AS TO SOl/.VDA^ESS. 



man has to look to in purchasing a horse has to be 

 well looked to in the type we propose to take, — 

 eyesight, wind, limb, everything. Suppose such a 

 horse is for examination : look at him in a stall, if 

 possible in his own stall, and spend ten minutes in 

 seeing 7C'/iaf he is doing, and /lozu he is doing it. Ic 

 not unfrequently hapj^ens that the very tying of a 

 horse is objectionable, and has to be rectified j he 

 is often tied short for various reasons, so that your 

 first care is to have the horse tied so that he may 

 have plenty of liberty. We may often learn a great 

 deal by merely looking at a horse as he stands in 

 his stall ; but watching a horse for some time is of 

 the greatest importance to us in making a thorough 

 examination. 



"Crib-biting," "weaving," and position in standing, 

 are what we are for the most part looking for. Crib- 

 biting can only be practised when the horse has 

 something to pull at ; but if he be more accompHshed, 

 he will be able to "suck wind,'' as it is called, by 

 elevating his head, and having nothing to grasp. As 

 veterinary surgeons, you have litde to do with vice, 

 and these come under that head ; but it is always 

 to your advantage to get every information you can 

 about any horse you examine, and both "cribbing" 

 and "wind-sucking" are, or lead to, real unsound- 

 ness. Crib-biting is at first a nervous disease, and 

 may be the result of imitation ; or it may result de 

 710V0 from gastric discomfort long continued or fre- 



