664 DR. CHASE'S RECIPES. 



if working oxen are to be fed meal of any kind, at noon, let it be mixed with 

 cut hay, or other coarse food, and he will be much more strengthened and 

 refreshed for his afternoon work than if fed meal alone; and, as mentioned for 

 the horse, let two hours be given them to eat, and ruminate, or re-chew, their 

 food, by which means they obtain their strength for the balance of tlie day's 

 work. Then, again, as the ox does not sweat like the horse, he cannot stand 

 the mid-day heat as well as the horse can— a double reason for this rest at noon. 

 [See also How Long the Horse Ought to Work.] 



Cribbing of Horses, What It Is and How to Cure It.— The 

 subject of cribbing is such a distressing thing to see a horee continuously doing 

 when hitched to anything upon which he can press his teeth; and whicli must 

 be more distressing to the hoi-se, to be compelled, either from necessity or habit, 

 to do it; and, as it is a subject which I never heard anyone give a plausible 

 reason as to why horses get into the habit of it, and as I never saw anything 

 printed upon the subject which appeared to throw any light upon this mystery, 

 until Dr. Tuttle, of Clinton, Mich., Feb. 28, 1880, sent a communication to the 

 Post and Tribune, of Detroit, which seems to give such a rational explanation 

 as to its cause, and also a rational treatment, or cure, for it, I have felt con- 

 strained to give his ideas, although I shall feel compelled to condense his letter 

 considerably; yet, I will give that which will enable anyone to avoid the diffi- 

 culty with colts, and to treat horses upon his rational plan, that have become 

 diseased, as he claims, which has addicted them to this terribly distressing 

 habit. I am aware that most people claim it to be wind sucking, and hence 

 call them wnnd suckers, but it never seemed to me to be the fact; and Dr. 

 Tuttle's idea that it is to get wind out of the stomach rather than to suck it in, 

 as you will see below, I fully agree with, and believe his theory to be the cor- 

 rect one, hence I give it the more cheerfully. In answer to ' ' What is Crib- 

 bing? " he says: " Belch of wind from the stomach. Tliis is absolutely true in 

 the first stage of every case." He admits the possibility "that horses which 

 have followed the habit for years, may suck in and swallow wind, though I 

 doubt it," he continues, " for by carefully watching 'an old stager' go through 

 the motions of cribbing, you will observe that the shape of the neck, along the 

 line of the gullet, indicates something coming up out of the stomach, but 

 which is swallowed back again. As to its cause, he claims it to be indigestion 

 —dyspepsia, which in man, by fermentation, or souring of the food, produces 

 gas, and therefore belching of wind, as it is called — does the same with the 

 colt, for he claims that it generally begins with the colt and the cribbing, at 

 first, so far relieves the distress from the distention of the stomach, the habit is 

 formed, and he ever afterwards follows it; unless the cause, indigestion, is 

 cured. As to the cause of the indigestion, he thinks that it arises mostly with 

 fall colts, which have been too early put upon dry feed, grain, etc., which it 

 was not properly able to masticate, or chew sufficiently fine to make it digesti- 

 ble, ''for remember," he says, 'if you please, that a colt doesn't have a full 

 colt mouth (full set of milk teeth) until 2 years old ; so don't feed them on dry, 

 hard, old corn, to 'keep 'em thriving,' any more than you would feed a 3 

 months' old babe on corned beef and boiled cabbage and expect it to thrive." 



