Part 8
Before leaving the subject of feeding, it should have been stated that care should be taken in making changes of diet, which should not be done too abruptly, particularly changes to food which, if eaten hurriedly or in considerable quantities, is apt to cause indigestion. Good examples of such food are roots, boiled grain and grass. An attack of indigestion in a horse that is a good feeder may almost certainly be caused by giving too large a feed of roots or boiled grain or by turning him into a fresh clover field that has a luxurious growth of herbage. If the grass is short, and he has to work hard for his feed, he can be safely turned into a pasture field; but where there is luxuriant growth, there should be several days’ restricted feeding before it is safe to allow some horses, particularly greedy feeders, liberty to eat at will.
In all horses in which the excrement from the bowels shows evidence of imperfect mastication, the cause should be sought for, and removed if possible. Greedy feeders bolt their grain, not taking time for perfect mastication. This not only results in waste, but is apt to cause irritation also. Bolting the grain may be prevented in a variety of ways. Numbers of feed boxes have been invented to overcome this trouble, some of which are fairly effectual. The old-fashioned plan of putting a number of stones amongst the grain works very well. The addition of an equal quantity of bran to the grain is also an assistance, but really the most effectual plan, where practicable, is to mix two or three pounds of chaffed hay with the grain. In the case of horses which do not bolt their grain, where there is evidence of imperfect mastication, the grinders should be thoroughly examined. This should be done by a qualified and reputable veterinarian. The wandering, self-styled horse dentist should be carefully avoided, as he is apt to injure the teeth by the over-use of the forceps and tooth-rasp. Many horses’ lives are shortened by allowing unprincipled and ignorant men to ill-treat the teeth.
Horses are more liable than almost any other species, to irregular growths of the grinders, owing to their peculiar anatomical arrangement. The two rows of grinders in the upper jaw are further apart than those in the lower, and consequently overlap them on either side. The grinding surface is beveled, and in the upper jaw slants from within outwards, forming a ridge on the outside of each row. The arrangement in the lower jaw is just the opposite, the ridge coming on the inside. In order that grinding of the food may take place in a perfect manner, the teeth must come into perfect apposition. If the grinders do not come into perfect contact in the process of grinding, the food is not only imperfectly masticated, but the teeth wear irregularly. Nature’s method of keeping the teeth of normal dimensions is by the wear they experience during grinding. If from any cause this wear does not take place throughout all the grinding surface, irregular projections form, and are most apt to be found on the outer ridge of the upper rows of grinders and on the inner of the lower ones. These projections are liable to interfere with mastication to a degree proportionate to their size, and sometimes cut and abrade the cheeks and tongue. When the mouth is in such a condition, it will be much benefited by proper attention. The owner, however, should not be misled by traveling dentists into thinking that all horses’ teeth require attention. The dentist points out the projecting ridges on the outside of the upper rows and on the inside of the lower ones, and makes the owner believe this to be an abnormal condition. Some owners seem to think, or are made to think, that the grinding surfaces should be level from side to side, instead of beveled, as nature made them.
In addition to the tendency to injurious projections on the grinders, as already described, we not infrequently find on the front part of the first upper grinders and on the back part of the last lower ones, prominences of considerable size. These are found generally in horses with “parrot mouths,” or what are sometimes called “overshot mouths.” This is a deformity, as the upper jaw is placed a little too far forward with respect to the lower one, so that a portion of the first upper grinders and of the last lower ones do not come in contact with opposing teeth. These are not kept of normal dimensions by wear; consequently, projections are formed, which seriously interfere with mastication, and otherwise injure the mouth. Occasionally a broken or decayed tooth is found, which also gravely interferes with the grinding of the food. If from any cause the power of mastication is impaired, it results not only in waste, but the imperfectly prepared food is liable to cause digestive derangement. If a horse is found to slobber at the mouth and to have difficulty in eating, the teeth should always be carefully examined by an expert.
THE USE OF BURRS ON HORSES’ BITS
Every now and then one hears of the A. S. P. C. A. making a crusade against the use of burrs on horses’ bits, and it is one of the practices that their agents are always on the alert to detect. They assume that the use of a burr is such a very evident act of cruelty, that they would have no difficulty in securing a conviction, which would redound to their credit as assiduous and vigilant officials.
Owners of horses appear to be afraid to take a chance of defending such a suit. Why? Is it because they are averse to spending the time, experiencing the incidental worry, and standing the expense, or is it the fear of being convicted of cruelty to an animal? It seems to the writer that the latter is the chief reason, and from which one would naturally shrink; otherwise it appears difficult to understand why horsemen allow men who, as a rule, have very limited or no knowledge of horse management, to dictate to them as to what equipment they should use in driving their horses.
To one who knows the use of a burr, it seems incredible to think that, with a fair trial and a proper presentation of a defense, a conviction could be obtained against a driver of a horse for using a burr on a properly selected subject.
Numberless experts could be obtained as witnesses to show that the use of a burr is no cruelty in properly selected cases, and such experts could be obtained amongst horsemen of undoubted standing who would shrink from anything that savored of cruelty to animals.
