HORSES-AN EXPLANATION WANTED.

Otago Witness, Issue 1500, 14 August 1880, Page 7

HORSES-AN EXPLANATION WANTED.

Farmer's Boy writes :— Knowing your willingnesß to publish any thing relating to farm life, eto., I beg to propound a number of questions : (1.) M'Tavish and Makie are two oarters. M'Tavish. goes in for good heavy upstanding Clydesdales, worth say £80 each. Makie ou the contrary being poorer, goes in for mongrels of all kinds, i£ large enough, costing only £30 each. Both have eight horses, and the cheaper team makes quicker trips -with more loading. Can you make any remarks of any kind which may throw any light on thid question ? (2.) In an upcountry district I wot of, there was an imported thoroughbred stallion, of perfect shape and form, and pedigree first class, and worth perhaps wben five or six years old, £300. His stock, numbering some hundreds, were all, with a very few exceptions, a set of useless mongrel crawlers, becoming strained in the tendons of the forelegs with very little use, perhaps before or in the breaking in. He left a son, narrow chested, flat-sided, bullock-hocked, and badly foundered at three years old, and worth perhaps at six years old about £10, which was kept as an entire to serve the same marea and the same class of mares, running out to graas with them. His stock are all perfect in form and shape, and very hardy, standing any amount of rough, hard work;, without becoming screwed at an early age. Can you explaiu this ? (3). Can you Igive me a good serviceable remedy for worms in horses. In all the veterinary treatises published each give a different version, clearly showing, in my opinion, that the matter is not very well understood. Nearly all horses it seems have -worms, and when treated with life pint of castor oil— a very severe remedy, necessitating a week's spell at least- - they afterwards get fat. The presence of this parasite is in a great measure the cause of so many weedy hacks. The mothers are very poor in consequence of this vermin, aided by bad grass, and consequently the foals have insufficient milk, and they are stunted and weedy, and they in turn make a new generation worse than before. It is noticed also that a fat mare alwoys has a good, strong, well- developed foal. If anyone else is able to tell me other reasons why this, a young country, which has had all the best strains of horse flesh introduced into it, has suoh a lot of "leggy, long-tailed, weedy hacks" in it I should feel obliged. (1.) Perhaps the cheap animals are better attended to than the good ones. We should think the latter will make up the apparent deficiency in the long run at all events. (2 ) It is certainly very difficult to account for the anomaly. All accepted authorities impress upon us the necessity of carefully selecting the stallion, urging that he should be free from vices of the temper and disposition, and from disease and malformations, as they will be sure to be transmitted to the progeny. We can only suggest, that in the case you quote the bad blood may come out in the third generation

(3.) If many worms are seen in the dung, and the horae is getting out of condition, two drachms of calomel should be administered over night with a good dose of physic in the morning. The best, and almost the only certain purgative for the horse is aloes, and the Barbadoes aloes should always be preferred- It may be given in dosea of one or two drachms made into a ball, as an alterative, and of five, six, or seven drachms as a purgative. If you give this a trial, we are sure you will never leturn to castor oil.

[We Bhall be happy to insert any experiences of cases in point in reply to " Farmer's Boy's " first two questions should any of our agrioul« tara! readers supply tbem,— [ld, 0. W-3