362 VICES AND DEFECTS OF THE HORSE. 



WIND-SUCKING. 



This bears a close analogy to crib-biting. It arises from the same causes ; the 

 same purpose is accomplished ; and the same results follow. The horse stands with 

 his neck bent ; his head drawn inward ; his lips alternately a little opened and then 

 closed, and a noise is heard as if he were sucking. If we may judge from the same 

 comparative want of condition and the flatulence which we have described under the 

 last head, either some portion of wind enters the stomach, or there is an injurious loss 

 of saliva. This diminishes the value of the horse almost as much as crib-biting ; it 

 is as contagious, and it is as inveterate. The only remedies, and they will sddom 

 avail, are tying the head up, except when the horse is feeding, or putting on a muzzle 

 with sharp spikes towards the neck, and which will prick him whenever he attempts 

 to rein his head in for the purpose of wind-sucking. 



CUTTING. 



Of this habit, mention has been made at page 275 ; and we would ad\nse the owner 

 if n cutting horse, without trying any previous experiments of raising or lowering the 

 neels, to put on the cutting foot a shoe of even thickness from heel to toe, not project- 

 ing in the slightest degree beyond the crust, and the crust itself being rasped a little 

 at the quarters. The shoe should be fastened as usual, on the outside, but with only 

 one nail on the inside, and that almost close to the toe. The principle on which this 

 shoe acts, has been explained at page 339. 



NOT LYING DOWN. 



It not uncommonly happens that a horse will seldom or never lie down in the 

 stable. He sometimes continues in apparent good health, and feeds and works well ; 

 but generally his legs swell, or he becomes fatigued sooner than another horse. If it 

 is impossible to let him loose in the saddle, or to put him into a spare box, we know 

 not what is to b^ done. No means, gentle or cruel, will force him to lie down. The 

 secret is that he is tied up, and either has never dared to lie down through fear of the 

 confinement of the halter, or he has been cast in the night, and severely injured. If 

 he can be suffered to range the stable, or have a comfortable box, in which he may be 

 loose, he will usually lie down the first night. Some few horses, however, will lie 

 down in the stable, and not in a loose box. A fresh, well-made bed will generally 

 tempt the tired horse to refresh himself with sleep. 



OVERREACH. 



This unpleasant noise, known also by the term " clicking," arises from the toe of 

 the hind foot knocking against the shoe of the fore foot. In the trot, one fore leg and 

 the opposite hind leg are first lifted from the ground and moved forward, the other 

 fore leg and the opposite hind leg remaining fixed ; but, to keep the centre of gravity 

 within the base, and as the stride, or space passed over by these legs, is often greater 

 than the distance between the fore and hind feet, it is necessary that the fore feet 

 should be alternately moved out of the way for the hind ones to descend. Then, as 

 occasionally happens with horses not perfectly broken, and that have not been taught 

 their paces, and especially if they have high hinder quarters and low fore ones, if the 

 fore feet are not raised in time, the hind feet will strike them. The fore foot will 

 generally be caught when it has just begun to be raised, and the toe of the hind loot 

 ■will meet the middle of the bottom of the fore foot. It is an unpleasant noise, and 

 not altogether free from danger; for it may so happen that a horse, the action of 

 whose feet generally so much interferes with each other, may advance tlie hind foot a 

 little more rapidly, or raise the fore one a little more slowly, so that the blow may fall 

 on the heel of the shoe, and loosen or displace it; or the two shoes mav be locked 

 together, and the animal may be thrown ; or the contusion may be received even 

 higher, and on the tendons of the leg, and considerable swelling and lameness will 

 follow. 



If the animal is young, the action of the horse may be materially improved ; other- 

 wise nothing can be done, except to keep the toe of the hind foot as short and a? 

 round as it can safely be, and to bevel off and round the toe of the shoe, like that 



