REMEDIES FOR STABLE VICES AND BAD HABITS 291 



a fulci'um for the muscles of the neck to act from, and by preventing this, 

 or by contriving so that the contraction of the muscles of the neck shall 

 give pain, the vicious habit is got rid of for the time. The most common 

 method is to buckle a leather strap so tightly round the neck, just behind 

 the jaw, that when the horse attempts to crib, he tightens the muscles of 

 that part, and these being pressed against the strap, occasion such pain that 

 the act is not completely carried out, and even if it is on the first occasion, 

 the attempt is not repeated. The strap is buckled suiEciently tight to do 

 this, without much impeding the act of swallowing, or the flow of blood 

 from the head, through the jugular veins to the body; but in confirmed 

 cribbers no ordinary pressure will suffice, and then the head often becomes 

 affected from the impediment which is caused to the return of the blood from 

 the brain to the heart. To remedy this defect Mr. Cook, saddler, of 

 Long Acre, invented a neck strap, containing a number of prongs, which 

 pass through holes in a sj^ring guard, and unless this is strongly pressed, 

 they do not touch the skin. It is applied by throat straps to an ordinary 

 head collar, and in slight cases it is found to answer most perfectly, but 

 when the vice has become confirmed, and the desire to indulge in it is very 

 strong, the pain occasioned by the prongs is endured, and no efiect at all is 

 produced. It is not therefore of much use, as the common strap does no 

 injury in those cases where Mr. Cook's is efiectual, and the latter will not 

 avail when the plain strap is forbidden, on account of the extreme pressure 

 required. I cannot, therefore, recommend any plan but such as will totally 

 prevent the prehension of the manger, and this is accomplished by one of 

 two Avays. In the first of these, the manger itself is either concealed, on 

 the principle shown at page 238, or the coi"n and hay are placed on the 

 ground, in a space slightly separated from the rest of the stall by a row 

 of bricks, or other similar bodies, which cannot be laid hold of. To the 

 concealed manger and rack there is the objection, that while the horse is 

 feeding, he can go on cribbing without interruption, and as this is the time 

 chiefly chosen for the act, success is only partly achieved. Placing the 

 food on the ground is entirely successful in stopping the habit, but it leads 

 to some waste of provender, as the horse is apt to tread upon it, after which 

 he will refuse to eat it. By far the best preventive, in my opinion, is the 

 bar muzzle, consisting in an iron frame- work covering the lips and nose, and 

 suspended from the head by a leather head collar, so that the lips can 

 I'each the corn or hay, but the teeth are too wide to pass through the bars 

 and seize the manger. This mechanical contrivance is entirely harmless, 

 and perfectly efiectual, the sole objection to it being the fact that it 

 pi'oclaims the wearer to every one who looks into the stable as a cribber. 

 This may be a valid reason for rejecting its use for dealers' horses, but in a 

 gentleman's stable, utility and humanity ought to have precedence of such 

 a feeble argument. The price of the bar muzzle is 15s., which to a poor 

 man is a consideration, as compared with the plain leather strap to be 

 -obtained for Is. 6d. When the bar muzzle is adopted, it should always be 

 kept on, excepting, of course, when the bridle replaces it for work or 

 ■exercise, or while the head is being dressed. 



Kicking the wall or stall-post is sometimes a very annoying trick, 

 and though not always done in a vicious manner, it is objectionable, 

 because the kicker is liable to lame himself, or one of his neighbours. In 



