How to cure founder according to Jordanus Rufus
British Library add. Ms. 15097, fol. 73r Since I am publishing a translation (coming out on Halloween) of a fourteenth-century French version of Jordanus Rufus's De medicina equorum (c. 1250), the most influential veterinary treatise of its time in Europe, I thought I would share some extracts in the weeks leading up to publication. The following one describes how to cure founder, in what seems today like outlandish ways, except for the use of hydrotherapy (Rufus describes immerging the horse's legs in cold, running water), that would likely lead to notable results, perhaps even compensating for the bleeding and the walking on stones, which would be excruciating (though, depending on the severity, movement could help). I was especially interested to read this passage as my two ponies, Topaze and Diamant, have been suffering from laminitis since last April. But don't worry, I haven't tried any of those remedies on them, despite my interest in experimental archaeology. ...
