STABLE VICES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXIX, Issue 14682, 13 May 1908, Page 9

STABLE VICES.

'(" The Field.") So-called stable vices are many of them due to discomfort, and even pain, and to call them " vices " is to slander our valuable friend the horse. Stamping, rubbing and kicking are often duo to an intolerable itching about the pasterns and lower portions of the limbs generally, and we should seek for the cause and remove it rather than subscribe to the general belief in stable "vice." One of the frequent causes of stamping and rubbing, occasionally of night-kicking also, is a parasite described long ago by Gerlach, and known to the French as gale du pied, yet constantly overlooked, even by veterinarians in our own country, because the trick of stamping violently with a hind foot is so commonly attributed to incipient grease. It is a common symptom of grease, but it is also one of gale du pied 7 or leg mange. Another/reason why it is so seldom suspected is the insidious manner of its invasion, also the inability of the symbiot to _ establish itself on the well-groomed animal of the fine-legged varieties. Its prevalence at the present time is due to the cultivation of so-called "feather" on the Shire horse, and it is among the hairy-legged that it is chiefly found. To a mite of no more than 36mm. to 40mm. the long hairs of the Shire horse's fetlocks must be as the tallest trees of the forest to the pigmies dwelling therein. In ordinary seasons the symbiots which ' cause mange in other parts of the body are never so active and quick spreading as the sarcopts, but the symbiots causing leg-mange are peculiarly deceptive by thb extremely long time they take to make their presence observed, although more or less felt by the victim or host. Delafond and others have described this parasite as being identical with the common symbiot, yet its behaviour on the legs is so comparatively innocent at first that it is not, as we have already said, so much as suspected. It commences at the pasterns and fetlocks, and for weeks or months no progress up the legs may be made, and this would seem to be due to the smallness of the numbers of the invaders and the shortness of food upon comparatively thick and insensitive skin studded with many hair sacs closely placed. Several months- would seem to be occupied in breeding a. sufficient nuanber to undertake serious cultivation of tho soil, which at no time .resembles tho deep ploughing sarcopts, but the colonies of psoropts, who do not burrow and form galleries, but disport themselves upon the surface, and prick the skin sufficiently to annoy tho host, who then rubs, stamps and inflames the integumeut sufficiently to cause a serosity to form. This is the harvest of the mites, and upoii it they thrive and multiply when once an established pruritis is set up. From tho fetlocks they ascend to the hocks and knees, but rarely advance to tho body. During the hours of daylight and of the host's activity they are comparatively quiescent, but at night their movements and operations cause sreat and continuous annoyance, loss of rest, and consequently of condition and efficiency. The greater activity of the parasites during the winter months ia flue to tho necessity of stimulating tho skin to the production of food, the warm weather uromoting the secretions of tho

skin and affording nutrition with but little, effort on their part. The appearance of many hairy-legged draught horses'is spoiled by their rubbing one leg over the other, and sores are caused by the contact of the shoe on the opposite limb. The hair bulbs are more of less injured, and semi-nude spots ruin tho animal for show, and give an aspect of neglect and imthriiti'ness to a team, for where one onimal in a cart stable has it, tho probability is that the stable' brushes convey it to the others. 'Pncutnann remarks that "jv.o disease may persist for several years if the horses are badly groomed;" the skin then becomes infiltrated, and cracks more or less deeply in the hollow of the pastern and above the fetlock. In tho course of time the papillae of the derma become hypertrophied, and this is shown by round or conical prominences close together, and covered by a smooth and shining epidermic layer. These increase in volume, and in the furrows between them appears a fcetid, sero-purdlont matter, chiefly composed of sorosity and a mass of. epidermic colls. In this the parasites of all age* are found, together with their eggs and moid tings and excrement. This cracked and foetid condition is often mistaken for grease, and the patient is dosed with diuretics, and a lotion of powder perfunctorily applied to the affected limbs, with very little effect. \ If the application contains chloride of zinc, sulphate of copper or zinc, emulsions of coal tar, and the like, a certain amount of destruction will be wrought among those symbiots nearest tho surface, but the majority, revelling in the morbid material in the cracks, will escape; in any case, a sufficient breeding stock will be left. It will be easily understood how the malady is spread in the stable, when it is-remembered that the symbiots can live along time without a host. In the litter used by an infected animal, which is often enough employed in the next stall, the parasite may be conveyed. Experiments in winch crusts of matter containing the symbiots have been kept for a fortnight have shown them so apparently immobile as to-appear dead, but, placed in a warm place for a fortnight, they have revived and readily fastened upon a new host. Diagnosis in the early stage is aided by the absence of other symptoms, such as the ill-odour of crease or the presence of cracked heel. There is no form of scabies which so , readily yields to treatment, but in tho advanced stage above described there will remain bald places, thickened skin, and unsightly cicatrices. Clipping tho hair close facilitates medication, hut will be objected to by most owners as. indicating some trouble or as prejudicing an early sale. It is not essential, however, and a sufficiently careful man will be able to rub soft soap into the skin despite the "feather" if he does so in a direction from below upwards. Such a plaster is loft on for twenty to thirty minutes, during which' the epithelium is swelled and " lifted," in readiness for removal by abundant application of warm water, aided by a stiff brush. The parts are then mopped with a soft rubber, and finally a mixture of equal parts paraffin and linseed oil applied, or a strong decoction of shag tobacco or Stockholm tar, or any of the popular creosote emulsions sold under proprietary names. Two or three such dressings may be relied on to destroy the mites; after which it is only a question of time for Nature to effect repair of the damage done. Stamping in the stable, more than

rubbing and kicking, is a prominent .: symptom of incipient grease. It preludes the. Bow of offensive matter,' . which which can hardly-be mistaken. ■ when once smelled. There is usually. ■ plenty of warning beforo a discharge,:; takes place, or those morbid growths ■ known as "grapes" begin to appear. Tho stable " vice " 'should be traced_ to its cause, and if it is grease, active, measures should be taken to suppress it while there is time. There can be,,: little doubt of its hereditary character,* or that it has a distinct preference for -; round-legged and hairy animals, prefer- ' ably the low-bred. ■ It must be regarded ,: i as constitutional, and combated try intern,"l remedies as well as by outward .: application. The aloetic ball esteemed by ■'.-- former generations-may here bo given full play, a dose being prescribed every three or four months, and such diure-; tics as nitrate of potash, sulphate of ~ magnesia and sublimed sulphur, given in bran mashes or mixed with salt and other things, to make food attractive,. which has been in any way meditated. : : The heels of greasy horses should not '-- be washed in" the ordinary way, but the mud upon the legs allowed to dry . on and be brushed next day. The only time for water is when it is desirecPtn apply some lotion or power to the skin - and a quantity of debris has to be re- l . moved to onable the medicament to ' reach it. - - :