CRIB-BITING. 331) 



Horses have many unpleasant hahits in the stable and the road, Jvhich 

 cannot be said to amount to vice, but which materially lessen their value 



SWALLOWING WITHOUT GRINDING. 



Some greedy horses swallow their corn without properly grinding it, and 

 the power of digestion not being adequate to the dissolving of the husk, no 

 nutriment is extracted, and the oats are voided whole. This is particularly 

 the case when horses of unequal appetite feed from the same manger. 

 The greedy one, in his eagerness to get more than his share, bolts a portion 

 of his corn vvhole. If the farmer can, without considerable inconvenience, 

 so manage it that every horse shall have his separate division of the man- 

 ger, the horse of smaller appetite and slower feed would have the oppor- 

 tunity of grinding at his leisure, without the fear of his share being stolen 

 from him by his neighbour. 



Some horses, however, are naturally greedy feeders, and will not, even 

 when alone, allow themselves tin^e to chew or grind their corn. In conse- 

 quence of this, they carry but litjLle fiesh ; they are not equal to severe 

 work; and, if their rack has been supplied with hay when the corn was 

 put into the manger, their stomachs will become distended with half- 

 chewed and indigestible food ; they will be incapable of exertion for a long 

 time after feeding, and, occasionally, dangerous symptoms of staggers will 

 occur. The remedy is, not to let such horses fast too long. The nose-bag 

 should be the companion of every considerable journey. The food should 

 likewise be of such a nature that it cannot be easily bolted. Chatf should 

 be plentifully mixed with the corn, and in some cases, and especially in 

 horses of slow work, should, with the corn, constitute the whole of the food. 

 Of this we shall treat more largely under the article, "Feeding." 



In every case of this kind the teeth should be very carefully examined. 

 Some of them may be unduly lengthened, particularly the first of the 

 grinders; or they may be ragged at the edges, and may scratch and wound 

 the cheek. In the first case, the horse cannot properly masticate his food; 

 in the latter, he will not: for these animals, as too often happens in sore 

 throat, would rather starve than put themselves to much pain. 



CRIB-BITING. 



This is a very unpleasant habit and a considerable defect, although not 

 so serious a one as some have represented. The horse lays hold of the 

 manger with his teeth, violently extends his neck, and then, after some con- 

 vulsive action of the throat, a slight grunting is heard, accompanied by an 

 apparent sucking or drawing in of air. Whether, however, air is actually 

 drawn in, and thus the horse becomes more subject to the colic than one 

 without this trick, or whether a portion of air is expelled, showing the pre- 

 vious existence of flatulence and a disposition to colic, are points that have 

 not been settled among veterinarians. 



The horse is evidently making the edge of the manger a fixed point, by 

 means of which he may overcome that obstacle which the formation of the 

 soft palate and the back part of the mouth (see page 152) would present to 

 either the expulsion or drawing in of tlie air, if accomplished through the 

 medium of the mouth. When we consider, however, that any air expelled 

 fronn the stomach might easily find a passage through the nostril, without 

 the action of crib-biting; while it would be difficult or impossible, without 

 some material alteration in the natural form and action of the parts 

 at the back of the mouth, and, particularly the depression cf the »pi 



