CRIB -BITING, 361 



nature that it cannot be rapidly bolted. Chaff should be plentifully mixed with the 

 corn, and, in some cases, and especially in horses of slow work, it should with the 

 corn, constitute the whole of the food. This will be treated on more at large under 

 the article " Feeding." 



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

 may be unduly lengthened, particularly the first of the grinders : or they may be 

 ragged at the edges, and may abrade and wound the cheek. In the first place the 

 horse cannot properly masticate his food; in the latter he will not; for tliese 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 convulsive action of the throat, a 

 slight grunting is heard, accompanied by a sucking or drawing in of air. It is not 

 an eifort at simple eructation, arising from indigestion. It is the inhalation of air. 

 It is that which takes place with all kinds of diet, and when the stomach is empty as 

 well as when it is full. 



The eifects of crib-biting are plain enough. The teeth are injured and worn away, 

 and that, in an old horse, to a very serious degree. A considerable quantity of corn 

 is often lost, for the horse will frequently crib with his mouth full of it, and the greater 

 part will fall over the edge of the manger. ]\[uch saliva escapes while the manger is 

 thus forcibly held, the loss of \vhich nmst be of serious detriment in impairing the 

 digestion. The crib-biting horse is notoriously more subject to colic than other horses, 

 and to a species difficult of treatment and frequently dangerous. Although many a 

 crib-biter is stout and strong, and capable of all ordinary work, these horses do not 

 generally carry so much flesii as others, and have not their endurance. On these 

 accounts crib-biting has very properly been decided to be unsoundness. We must 

 not look to the state of the disease at the time of purchase. The question is, does it 

 exist at all ? A case was tried before Lord Tenterden, and thus decided : " a horse 

 with crib-biting is unsound." 



It is one of those tricks which are exceedingly contagious. Every companion of a 

 crib-biter in the same stables is likely to acquire the habit, and it is the most invete- 

 rate of all habits. The edge of the manger will in vain be lined with iron, or with 

 sheep-skin, or with sheep-skin covered with tar or aloes, or any other unpleasant sub- 

 stance. In defiance of the annoyance which these may occasion, the horse will per- 

 sist in the attack on his manger. A strap buckled tightly round the neck, by com- 

 pressing the wind-pipe, is the best means of preventing the possibility of this trick; 

 but the strap must be constantly worn, and its pressure is too apt to produce a worse 

 affection, viz. an irritation in the windpipe, which terminates in roaring. 



Some have recommended turning out for five or six months; but this has never 

 succeeded except with a young horse, and then rarely. The old crib-biter*will employ 

 the gate for the same purpose as the edge of his manger, and we have often seen him 

 galloping across a field for the mere object of having a gripe at a rail. Medicine will 

 be altogether thrown away in this case. 



The only remedy is a muzzle, with bars across the bottom ; sufficiently wide to 

 enable the animal to pick up his corn and to pull his hay, but not to grasp the edge 

 of the manger. If this is worn for a considerable period, the horse may be tired of 

 attempting that which he cannot accomplish, and for a while forget the habit, l)ut, in 

 a majority of cases, the desire of crib-biting will return with the power of gratifying it. 



The causes of crib-biting are various, and some of them beyond the control of the 

 proprietor of the horse. It is often the result of imitation ; but it is more frequently 

 the consequence of idleness. The liigh-fed and spirited horse must be in mischief if 

 he is not usefully employed. Sometimes, but we believe not often, it is produced by 

 partial starvation, whether in a bad straw-yard, or from unpalatable food. An occa- 

 sional cause of crib-biting is the frequent custom of grooms, even when the weather 

 is not severe, of dressing them in the stable. The horse either catches at the edge 

 of the manger, or at that of the partition on each side, if he has been turned, and thus 

 he forms the habit of laying hold of these substances on every occasion. 

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