of the
following method of handling a balky mare:
“I had a good true horse to put beside this mare, one which I knew could
pull two such as she. Then instead of putting a stay chain to my true
horse I put on what I call a stay rope, looping it around the balky
mare’s tail, drawing it up short and tying it to the other horse’s hame
ring. Whenever I spoke to my true puller something else had to come
although the balky mare was not very hasty to respond for the first few
lessons. We now have her convinced and I drive her single, ride her
when driving cattle, can use the cattle whip over her, and she pays no
attention to it. At times she runs idle for a week or ten days, but she
never gives me a minute’s bother when I use her again.”
Secret of Curing a Stall Kicker.
Various methods have been proposed from time to time for stopping a horse
from kicking in the stall. Here are several gleaned from various sources:
Strap a piece of chain, about 18 inches to 2 feet in length, to the
horse’s pastern so that it will fly back and hit him each time he kicks.
A trace or stay chain will do.
Pad the sides of the stall thickly with hay or straw kept in place by
sacking. When the horse kicks at this and does not hear the sound of his
foot striking the boards, he will be scared and quit kicking.
Buckle a leather surcingle around the horse’s body back of the fore legs
and to it fasten a small double pulley placed under the belly. Now place
straps with buckles on them on each of his legs below the fetlock joint,
having a ring in each strap. Take ½ inch rope, tie to the ring on one
front foot, run it up through the pulley, back to the hind foot on the
opposite side and tie, then do the same with the opposite feet. Leave
the rope long enough for the animal to step. When an attempt is made to
kick, the pulley raises the front feet. Use this in the stable until the
kicking habit is cured.
To cure a barn kicker pack an ordinary grain bag tight with hay or straw
and suspend it from top of the stall by a rope or strap, so that it
will swing free from the side of the stall and near the place the horse
strikes the boards when he kicks. When kicked the bag will swing back and
hit the horse on its return trip, and he will climb into the hay mow, if
he can. If the horse kicks with both feet, hang a bag on each side.
Tie the kicking horse between swinging partitions whether in a single or
box stall. The partition kicks back each time it is kicked by the horse.
An “Old Timer” writing in the Breeders’ Gazette, suggests the following
plan for a pregnant mare that is a bad kicker:
“Have a collar made of 1½ inch first-class heavy harness leather, long
enough to go around the mare’s neck at the point where the collar fits,
with 1¾ inch ring at the breast, then get a strap 1½ inches wide, the
full length of a side of harness leather, cut tapering to 1 inch or less
at the tip of the light end, with 1¾ inch ring in the other. Then get
a 2½ inch strap just long enough to go around the pastern of the hind
foot with ¾ inch ring in each end. Have the edges of this strap slightly
champered. Slip the collar on the mare’s neck, put the short strap around
the pastern of the left hind foot, the thin long strap through the rings
on the pastern, then through the ring on the end of the long strap, and
slip up snug and tight: next, run the strap between the fore legs and
through the ring in the collar on the neck. Now draw it up snug when she
is standing in her natural position and secure it with a slip-knot so
that it can be easily removed when necessary.
There will be no excitement about this, and no punishment. It does not
interfere with the mare’s lying down or getting up; all it will do for
her will be to prevent her from kicking, simply because she cannot, and
she will soon learn to live in peace with her stable mates. We have
used this for many years without a failure, and we would be pleased to
have all humane horsemen use it in preference to a long chain or heavy
swinging block or padded stall.”
Secret Tricks in Horse Trading.
Secret of Shutting a Heaver.
Heaves or broken wind more commonly perhaps than any other unsoundness,
offers opportunity and necessity for skilful handling by the trickster in
horse dealing. There are numerous plans for the temporary relief of this
disease, and so skilfully is the work done that often it is not suspected
or discovered under twenty-four hours following a purchase. The “patient”
receives no bulky food and all feed is wetted. Sometimes ammonia water
is used in sprinkling the hay, and the observant buyer may detect this
by the odor. Lime water or a solution of baking soda also is frequently
used. An examination of the bit may show that it has been “medicated”;
and allowing the horse to drink all the water he wants will be likely to
disclose the heaves when he is made to gallop or pull a load. A pint of
whiskey well diluted with water given as a drench also will be likely
quickly to offset the effect of drugs.
It is not the province of this book to furnish formulæ of the mixtures or
medicines used to “dope” or “shut” heavey horses, but rather to put the
buyer on his guard so that forewarned he may be forearmed. Therefore, the
following “dopes” employed for dishonest purposes are mentioned:
Arsenic, stramonium, lobelia, indigo, chloral hydrate, opium, melted
lard, lead shot, raw eggs, milk, fresh ox blood, vinegar, kerosene,
slaked lime in drinking water, etc., and in olden days a fistulous
opening was made in connection with the rectum for the free and silent
passage of gas.
