106 THE HORSE. 



resorted to in order to test the wind, but this is not a satis^ 

 factory method. The fact of a horse being a roarer greatly 

 detracts from its market value, but it need not necessarily 

 interfere with its working capacity. Roarers are perfectly 

 capable of performing work at a moderate trot or of doing 

 draught work satisfactorily. If the roaring is veiy bad, 

 tracheotomy may have to be resorted to, and a tube inserted in 

 the neck. The in&mity of roaring is often due to hereditary 

 causes, or it may be the result of the horse catching cold and 

 developing a bad cough, or it may be an after-effect of 

 strangles. 



'• Whistling^ " is brought about by some portion of tlie air 

 passage being thickened or contracted. A horse affected with 

 this unsoundness emits a slirill or " whistling " noise when put 

 to severe exertion. For all practical purposes, whistling may 

 be looked upon as being a form of roaring. It is incurable. 



" Broken- wind " is a vc^ry serious infiimity, which has 

 its seat in the lungs. It greatly interferes with the animal's 

 capacity for work, and unfits it for fast work ; a broken-winded 

 horse may be able to do work at a slow trot, and can perform 

 slow draught work if its powers ai'e not too severely taxed. 

 A liorse affected with broken-wind should never be bought. 

 The disease is incurable. The following are the symptoms : 

 When the horse is standing, in the stable, it makes two sepa- 

 rate eft'orts every time air is expired, instead of only one effort 

 as sound horses do : the flanks are also heavily heaved. "NMien 

 put to work, the breathing becomes quick and laboured; the 

 faster or the heavier the work is, the greater does the distress 

 ia breathing become. A chronic cough accompanies broken- 

 wind. 



Unsoundness of Eyesig^ht consists in the horse 

 being partially or wholly blind in one or both eyes. Horses 

 with defective eyesight are more apt to stumble than those 

 whose eyes are sound, because they cannot see properly, where 

 they are going. Partially blind horses are also very apt to 



