450 CRIB BITING. 



with his teeth, violently extends his neck, and then, after some convulsive 

 action of the throat, a slight grunting is heard, accompanied hy a sucking or 

 drawing in of air. It is not an effort at simple eructation, arising from indiges- 

 tion. It is the inhalation of air. It is that which 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 injured and worn 

 away, and that, in an old horse, to a very serious degree. A considerable 

 quantity of com is often lost, for the horse will frequently crib with his mouth 

 full of it, and the greater part will fall over the edge of the manger. Much 

 saliva escapes while the manger is thus forcibly held, the loss of which must be 

 of serious detriment in impairing the digestion. The crib-biting horse is noto- 

 riously more subject to colic than other horses, and to a species difficult of treat- 

 ment and frequently dangerous. Although many a crib- biter is stout and 

 strong, and capable of all ordinary work, these horses do not generally carry 

 so much flesh as others, and have not their endurance. On these accounts crib- 

 biting has very properly been decided to be unsoundness. We must not look to 

 the state of the disease at the time of purchase. The question is, does it exist 

 at all? A case was tried before Lord Tenterden, and thus decided : "a horse 

 with ciib-biting is unsound." 



It is one of those tricks which are exceedingly contagious. Every companion 

 of a crib-biter in the same stables is likely to acquire the habit, and it is the 

 most inveterate of all habits. The edge of the manger will in vain be lined 

 with iron, or with sheep-skin, or with sheep-skin covered with tar or aloes, or 

 any other unpleasant substance. In defiance of the annoyance which these 

 may occasion, the horse will persist in the attack on his manger. A strap 

 buckled tightly round the neck, by compressing the windpipe, is the best means 

 of preventing the possibility of this trick ; but the strap must be constantly 

 worn, and its pressure is too apt to produce a worse affection, viz. an irritation 

 in the windpipe, which terminates in roaring. 



Some have recommended turning out for five or six months ; but this has 

 never succeeded except with a young horse, and then rarely. The old crib- 

 biter will employ the gate for the same purpose as the edge of his manger, and 

 we have often seen him galloping across a field for the mere object of 

 having a gripe at a rail. Medicine wdll be altogether thrown away in this 

 case. 



The only remedy is a muzzle, with bars across the bottom ; sufficiently wide 

 to enable the animal to pick up his corn and to pull his hay, but not to grasp 

 the edge of the manger. If this is worn for a considerable period, the horse may 

 be tired of attempting that which he cannot accomplish, and for a while forget 

 the habit, but, in a majority of cases, the desire of crib-biting will return with 

 the power of gratifying it. 



The causes of crib-biting are various, and some of them beyond the control of 

 the proprietor of the horse. It is often the result of imitation ; but it is more 

 frequently the consequence of idleness. The high-fed and spirited horse must 

 be in mischief if he is not usefully employed. Sometimes, but we believe not 

 often, it is produced by partial starvation, whether in a bad straw-yard, or from 

 unpalatable food. An occasional cause of crib-biting is the frequent custom of 

 grooms, even when the weather is not severe, of dressing them in the stable. 

 The horse either catches at the edge of the manger, or at that of the partition 

 on each side, if he has been turned, and thus he forms the habit of laying 

 hold of these substances on every occasion. 



