Show BLINDNESS AMONG HORSES cannes and about prevention and proper treatment it has been stated that blindness is anore prevalent among horses in america than among those of other countries if this is the case the causes of the evil should be investigated and removed if possible without delay it is the fact that blindness is more prevalent among horses in ohio than choso of any section of the country the cases of blindness are attributed in a great measure to overfeeding over feeding the ohio horses being notoriously fat it is a common practice to force the fat upon horses intended for sale by stuffing them principally with indian corn and keeping them without service in warm close stables this method of feeding soon fattens a horse but at the same time its digestive functions are injured by the treatment it is now believed that blindness can traced to a sympathetic relation between disorder of the digestive organs and the brain and that through the latter the optic nerve becomes diseased and ends in destroying the vision blindness is also frequently transmitted to offspring and thus an evil first originating in disease almost becomes a natural defect by hereditary descent errors in feeding horses as is well known also produce blind staggers and organic disuse of the brain therefore the greatest care be exercised in feeding them lu order to prevent the spread of horse blindness it is recommended that whenever the animal shows the least bemp toma of the disease it should be kept on a light diet of hay and oats A horse may be maintained in good condition on twelve pounds of hay and five pounds of oats for daily feed in breeding horses it is also recommended that all animals showing the least symptoms of organic disease be rejected one of the first symptoms incident to blindness which any person may readily notice ia the disposition of the animal to raise his forelegs fore legs unnecessarily high while at the same time the ears are drawn back and forth in quick succession and thus giving sure evidence that the sagacious animal is sounding the ground over which he travels these are the principal ideas advanced by most veterinarians respecting the cause of prevalent horse blindness in our country and a mode of arresting the spread of the evil there are some other causes of this disease which appear more evident any of which are perfectly capable of removal blind horses are more common in cities than in the rural districts thia is principally caused by bad stables many of them are underground cellars and with few exceptions all stables are too small they do not admit a sufficient quantity of fresh air for ventilation and respiration and this always tends to injure the health of the animals light is as essential to he health of horses as that of men and yet most stables are nearly as dark as dungeons it would be far better for most of the horses in our cities to be kept lj open sheds than in the stables commonly provided for them I 1 am also positive that eye blinds on the harness tend to injure the eyes of horses and as they are totally useless and unsightly appendages they should be abandoned entirely the open bridle has become more common but it should be universal tight close collars which squeeze the eyes of horses in putting them on are also very injurious to the eyes of the animals I 1 have known one case of permanent injury to the eyes ol 01 an excellent horse from this cause carriage and draft horses should be provided with divided collars secured either at the top or bottom BO that they are not required to be forced over tho heads of the animals new york world |