CRIB BITING. 449 



master- farrier's order ; and that a young horse should never be twitched or 

 struck. There are few horses that may not be gradually rendered manageable 

 for this purpose by mildness and firmness in the operator. They will soon 

 understand that no harm is meant, and they will not forget their usual habit of 

 obedience ; but if the remembrance of corporal punishment is connected with 

 shoeing, they will always be fidgety, and occasionally dangerous. 



This is a very serious vice, for it not only exposes the animal to occasional 

 severe injury from his own struggles, but also from the correction of the irri- 

 tated smith, whose limbs and whose life being in jeopardy, may be forgiven if 

 he is sometimes a little too hard-handed. Such a horse is very liable, and 

 without any fault of the smith, to be pricked and lamed in shoeing ; and if the 

 habit should be confirmed, and should increase, and it at length becomes 

 necessary to cast him, or to put him in the trevis, the owner may be assured 

 that many years will not pass ere some formidable or fatal accident will take 

 place. If, therefore, mild treatment will not correct this vice, the horse cannot 

 be too soon got rid of. 



Horses have many unpleasant habits in the stable and on the road, which 

 cannot be said to amount to vice, but which materially lessen their value. 



SWALLOWING WITHOUT GRINDING. 



Some greedy horses habituall} 7 swallow their corn without properly grinding 

 it, and the power of digestion not being adequate to the dissolving of the husk, 

 no nutriment is extracted, and the oats are voided whole. This is particularly 

 the case when horses of unequal appetite feed from the same manger. The 

 greedy one, in his eagerness to get more than his share, bolts a portion of his 

 corn whole. If the farmer, without considerable inconvenience, could contrive 

 that every horse shall have his separate division of the manger, the one of 

 smaller appetite and slower feed would have the opportunity of grinding at his 

 leisure, without the fear of the greater share being stolen by his neighbour. 



Some horses, however, are naturally greedy feeders, and will not, even 

 when alone, allow themselves time to chew or grind their corn. In consequence 

 of this they carry but little flesh, and are not equal to severe work. If the rack 

 was supplied with hay when the corn was put into the manger, they will con- 

 tinue to eat on, and their stomachs will become distended with half-chewed and 

 indigestible food. In consequence of this they will be incapable of considerable 

 exertion for a long time after feeding, and, occasionally, dangerous symptoms 

 of staggers will occur. 



The remedy is, not to let such horses fast too long. The nose-bag should 

 be the companion of every considerable journey. The food should likewise be 

 of such a nature that it cannot be rapidly bolted. Chaff should be plentifully 

 mixed with the corn, and, in some cases, and especially in horses of slow work, 

 it should, with the corn, constitute the whole of the food. This will be treated 

 on more at large under the article ' Feeding.' 



In every case of this kind the teeth should be carefully examined. Some of 

 them may be unduly lengthened, particularly the first of the grinders : or they 

 may be ragged at the edges, and may abrade and wound the cheek. In the 

 first case the horse cannot properly masticate his food ; in the latter he will not ; 

 for these animals, as too often happens hi sore throat, would rather starve than 

 put themselves to much pain. 



CRIB-BITING. 



This is a very unpleasant habit, and a considerable defect, although not so 

 serious a one ,s some have represented The horse lays hold of the mauger 



