The management and treatment of the horse in the stable, field, and ...

134± The Management and Treatment of the Horse,
neck, and violent contraction of the abdominal muscles,
followed by a discharge of fluid through the nostrils ;
indeed, all the phenomena usually present in a complete
act of vomitiOD. In cases of vomiting, from rupture or
overgorging with other kinds of food, the act is much
more of a passive kind. There is a stretching out of the
head and neck, little, if any, abdominal effort, and the
peculiar spasmodic action in the pharyxis not observable
until the return of the ingesta from the stomach, when a
choking sound is heard during its passage through the
posterior nares, when generally some of it falls back into
the trachea, causing a fit of coughing, after which the
head is extended, and the watery fluid trickles through
the nostrils. I am inclined to believe that the action of
the stomach is sufficient to effect this, and that a
ruptured stomach is the result of vomiting, and not the
cause of it. This, however, is a disputed point.
Mr. John Gerrard, M.R.C.V.S., of Market Deeping,
gives us the following case, which I insert for the benefit
of my readers. He says— " A five-year-old half-bred
cob mare, the property of Sisson Martin, Esq., of Help-
stoneheath, had been put to light work in the field from
seven a.m. to three p.m. on the loth of May; a quantity
of lawn-mowings and hedge-side chippings were placed
in the manger, of which she ate greedily, also a quartern
of oats and beans and some chaff ; the usual quantity of
water was given, and in about half-an-hour after she was
placed in the stall she showed symptoms of abdominal
pains, getting up and lying down and rolling violently.
The usual colic drink was given, which temporarily
relieved her. Two hours after she began to retch, and