If the buyer is allowed twenty-four hours in which to reject a horse,
heaves, if present, will usually show up in that time if the horse is
given an abundance of drinking water and bulky food and then is put to
work.
Secret of Plugging a Roarer.
It is well to examine the horse’s nostrils when making a purchase,
otherwise he may sneeze out one or more sponges on arriving at his new
home. The sponges are inserted to prevent a “roarer” from making a noise
when breathing. This is also accomplished by fastening a spring truss to
the nose band of the bridle in such a way that it causes pressure upon
the false nostrils and so lessens the intake of air when the horse is in
motion.
Sponges even of fine quality clog with mucus if left in place too long.
Dealers tie fine cords to the sponges and by this means pull them out of
the nostrils as soon as the horse is sold. Another plan is to cut off the
ends of a lemon, squeeze it dry and then insert it in the nostril. It is
left there with impunity as it will soon dry out, shrivel and be sneezed
out of the nostril.
Another trick is to pack the horse’s sheath with oakum to prevent
unpleasant noises when he is trotting; and the vagina of a lacerated
(gill flirt) mare may be similarly treated for a like reason. Laceration
of the perineum, an accident occurring at parturition, is usually
incurable, hence the importance of making a careful examination when
buying a mare.
Diamond Cut Diamond.
It is not always at the time of making a sale that the “gyp” practises
sharp tricks. When occasion offers he has been known purposely to
depreciate the value of a horse he wishes to buy. If he can make it
appear that the horse is lame, sick, broken-winded, weak eyed or balky he
may acquire him at a discount, and he has secret methods of accomplishing
his dishonest ends. A fine wire or cord tied around the pastern soon
causes symptoms simulating those of founder; or the horse limps painfully
after a horse-hair has by means of a needle been passed through a certain
part of his leg, or when a small nail has been driven into the foot or a
gravel or bean put under the shoe. A horse will stop eating and so appear
sick when tallow has been smeared upon the roof of the mouth and inner
side of the upper incisor teeth; or refuse to pull when his shoulders
and breast have been bathed with an irritating solution of corrosive
sublimate, tincture of cantharides, or tartar emetic; or seem to have
glanders when fresh butter has been melted and poured in his ears; or
afflicted with eye disease when whole flaxseed has been chewed and rubbed
on the eyes; or he can be made fractious by an application of a caustic
fluid.
The owner should make a careful search for such causes of unsoundness
should his horse mysteriously go wrong at the time when a trade is
pending, and on recognizing the possibility of a trick it is better to
call the deal off than to discount the price.
Making a Horse Act Mean.
When a “gyp” dealer learns that a farmer is having difficulty in training
a high-strung young horse, he tries to buy him at a discount, and unless
closely watched will try to make the horse act mean when examined. He
asks the owner to harness or ride the horse, and diverting his attention
for a moment, applies an irritating substance to the heels, or some other
part of the animal, causing him to kick, plunge and attempt to run away.
He calls his secret dope “dog water,” “hop-up,” “soup” or “fog,” and its
effect is intended so to disgust the horse owner that he will be glad to
sell the fractious beast at a bargain.
Often, should a buyer visit a scalper’s stable in the city, he will be
shown a fine-looking horse and attractive harness and wagon. The price
asked for the horse and outfit is a low one, and the stranger jumps
at the chance to acquire the property; but just as the horse is being
hitched up, he begins to kick or behave badly under the influence of a
dose of “soup.” The intending buyer immediately suffers from “cold feet,”
and is readily induced to take an inferior horse. The fine horse and
outfit are thus used times without number to attract buyers and assist in
the sale of unattractive, cheap horses at profitable prices.
Blowing Air Under the Skin.
When the muscles of the shoulder have wasted away, constituting the
condition termed “sweeny,” air sometimes is blown under the skin to
give the part a plump condition. This trick is easily detected, for
when the hand is passed over the inflated part it crackles (crepitates)
showing the presence of air under the skin (emphysema). The same trick
is practised to make an old horse appear younger than he really is, the
hollow’s over the eyes being blown up by means of a hollow needle, quill
or straw passed through the skin. For low hip and atrophy of the shoulder
muscles we have also known tricksters to inject a two per cent solution
of phenol under the skin and then thoroughly massage the part.
Stopping a Switcher.
Apart from operating upon the muscles of the tail to prevent switching,
which often is a bad vice in mares, dealers resort to the following
trick: The tail is tied up over the horse’s back as tightly as possible
and left in that position over night. It becomes so numbed by this
treatment that the horse is unable to use it for half a day or so after
it is let down.
