Special Report on Diseases of the HorseUnited States. Bureau of Animal Industry
Science
Special Report on Diseases of the Horse
United States. Bureau of Animal Industry
Horses -- Diseases
Wounds of the skin may be of importance in the diagnosis of internal
disease. Wounds over the bony prominence, as the point of the hip, the
point of the shoulder, and the greatest convexity of the ribs, occur
when a horse is unable to stand for a long time and, through continually
lying upon his side, has shut off the circulation to the portion of the
skin that covers parts of the body that carry the greatest weight, and
in this way has caused them to mortify. Little, round, soft, doughlike
swellings occur on the skin and may be scattered freely over the surface
of the body when the horse is afflicted with urticaria. Similar
eruptions, but distributed less generally, about the size of a silver
dollar, may occur as a symptom of dourine, or colt distemper. Hard
lumps, from which radiate welt-like swellings of the lymphatics, occur
in glanders, and blisterlike eruptions occur around the mouth and
pasterns in horsepox.
THE ORGANS OF CIRCULATION.
The first item in this portion of the examination consists in taking the
pulse. The pulse may be counted and its character may be determined at
any point where a large artery occupies a situation close to the skin
and above a hard tissue, such as a bone, cartilage, or tendon. The most
convenient place for taking the pulse of the horse is at the jaw. The
external maxillary artery runs from between the jaws, around the lower
border of the jawbone, and up on the outside of the jawbone to the face.
It is located immediately in front of the heavy muscles of the cheek.
Its throb can be felt most distinctly just before it turns around the
lower border of the jawbone. The balls of the first and second or of the
second and third fingers should be pressed lightly on the skin over this
artery when its pulsations are to be studied.
The normal pulse of the healthy horse varies in frequency as follows:
Stallion 28 to 32 beats per minute.
Gelding 33 to 38 beats per minute.
Mare 34 to 40 beats per minute.
Foal 2 to 3 years old 40 to 50 beats per minute.
Foal 6 to 12 months old 45 to 60 beats per minute.
Foal 2 to 4 weeks old 70 to 90 beats per minute.
The pulse is accelerated by the digestion of rich food, by hot weather,
exercise, excitement, and alarm. It is slightly more rapid in the
evening than it is in the morning. Well-bred horses have a slightly more
rapid pulse than sluggish, cold-blooded horses. The pulse should be
regular; that is, the separate beats should follow each other after
intervals of equal length, and the beats should be of equal fullness, or
volume.
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