SOUNDNESS. 



423 



mipht have boon inoroasod by ibis, ibo ivi)ly was siiiirnbir, but 

 decisive. " Tbere is no proof tluit be woiibl bave «>ot well it" ho 

 had not been bunted." Tbiti doetrine is condnned by Parke, B., 

 in tbe fust ease eited in p. 420. 



UOAUING, WllKKZlNG, VVlllSTLl N(i, 11 IC H-lU.OWINd , aud (JkUNT- 



ING, bein<!^ tbo result ol alteration of structure, or disease in some 

 of tbe air-passao-es, and interfering- with tbe perfect Ireedcnn of 

 breatbinfj:, es])ecially wben tbe horse is put on bis s])eed, without 

 doubt constitute unsoundness. Tbere are decisious to the contra- 

 ry, which are now universally admitted to be erroneous. J)iU)Ki:N- 

 wiNi) is still more decidedly unsoundness.* 



OiiiiMUTiNc;. — Altli()uj>h some learned judj^es have asserted 

 that crib-bitinjr is simply a trick or bad habit, it must be re«rarded 

 as unsoundness. This unnatural suckiu«i; in of the air must, to a 

 certain dcfrree injure dijxestion. It must disi)osc to colic, and so 

 interfere with the strenj^th, and usefulness, and health of the horse. 

 ►Some crib-biters are p^ood pfocrs, but they ])robably woubl have 

 possessed more endurance had they not ac(iuired this habit ; and 

 it is a iact well established, that, as soon as a horse becomes a 

 crib-biter, he, in nine cases out of ten, loses condition. In its 

 very early stance it may be a mere trick — conllrmed, it must have 

 produced morbid deterioration. The wear of the front tec^tb, iind 

 tbe occasional breaking- oi" them, make a horse old belbre bistinu\ 

 and sonu^times render it dillicult or impossible lor him to ^n-ji/e. 

 wben tbe static of tbe animal or the convenience of tbe owner re 

 quires that he should be turned out.f 



* Note bu J\fr. Spoonrr. — Roaring, whr.fzincj, and wlihU'mg inny bo con- 

 sidered as inodiliculioiH of tlu* sjiine disease, viz., an ohslruction to the pas- 

 Ra^'c of air to and iVoin i\w lunjjjs ; and as the nature and amount of ihis ob- 

 struction necessarily varies, so must the noise thereby produced, and which 

 isconsecpiently expressed by the terms in cpiestion ; all, however, bein;:,' de- 

 cidedly iDinomuhusa. 



Urantinp is the noise whicli many roarers will evince when suddenly 

 alarmed by a real (»r pretended blow. It is the common liorsedealer's 

 method of discovering a roarer, but by no means one that can 1)0 tlependcMl 

 on, as many moderate roarers, particuhirly if they luivo lately become so, 

 will notL,^runt. With reirard to hii^di-hlowinj.,', we by no means consider it 

 iin unsoundness, understandinjj; by this term, however, the noise, often very 

 considerable, which some Ijorses make t)n beinj^ first e.vcited, or put into 

 motion. 'I'his noise is produced by the false nostrils, which either possess 

 fi;reater laxity than common, or else it is owinj.^ to the neivousiiess of the 

 liorse. It bei^ins at once if the horse is excited, and, instead of increasin-,' 

 with exertion, bke roaring, it diminishes or goes oil". This is, or ought to 

 be, the proper test of soundness. 



Broken loind is of course decided unsoundness, and equally so is thick 

 w/?if/, or quickened respiration, whi(!h often arise" «Vom consolidation of a 

 portion of tlie lungs, and sometimes merely from iliickening of the mcm- 

 iA ane of the air passages. 



\ N(ift hv Mr.Spooner. — (Jrihhitinf/hfifi often been the s\ibie(!t of dispute 