The switching habit is also mechanically prevented, when the mare is
hitched, by fastening a strand of the hair or string from each side of
the tail to a part of the breeching of harness.
Tail switching is less likely to be noticed by the buyer if the tail is
tied up or braided. Therefore, it is well to let the tail down for this
and other reasons before deciding to buy the horse.
The Turpentine and Gasoline Tricks.
Temporarily to lessen or remedy the lameness of a footsore horse,
turpentine heated to the boiling point is poured into the sole of the
foot. It can be held there for five minutes by binding a bandage around
the foot so that the turpentine cannot run down over the hoof-head. The
buyer may readily detect this trick, as the odor of turpentine gives it
away when the hoof is examined.
It also is alleged that the following treatment is given for muscle
soreness, caused by use over hard stones: The night before he wishes to
sell the horse affected in this way, the “gyp” dealer will pour gasoline
over the withers, and let it flow down both shoulders and forearms.
The gasoline contracts the capillaries and larger blood vessels and
diminishes the blood pressure and nerve sensibility, thus allowing a
nearly natural movement of the muscles. Of course as soon as the effect
of the gasoline passes away the soreness will return. If gasoline were
rubbed on the muscles it would probably result in a blister.
Gingering a Show Horse.
As a preparation for the show ring contest, or before exhibiting a horse
to a prospective buyer, it is almost the general practise to insert
ginger root in the animal’s rectum that the irritation produced thereby
may cause it to carry a high tail and show spirit and action.
While this objectionable practise obtains most as regards coach and
carriage horses, it is also followed by exhibitors and sellers of draft
stallions and mares, and of recent years has been practised extensively.
Indeed the trick is becoming far too common, and we have even seen it
boldly and flagrantly practised in the judging ring to the disgust of all
decent and fair-minded spectators. Possibly there may be some excuse for
the practise as a means of setting a show or sale horse “on edge,” but
if allowed at all it should at least be done in private and be absolutely
prohibited as a public act in the show ring. We sincerely trust that
managers of horse shows will take this view of the matter; and officers
of the humane societies should see to it that horses are not excessively
tortured in this way. While the grooms of some horse exhibitors use
ginger in the judging ring, others pay some regard to the rules of
decency by backing the horses into their stalls before showing so that
the trick may be practised unnoticed by the visitors who throng the
aisles of the horse barns. We have heard of such a plan being followed
when preparing the entire string of coach horses of one owner for the
evening exhibit at a great horse show.
Unnerving and Cocaining.
Chronic lameness is done away with by skilful obliteration of the large
nerves which supply the affected parts with sensation. The operation
is termed nerving or unnerving in common parlance and, properly, as
neurectomy. It consists in cutting down upon the nerve and then removing
a portion so that its function is destroyed so far as the portion below
the seat of operation is concerned. Unnerving is most often done to hide
the lameness caused by navicular disease which is incurable: it may
also be practised on account of ringbone, side-bone, founder or other
unsoundness of the foot. After unnerving the horse does not evince pain
when the parts below the seat of the operation are pinched or pricked.
The operation merely does away with pain and lameness. It is in no way a
cure.
Cocaine or eucaine solution injected by means of a hypodermic syringe
upon the nerves at the points where neurectomy would be performed will
temporarily have an effect like that of the operation. Just after the
injection a swollen or puffed place may be discovered at the point where
the hypodermic needle was inserted, and local soreness may be present
after the effects of the drug have subsided.
Keep an Eye on the Sign-Board.
Dr. Hawley advises that when buying horses at auction one should watch
the sign-board, as it may be suddenly shifted from “serviceably sound” to
“wind and work.” In such a case a horse slightly lame may be purchased
with no chance of rejection.
Secret of Hiding a Spavin.
It is an old “gyp” trick to beat one hock-joint with a stick so that it
will swell and acquire the same size as the hock unsound from spavin.
Caustic solutions injected under the skin at the seat of spavin also
smooth the appearance of the joint.
If spavin is suspected, test for it by picking up the hind foot and
holding it toward the stifle for two or three minutes so as to tightly
shut the hock-joint. Then drop the foot and instantly have the horse
trotted. If spavin, apparent or hidden (occult), is present the horse
will hop off on three legs, or go much lamer than before.
Artificially Induced Knee Action.
True knee action is an inborn trait in certain horses, such as those of
the English hackney breed, and some families of American trotters; but in
many high-stepping horses, sold on the market, such action is unnatural,
and has been acquired. The true knee actor flexes his hocks about as
freely as he does his knees. This is the test: Watch a fashionable,
high-going coacher, and if the action is not well balanced, and if the
hind legs are imperfectly flexed, and seem to have difficulty in “keeping
up with the procession,” depend upon it that the horse has been trained
to go as he does and easily may forget his lessons on leaving school.
