300 



Stable Vices and Whims 



best way to avoid the trouble is to keep the horse 

 at work or exercise him regularly. A very tired 

 horse seldom cribs. . 



Wind-sucking. — This habit is commonly defined 

 as one in which the horse sucks wind. He begins 

 by moving his lips in an up and down motion, then 

 he suddenly lowers his head, sometimes to the level 



of his knees, and then swal- 

 lows a mouthful of air. As 

 a rule, the wind-sucker 

 may be told by the gulp- 

 ing sound that he makes, 

 this being very loud in 

 some cases but in others 

 so slight as to be scarcely 

 noticeable. The cause and 

 the suggestion usually rec- 



FiG. 85. — Appliances to prevent 



cribbing. i, muzzle; ;g, neck- Ommcuded tO OVCrCOmC 



^^^^^' the habit are very similar 



to cribbing. As a matter of fact, both habits seem 

 to be so closely allied that many veterinarians speak 

 of them both as cribbing. In one case they say the 

 horse ''cribs with support" ; that is, that he grasps 

 some object with his teeth while sucking the air, 

 commonly understood as cribbing. In the other 

 case they say the horse ''cribs in the air" ; that is, 

 he swallows the air without grasping an object with 

 the teeth, commonly called "sucking wind." 



Difficult to shoe. — A horse difficult to shoe is a great 



