COMMON AILMENTS. 23 



take his ordinary allowance of hard corn, the horse may be 

 a trifle weak, and should be dealt gently with, in the way of 

 work, for a few diys. 



Roaring. — Alas! that one should have to class this, the 

 curse of so many good horses, amongst "common ailments;" 

 but so undoubtedly it is. Cure, of course, is out of the 

 question, and mitigation of its baneful effects is all we must 

 venture to attempt. It is caused by some one or other of the 

 many impediments to respiration, and the seat of the disease 

 varies with each particular case. Most frequently the mis- 

 chief is seated in the larynx, sometimes in the trachea, some- 

 times again in the lungs. Many degrees of roaring are 

 known, from the noise that can be heard fifty yards oflf, to 

 what is called " high blowing," which is hardly roaring at 

 all. Indeed, we have it on unquestionable authority that the 

 unbeaten Eclipse himself " made a noise." As there are 

 different degrees of roaring, so are there different causes which 

 make a roarer show at his worst. Some only betray their 

 weakness when drawing a heavy carriage up hill, others make 

 hardly any noise except when galloped, and I once broke in 

 a young one who might have been ridden or driven all day 

 long without a sound, unless anything occurred to excite him, 

 when he would roar like a bull. Many good hunters make a 

 noise when pressed ; but, if carefully and humanely ridden. 

 a "pull" being taken whenever opportunity offers during the 

 run, most of them will get through their work pretty com- 

 fortably. Some people object very much to the unpleasant 

 sounds emitted during the gallop, although this has its advan- 

 tages, if it is true, as stated, that on3 noble M.F.H., when 

 asked why he always mounted his whips on roarers, replied: 

 " Because, if I can't see them, I like, at all events, to hear 

 where the beggars are ! " 



Broken Wind requires the same palliative treatment indi- 

 cated for roarers. The latter encounter their difficulty in 

 inspiration ; broken-winded horses inspire easily enough, but 

 cannot expel the air without such an effort as causes the 

 diaphragm to heave violently ; and by this sign alone the 

 mischief may be unerringly indicated. 



Megrims. — This disease is nothing more nor less than con- 

 gestion of the brain, and is often brought on by the horao 

 being too long exposed to a powerful sun, or by that abomi- 

 nation, a tight bearing-rein, or by an ill-fitting collar 



