How we have moved on in Veterinary Science

[Birker2020]

Moving my old bed at Mums as the electrician needs the floor boards up and emptied the divan of clothes and books.

Stumbled across this old vet book, explaining about blistering, holding a naked flame to the eye to see three images (upright, sideways and upside diwn) to show how the lens of the eyes are working, explaining about Fistolous Withers, Poll Evil, Quittor, Transit Tetany, Purpura Hemmorhagia and Angleberries.

I love the section covering colic. If a horse sits like a dog during colic it indicates a fatal colic. Verminous colic - never heard if this these days. And how arthritis and navicular have a very bad prognosis.

How times have changed.

 

[Quigleyandme]

I love vintage veterinary, riding and horse husbandry books. My son and I have quite the collection but my mother started it by buying us every old horsey book at the village bring and buy sales over the years. In many respects veterinary medicine has come a long way but much of the wisdom held by the old nags men has sadly gone to the grave with them. We have several army veterinary books published between the wars and intended for use in outposts of the empire where there was no permanent veterinary officer. The books cover common ailments suffered by horses and mules and to a lesser extent camels and elephants and give excellent descriptions and medical advice. Elliman’s Embrocation was one of the first companies to offer merch. You could send a few labels and stamps or whatever and receive a veterinary book in which the cure for every ailment was not surprisingly Elliman’s Embrocation.

 

[vhf]

I am custodian of vols 1,2,3,5,6,7,8,9 of "The horse Its treatment in health and disease with a complete guide to breeding training and management" by Prof J Wortley Axe, MRCS, published 1905.
I've not read much, but it's eye-opening!
On sea carriage... "Diet on ship-board requires to be carefully adjusted. Bran and sweet hay should form the staple food; a little corn may be added, but the less the better. A daily allowance of 4 or 5 lbs of carrots will keep the body cool and the bowels in fine action..."

 

[Gloi]

I had that book when I was young.

 

[meleeka]

I remember my friends pony being pts because he was ‘broken winded’. He was stabled most of the time on a straw bed which nobody knew was probably the cause. These days he’d have been prescribed soaked hay, plenty of turnout and would probably have been fine

Even 20 years ago my pony had what I now know was PPID. She did have a test for cushings as it was called then. The result was inconclusive and that was the end of that. She was 30 so her time was coming anyway sooner or later.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I remember when I was a kid seeing horses bled for various ailments, mainly laminitis. It was a fairly common thing for a laminitic back then to be bled.

Also out hunting you'd regularly see horses with white hair on their withers area obviously having had fistulous withers and/or saddle rubs; and firing marks. We didn't think anything of that back then. That said, we have an ex-hunter at my yard now who has obviously been fired. It saved a great many good horses from the bullet if I recall.

Also in those days if you had anything that reared it was drilled into us that there were three things you'd do: (1) get off; (2) stay off, & (3) get kennels........ you wouldn't be doing Parelli or NH with it. That was what you did end of.