546 THE DISEASES OF THE HORSE 



Not the slightest sound is heard during a state of quiescence, or even when 

 the horse is trotted or galloped for the short distance which " the ride " will 

 afford. The blow on the side given with due artistic effect elicits no grunt, 

 and yet the animal is a confirmed roarer, and not worth a shilling, perhaps, 

 for the purpose to which he is intended to be devoted. On the other hand, 

 many a sound horse is condemned as a roarer for giving out the obnoxious 

 grunt ; and though there is no doubt that this sign may be relied on in a 

 great many cases, yet it cannot be accepted as either negatively or positively 

 a certain proof. The only real trial is the noiseless gallop on turf or plough, 

 when the ear can detect the slightest sound, and can distinguish its exact 

 nature, and the precise spot from which it proceeds. Many a horse Vill, 

 when he is excited, make a harsh noise in his breathing, accompanied by a 

 kind of " gluck," proceeding from a spasmodic flapping of the velum palati, 

 but on galloping him all this goes off, and he may probably exliibit excellent 

 wind. Such cases I have many times known, and they would be con- 

 demned as unsound by those who have had little experience, or are content 

 with a careless and ineflicient trial. Stallions are particularly prone to 

 make this kind of noise, and it is extremely difficult to ascertain their sound- 

 ness in this respect by any means which can be safely resorted to. The 

 causes of roaring are of three kinds : 1st. Inflammation, which has left a 

 thickening or ulceration of the mucous membrane, or a fungous growth from 

 it ; 2nd. Paralysis of the muscles ; and 3rd. An alteration of the shape of 

 the cartilages of the larynx, produced by tight reining. 



In roaring produced by an ulcerated or thickened condition of the mucous 

 membrane, or by a fungous growth, the sound elicited is always the same in 

 proportion to the rapidity of respiration. None of the ordinary expedients 

 by which the breath is introduced in a modified stream (such as a full meal, 

 or pressure on the nostrils or windpipe) will be of much avail, and the 

 horse roars sturdily whenever his pace is sufiiciently accelerated. If a horse 

 so affected can be made to grunt by the blow on the side, the sound will 

 always indicate the disease, for it will be harsh and rough, and not the 

 natural grunt of the animal. It is usually supposed that no treatment can 

 be of the slightest avail here. Setons, blisters, and embrocations are all 

 useless, as has been proved in numberless cases ; and beyond the palliation 

 which can be afforded by employing the horse only at such a pace as his 

 state will allow, nothing else can be suggested. In some cases the roarer 

 will be able to do ordinary harness work, which, however, in hot weather, 

 wiU try him severely ; in others he may be so slightly affected as to be fit 

 to hunt in a country where, from its nature, the pace is not very severe ; 

 but by confirmed roarers the slow work of the cart is all that can be performed 

 without cruelty. 



Whistling, piping, and wheezing, are terms applied to those horses which 

 do not actually roar but make abnormal sounds which are perhaps best 

 described by such names. 



There is no longer any question as to the hereditary nature of roaring, 

 and it may be hoped that its recognition may lead in the near future to a 

 diminution ia ihe number of animals so affected. 



