82 CAUSES OF UNSOUNDNESS. 



satisfactorily. In the case of a hunter, any defect 

 of sight is most detrimental, and such an animal 

 cannot be regarded as safe to ride, jump, etc. 



Shying. — All forms of shying are as annoying as 

 they may become dangerous, and if a horse shies, 

 and at the same time has a hard mouth, serious 

 consequences are very liable to happen. Shying 

 arises, in most instances — in the writer's opinion — 

 through defects of vision, but it may be due to 

 nervousness. Opacity of the cornea, cataract, dis- 

 placement of the corpora nigra (small sooty bodies 

 situated at the margin of the iris), and adhesion of 

 the lens to the iris, etc., are the most general causes. 

 Some ponies are very much given to shying at 

 the most trifling objects on the road, but this may 

 not be due to any visual defect. Once a horse 

 acquires this habit, it is a troublesome matter to 

 cure him of it, and the whip is not the best method 

 of doing so. To assure the animal of the harmless 

 nature of the object of its fear, constitutes a much 

 better system, and this can easily be done by 

 allowing it to walk up to such object. 



The Nostrils. 



The nostrils should be examined for the presence 

 of morbid growths, or evidence of catarrh, either 



