8o ANIMAL MANAGEiMENT. 



certainly provided a thick, soft standing, but the greater part of the 

 bed worked gradually to the rear of the stall and became a dung heap 

 which, when it was removed, rendered the stables unbearable. In a 

 drier, less variable climate the plan may be feasible from the point of 

 view of keeping a thick bed under the horses, but it can never be a 

 sanitary method and is to be condemned on this account. 



Stable Tricks and Vices. 



Horses should be kept out of the stable as long as possible daily, 

 for long hours of work are a distinct preventive of stable tricks and 

 vices as well as beneficial to the general health and condition. 



Weaving is a nervous habit acquired by many wild animals in 

 captivity, and occasionally by horses ; the animal rocks itself to and fro 

 continually, sometimes lifting each forefoot in turn as the body is 

 swayed to the opposite side. As the collar chain is drawn through 

 the manger ring at each motion the habit is often accompanied by a 

 good deal of noise, and while some do it constantly, others practise it 

 at intervals only. Seeing that a constant weaver gives himself no rest, 

 and that the habit is incurable, it must necessarily take a great deal 

 out of animals which practise it, though no special accident or disease 

 can be directly attributed to it. It is advisable that they should be 

 kept apart, so that others are not disturbed, and do not learn the trick 

 from observation : it is also well to provide weavers with a bedding, 

 e.g., peat moss, which will not readily slip from under the feet, and to 

 give them a head rope or strap instead of a noisy chain. 



Windsucking and Oib-biting. — A windsucker is an animal that 

 swallows air by arching its neck, drawing its head towards its chest, 

 and giving a gulp. A crib-biter achieves the same end, but leans on 

 or catches hold of the manger with the teeth in order to get a firm 

 purchase, and at the moment he gulps, a characteristic " grunt " is 

 emitted. Horses are prone to learn these two vicious habits from their 

 neighbours ; once acquired they are never forgotten, and are incurable, 

 though much may be done to prevent horses indulging in them until 

 they learn to outwit the preventive. For both windsuckers and crib- 

 biters, a broad strap, fitting tightly round the top of the neck, with a 

 small wooden or metal gullet plate stitched on so that it projects on 

 each side and sticks into the throat when the head is bent, will stop 

 "Fhite" both habits whilst the discomfort is sufficiently great. A "flute" bit 

 ^'t- may be worn. This is a hollow tube snaffle, perforated with several 