Still further, it could be demonstrated, as it has been to the writer many times, that it is positively inhumane not to use a burr on some horses. One comes in contact with nervous, fretful pullers, that wear themselves out, lose their appetites, and become wrecks, that by the use of a burr often cease pulling, in a large measure, drive comfortably, and regain condition. People are heard to speak of burrs as if they are instruments of torture, placed on a horse’s bit to irritate him. Some suppose that they are used to give a horse a stylish carriage and promote action. As there is so much misconception with regard to the object of their use, it will be well to explain what is intended to be accomplished by them.
A burr is made of a piece of thick leather, studded with bristles on one side, about half an inch long. It has a hole in the centre, so that it can be fitted on the mouth-piece of the bit, and a slit running from the circumference to this hole, so that it can be taken off or put on, as occasion requires.
When it is put on it is placed on one end of the mouth-piece of the bit, right up against the cheek-piece of it, with the bristled surface towards the horse’s mouth. If the mouth-piece of the bit is of proper width, the bristles do not prick the skin of the horse’s lips, unless he voluntarily presses on them. After he has pressed on them a few times, finding they are uncomfortable, he usually stops doing it; then they don’t hurt him.
This is the object of a burr, namely, to keep a horse from pressing on one side of the bit. A horse that presses forcibly on one side of the bit, which habit is usually called side-lining, is very difficult to guide, as he takes an unyielding grip of the bit, usually holds his head to one side, and pulls to an extent most uncomfortable to his driver, and most wearing to himself. Anxious, ambitious, free, high-strung horses are apt to get into this habit, unless their mouths are properly educated to the bit, and their general handling and management good.
Not the least important amongst the exciting causes is insufficient and irregular work, causing a horse to get what is often called “above himself.” Under such circumstances, if he is a free horse, he will go up firmly against the bit, and may bruise or injure his mouth in some way, producing soreness and irritability of the gums where the bit presses. This causes him to pull more, and some horses brace themselves against the cheek-piece of the bit, which enables them to pull to an extent most trying to the driver, and most wearing to themselves. The farther they go the more they pull and the more excited, fretful and heated they become. The constant repetition of this causes them to get “run down” in condition, and the unnecessarily violent exertion they make in performing their work is very hard on their legs and feet.
If by the simple expedient of using a burr on a puller’s bit, this habit of pulling can be lessened, and practically overcome in some cases, is it not justifiable to take the risk of subjecting a horse’s lips to a few pricks with bristles in order to attain such desirable results? A fretful puller suffers infinitely more, by the over-exertion to which he subjects himself, and by working himself up into an excited and heated state, than by the use of burrs.
As for the driver, it becomes absolutely painful to him to drive a side-lining puller, and it is not without danger, especially where there is crowded traffic, as in cities, on account of the difficulty of guiding and controlling a horse with such a disagreeable fault. To a driver who has had his arms pulled out, the use of a burr does not seem by any means too drastic a remedy.
It may be asked: Is there not some other means of a less heroic nature, that may be resorted to, to overcome this disagreeable habit? There is no doubt that thoughtless, careless, ignorant and unintelligent handling and management of horses, especially of young ones, makes many pullers. Sensitive, nervous, courageous horses are predisposed to this fault, and there are some in which it is almost impossible to prevent the development of it.
Some horses, whose mouths have become irritable from pulling, will be very much benefited by “turning out” for two or three months. Keeping the bit out of the mouth for a length of time allows that organ to heal and freshen up, until it may regain something like its normal condition; but much care must be exercised when they are again put to work, otherwise they will soon relapse into their former habit of pulling. No matter how much care is exercised with some horses, that may almost be called natural pullers, they will develop the fault, and any measures adopted to overcome it are fruitless, and all that can be done is to seek measures of control, such as proper bitting and the use of burrs. Many pullers are quite valuable horses, and their owners are loth to lose their service, or even to part with them for a good price, on account of the good qualities they possess.
The use of burrs, like everything else in the management and control of horses, should be done with discretion. Bits and bearing reins can be made instruments of torture, just as much and more than burrs, if not intelligently used. The apparently simple matter of placing the bit in the proper position in a horse’s mouth is one subject to great abuse, and is the cause of much suffering. It is no exaggeration to state that fully one-third of the horses one sees on the streets in New York City have not got their bits in the proper position in their mouths. How frequently one sees horses with their mouths partly open, tongues dry and projecting more or less from their mouths, due entirely to bits being placed too high in them. Much of the pulling is due to this error in bitting, as is also the unsightly fault of tongue-lolling.
No practical person advocates not using bits, although on account of the ignorance and lack of intelligence and skill in the manner in which they are used, they are the cause of more suffering than all other causes combined.
There are some pullers that burrs do not benefit much, and they are sometimes used on horses unnecessarily. They are occasionally used on horses that do not pull, but have acquired the habit of pulling out in double harness. A much more rational and effectual way of overcoming this fault is to drive the horse on the other side.
Transcriber’s Note:
Words and phrases in italics are surrounded by underscores, _like this_. Misplaced hyphens were removed; one final stop missing at the end of a sentence was added. “It it” change to “It is.”