1 68 Common Diseases of the Horse 



bog spavin and thoroughpin, but these, there is no doubt, are 

 more often acquired. The reader must not imagine for a moment 

 that foals are born with the various diseases enumerated. Such 

 a condition is extremely rare, but should it occur it is known as 

 congenital. 



An hereditary disease, then, may be said to be that condition 

 in which an animal is born with a predisposition to inherit the 

 disease with which its parents are affected, and if bred from 

 parents not affected with the disease, in an ordinary way it 

 would escape. The unsoundness may be evidenced sooner or 

 later, but it usually develops before maturity is reached. 



It will be better to refrain from going further into details 

 at present, but to describe the various diseases more fully under 

 separate headings. 



Roaring and Whistling 



These two diseases are practically one and the same, or perhaps 

 they may be said to be slightly different forms of the same com- 

 plaint. They are caused by disease of the muscles in the inside of 

 the throat, due to the nerves which supply these structures becoming 

 paralysed and unable to act. 



To the lay reader it will not be of interest to give further 

 details. Suffice to say, that the free admission of air into the lungs 

 is greatly impeded, at least by one-half, so that the lungs cannot 

 receive their normal supply of air. It may also be well to mention 

 that in health, and normally, the horse breathes entirely through 

 his nostrils, which fact may be quickly verified by placing a lighted 

 match to his mouth, which he will not be able to blow out. 



Symptoms. — When a horse is galloped for his wind, roaring may 

 be described as a groan or snore, and whistling as a kind of 

 suppressed whistle of a human being. The terms "roarer" and 

 " whistler" are applied to animals suffering from these diseases. To 

 test a horse affected with them it is only necessary to put a man on 

 his back and give him a short gallop up a hill, or a fast gallop on 

 a field ; or, in the case of harness and cart horses, a short gallop in 

 harness or a trial in a wagon with the brake on, sending them pre- 

 ferably up a hill. The person making the trial has only to put his 

 ear close to the horse's nostrils, when the disease will become mani- 

 fest to even the most unskilled observer. A further excellent way 

 of testing an animal is to lock the wheels of a country cart by 

 placing a stout pole through the spokes and making the horse pull 

 on soft ground. Another infirmity of the wind which comes under 

 the same category is that of " grunting to the stick " or " making a 



