1962-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1962 December Voice | Page 8

6
December, 1962
UnPQF
FFVFR __By reprinted
Charles McCammon, M. D.
llWlwC PC V Cl\
from Western Horseman
A DOCTOR GIVES HIS VIEWS ABOUT
A SERIOUS AND CATCHING MALADY
As many of you are new to the
horse world, I want to take this op­
portunity to discuss what I think is a
serious problem. This problem, an
illness, is not unique to any geo­
graphic region, however, you may
already have noticed its existence. Al­
though slightly contagious, is rarely
fatal, but does occasionally leave some
noticeable scars and deformities. I
am speaking of “horse fever.”
Horse fever shows definite age and
sex relationships. The most suscepti­
ble group to horse fever is young
females from about the age of 9 to 16
years. Although the illness may run a
stormy course and reduce near psh-
chotic day dreams, the desire to wear
only jeans and boots and to live with
horses, recovery is usually complete.
There is no more pathetic sight than
that of the 12- or 13-year-old girl
hanging over a horse pasture fence
mooning over a herd of horses. One
case of severe infection that I ob­
served was in a 12-year-old while girl
who, besides exhibiting tile symptoms
of chronic day dreaming, neglecting
her school work to draw pictures
of horses, and filling her room with
pictures and miniature statues of
horses, actually ran around the house
on hands and knees neighing like a
horse. These severe symptoms have
existed for four years but are gradually
subsiding.
Although viewed with amusement
by friends and relatives, this illness
often causes much parental concern.
1 feel that you can safely assure these
parents that their daughter will not
only survive but will recovery is very'
rapid in a few cases merely by per­
mitting the victim to become horse
owners. Many more recover because
their parents assume a firm and un­
sympathetic attitude and deny the
victim horse ownership. In the more
severe cases recovery begins when the
victim begins to think that the human
male may be as interesting as the
equine male.
In recent years there has been some
shift in infectivity as far as sex is con­
cerned. Although the teen-age male is
still susceptible, he does not seem as
susceptible as he was one and two
generations ago. This probably is be­
cause horse fever in the young male
is usually associated with cowboyilis.
The combination of these two illnesses
frequently caused these young males
to abandon home, friends, and school
to aitach themselves to a ranch or
c