20 THE FAMILY HORSE. 



labor of a horse," (Robert vs. Jenkins, 21 New Hamp., 116). There 

 are blemishes which do not come under this definition, but are more 

 or less plainly visible, and vices which also impair the value of the 

 horse, but are generally found out after the horse has been used. It 

 is always best in buying a horse to insist on a general warranty that 

 it is " sound and free from vice and blemish." Yet there are many 

 kinds of unsoundness, which may be detected by care and observa- 

 tion, and the Uability to future dispute and litigation avoided. 



"We will first consider the eyes. Youatt says : " The eye of the 

 horse should be large, somewhat but not too prominent, and the 

 eyelid fine and thin. If the eye is sunk in the head, apparently 

 little, and the lid is thick, and especially if there is any puckering 

 towards the inner comer of the lids, that eye is diseased or has 

 lately been subject to inflammation ; and particularly if one eye is 

 smaller than the other, it has at no gi-eat distance of time been in- 

 flamed." The pupil of the eye is the dark center, black except in 

 white or cream-colored horses, where it is red. The iris is the col- 

 ored portion surrounding the pupil. In healthy eyes this is very 

 sensitive to the Light, its movements contracting or dilating the 

 pupil, as the light is greater or less. It is a common practice to lead 

 a horse out of its stall to the light, before examining the eyes. This 

 is \vrong. The pupils should be carefully inspected while the horse 

 is in partial darkness, and then, after it is led out to the full light, 

 it should be observed whether the pupils of both eyes contract 

 equally. A blind horse will betray its infirmity by the incessant 

 motion of its ears, and by stepping high, as if to avoid some obstacle. 

 If, upon close examination, the crystalline lens, which is in the 

 front of the eye, exhibits a cloudy or pearly appearance, or shows a 

 minute spot in the center, cataract and complete blindness are 

 likely to ensue. 



Catarrh shows itself in a sUght and irregular discharge from the 

 nostrils, and weeping from the eyes, and in aggravated cases with 

 sore throat and cough. It is an unsoundness, but curable. In 

 epizootic catarrh the discharge is greenish. Glanders, a loathsome, 

 incurable disease, fatal alike to man and beast, is marked in its first 

 stages by a thin, watery discharge from one or both nostrils. In 

 more advanced cases the discharge is glairy and sticky. It is gen- 

 erally the safest to look with suspicion on a horse with any discharge 

 from the nostrils. Roaring is a loud grunting sound produced by 

 the act of drawing in the breath. It may be detected by trotting 

 the horse briskly for a few rods, hurrying it up a hill, or threatening 

 to strike it. Heaves or broken wind is readily obsei-ved by the man- 

 ner of breathing. The inspirations are somewhat hurried and the 



