Book #30: A new treatise on the method of breeding, breaking and training horses, by William Ward (1776).
The following piece was written by University of Guelph experiential learning student Emma Scott about A new treatise on the method of breeding, breaking, and training, horses:
William Ward’s A new treatise on the method of breeding, breaking, and training, horses was published in 1776. Ward sought to provide an all-encompassing book on the care of horses. He expressed in the preface of his text that most books written on the topic of caring for horses are “above the comprehension of the generality of readers.”[1] Ward aimed to use simple, accessible language to describe the breeding, breaking, training, and care of horses.
Throughout Ward’s book, he references other writers and the treatments they promoted. Occasionally, Ward admits that he does not know how to cure a specific affliction and suggests that readers follow Henry Bracken’s or John Bartlet’s remedies instead.[3] There are several things Ward’s references can tell us about early veterinary writing. First, he pulls from sections of Henry Bracken’s and John Bartlet’s books, relaying their methods and only referencing them by name. The lack of proper accreditation to other writers displays the freedom authors were granted during this period; copyright was seemingly not as strict as it is today. Next, the connection to other writers and sheds light on the ‘medical marketplace’ that was overflowing with healers, cures, and medical products to be bought and employed to serve the needs of the public.[4] The sizable number of cures and individuals to be employed would have caused many physicians to compete for employment. In particular, Henry Backen and John Bartlet were authors of some of the most well known texts surrounding farriery such as The Gentleman Farrier’s Repository, of Elegant and Approved Remedies for the Diseases of Horses (Bartlet)and Farriery Improved (Bracken). The inclusion of other infamous writers and their medical treatments would have likely benefited Ward’s reputation as both an author and a medical professional. In turn, the sales of Ward’s text may have improved.
Most of Ward’s cures to fevers and afflictions involve clysters, cordial balls, and poultices. Clysters (enemas) involve the injection of a fluid or medicinal mixture into the rectum.[5] Cordial balls are medicinal mixtures to be administered orally and poultices are mixtures which are warmed and applied externally.[6] All three of these medicinal mixtures are characterized by oils, herbs, and foodstuff like rolled oats, butter, and turmeric in Ward’s text. Ward instructs readers how to make these remedies from beginning to end, providing recipes, detailing what readers will need to gather, how to prepare it, and how to administer it to the horse.[7]
[1] William Ward, A new treatise on the method of breeding, breaking, and training, horses (Edinburgh: 1776), XI. http://find.gale.com.subzero.lib.uoguelph.ca/ecco/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=ECCO&userGroupName=guel77241&tabID=T001&docId=CB127917267&type=multipage&contentSet=ECCOArticles&version=1.0&docLevel=FASCIMILE.
[2] Ibid.
[3] William Ward, A new treatise on the method of breeding, breaking, and training, horses, 99-103.
[4] Louise Hill Curth, “The Care of the Brute Beast: Animals and the Seventeenth‐century Medical Market‐place,” Social History of Medicine, vol. 15, no. 3 (December 2002): 376, https://doi-org.subzero.lib.uoguelph.ca/10.1093/shm/15.3.375.
[5] Lawrence J. Bliquez and Emily J. Munro, “Paulakion and Securicella: Two Hitherto Unidentified Greco-Roman Veterinary Instruments.” Mnemosyne, Fourth Series, 60, no. 3 (2007): 490, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27736158.
[6] “Poultice,” In Concise Medical Dictionary, edited by Elizabeth Martin (Oxford University Press, 2015) https://www-oxfordreference-com.subzero.lib.uoguelph.ca/view/10.1093/acref/9780199687817.001.0001/acref-9780199687817-e-8113.
[7] Louise Hill Curth, “The Care of the Brute Beast: Animals and the Seventeenth‐century Medical Market‐place,” 385.
At this time, a full-text version of this volume is not available online. To view this book in person, please consult the catalogue entry in Archival & Special Collections, University of Guelph Library here.