The “gyp” trick is to wet the hoof heads with turpentine, which sets up
intense irritation and induces knee action. This is readily discovered by
remembering to run the hands over the coronets when examining the horse,
then noting if they smell of any drug.
The horse trainer, on the other hand, develops high knee action by
putting on heavy shoes, the toes being left long; by trotting and
galloping the horse in plowed land, deep snow, or a deep bed of straw.
He also frequently taps the legs back of the knees with a whip or light
stick as the horse takes daily walking exercise. Soon the animal learns
the trick of high stepping, and thus is ready to match with one of like
kind and gait, for sale at a high figure to some rich man in the city.
A coach horse with extraordinary high knee action was sold by a dealer to
a city man for $400. In a few days the buyer returned the horse saying,
“Sell him over again; you put him on me, now stick some one else with
him.” This horse had stringhalt in both fore legs which caused him to go
high.
In buying a coach or hackney stallion or mare for breeding purposes, see
to it that the high action is natural and not acquired or due to chorea,
else the tendency to step high will not be transmitted to the progeny.
The Artificial Tail Trick.
Where a horse is bought without careful examination of the tail, it may
transpire when too late for redress that the switching appendage has been
joined on. We remember examining a fine, thoroughbred running horse that
was to be used for saddle purposes. Everything passed scrutiny until we
came to the tail, which was that of some other horse, nicely held in
place by clamps. When it was removed it was found that the horse under
examination possessed a mere vestigial stump of a tail—a regular shaving
brush affair—and on that account the deal, like the tail, was all off.
Draft and work horses are often offered with the tail braided and tied
up. Where this is the case, the intending buyer should let the tail down
and then he may find that a big foreign switch has been braided in with
the scant supply of natural hair.
The critical examination of the tail will also save the prospective
purchaser from acquiring an animal afflicted with pigment tumors (see
page 48), or one that is about to lose a portion of the tail by gangrene,
due to keeping a cord too tightly and too long around the part when tied
up in muddy weather, or while exposed for sale.
Keeping a Horse “In the Air.”
The dealer tries to keep a horse “in the air” as much as possible when
showing him to a prospective buyer, but the latter should be sure to
examine the horse when he is “standing at ease.” The object of keeping
the horse rattled by cracking whips, shaking barn door latches, rattling
a whip handle inside of a derby hat, whooping, yelling, and chasing
behind him, is to make him appear spirited, or to hide some lameness.
Often the horse so treated has a spavin, the laming effects of which
disappear with exercise, and this also is true if the horse has navicular
disease or chorea.
This absurd treatment of the horse is customary in the selling of a heavy
draft stallion that has been so fattened, pampered and drugged that he
is practically asleep half the time, and has to be waked up by strenuous
means to give him an appearance of life. A naturally acute and wide-awake
horse needs little urging.
The Loose Shoe Trick.
When a horse is a poor mover, but stylish and likely to be a prize winner
in the show ring, the owner tries to avoid putting him through his paces
before the judges. A shoe is loosely tacked on, so that when the horse is
trotted it comes off, and the owner then blames imperfection of motion to
the loss of the shoe.
We remember a case in the judging ring where a stallion with notoriously
poor, flat, brittle hoofs was being trotted out for inspection by the
awarding committee. At the first trot out, off flew the shoe, carrying
with it a goodly portion of horny wall. “Too bad, too bad!” condoled
the judge with the owner, who instantly replied, “Oh, that’s all right;
a horse with a foot like that will never miss it!” And the judge—a
beginner—seemed to take it for granted that the foot was a specially good
one, precisely as he was expected to do, and he gave the horse a prize,
although he had not been properly shown out like his rivals.
Wire Marks Over Side-Bones.
Instances have been disclosed where gashes have purposely been cut with
a knife on the hoof head just over a prominent side-bone so that when
the wounds healed and left large scars the side-bones might be laid to a
wire cut. This trick is mostly used in the case of a stallion that might,
on account of a side-bone, be refused a license for public service in
states where laws are in force for the supervision of the horse breeding
industry.
In Wisconsin, which was the first state to enact a stallion service law,
we found large scars over side-bones on both fore feet of a pure-bred
draft stallion. In another case, where a complaint was filed to the
effect that a stallion was unsound from side-bone, the owner claimed
by letter that the side-bone was due to a calk wound. Examination by a
veterinarian disclosed the fact that the wound scar was over a side-bone
on a _hind_ foot, and there were two large side-bones on each fore foot
and no scars on the latter. The state license of this horse was promptly
cancelled for cause.