WIND-SUCKING CUTTING. 379 



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purpose as the edpe of his manger, and we have often seen him 

 galloping- across a field lor the mere object of having a gripe at 

 a rail. Medicine will 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 attempt- 

 ing that which he cannot accomplish, and for a while forget the 

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

 turn 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 idle- 

 ness. 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. 



WIND-SUCK1N"G. 



This bears a close analogy to crib-biting. It arises from the 

 same causes ; the same purpose is accomplished ; and the same 

 results follow. The horse stands with his neck bent ; his head 

 drawn inward ; his lips alternately a little opened and then 

 closed, and a noise is heard as if he were sucking. If we may 

 judge from the same comparative want of condition and the flat- 

 ulence which we have described under the last head, either some 

 portion of wind enters the stomach, or there is an injurious loss 

 of saliva. This diminishes the value of the horse almost as much 

 as crib-biting ; it is as contagious, and it is as inveterate. The 

 only remedies, and they will seldom avail, are tying the head up, 

 except when the horse is feeding, or putting on a muzzle with 

 sharp spikes towards the neck, and which will prick him when- 

 ever he attempts to rein his head in for the purpose of wind- 

 sucking, 



CUTTING. 



Of this habit, mention has been made at page 266 ; and we 

 would advise the owner of a cutting horse, without trying any 

 previous experiments of raising or lowering the heels, to put on 



