COLICKY CRIB-BITERS. 213 



vulsive action of the throat, a slight grunting is heard, 

 accompanied by a sucking in of air. It is not an effort 

 at simple eructation, arising from indigestion, but is 

 merely the inhalation of air. It takes place with all 

 kinds of diet, and when the stomach is empty as well 

 as when it is full. 



" The effects of crib-biting are plain enough. The 

 teeth are worn away and occasionally broken, and in 

 old horses to a very serious degree. Sometimes graz- 

 ing is rendered difficult or almost impossible. Corn is 

 often wasted, for the horse will frequently 'crib' with 

 his mouth full of it, and the greater part of it will fall 

 over the edge of the manger. Much saliva escapes also, 

 which impairs digestion. Crib-biting horses are more 

 subject to colic than others, and to a species difficult 

 of treatment and frequently dangerous. 



"The only remedy is a muzzle, with bars across the 

 bottom sufficiently wide to allow the horse to pick up 

 his corn and pull his hay, but not to grasp the edge of 

 the manger. Some recommend turning out for five or 

 six months; but this will never succeed except with 

 young horses, and rarely with them. The old crib- 

 biter will substitute the gate for the manger. We have 

 often seen him galloping across the field for the mere 

 object of having a gripe at a rail." 



Prof. Youatt further says that the vice is a species 

 of unsoundness, having been so decided in the courts. 

 It is often the result, he says, of imitation, but oftener 

 the consequence of indigestion. Mischief, he says, is 

 another cause of it. 



The mouth, it is said, is broader at seven years of 

 age than at any other time; but, so far as judging the 

 age is concerned, this fact (assertion) is of little prac- 



