WHIMS AND VICIOUS HABITS. 859 



a more excessive displacement, and is therefore more disagreeable to 

 the eye. 



1st. Horses which loll the Tongue, double it up, or con- 

 tinually protrude it from the Mouth. When describing the 

 region of the tongue, we had occasion to say a few words about these 

 vicious habits. It is known that certain horses during work protrude 

 the tongue from the buccal cavity, usually either to the left or to the 

 right, sometimes in front. This defect constitutes what is called lolling 

 the tongue, or having a pendulous tongue, but it is not, as one might 

 suppose, always the result of a paralysis of the lingual muscles. 



On other occasions, a horse w T ill alternately protrude his tongue 

 from his mouth and retract it somewhat as serpents do : he is then 

 said to have a snake's tongue. 



Sometimes the animal doubles up the tongue, that is to say, folds 

 the free part backward and underneath, without its being visible, 

 however, on the exterior. 



Finally, there are horses which displace the tongue in such a man- 

 ner that, instead of supporting the bit, it lies on top of the latter. 

 The inconveniences which result from these four different lingual dis- 

 placements are not identical. The lolling tongue, besides giving a stupid 

 expression to the face, is exposed to cuts, often deep, which hinder the 

 prehension of food, its mastication, insalivation, and deglutition. 



The serpentine tongue is a less important defect : the most serious 

 fault to be found with it is the great loss of saliva which it occasions, 

 for it is drawn back into the mouth only after it has become dried in 

 order to become moistened again. Besides, it becomes filthy and soils 

 the parts of the harness which it touches. 



As to the other habits, they injure the bitting by preventing the bit 

 from having its ordinary point of support. They are remedied by 

 tightening the curb. 



2d. Horses which strike the Lower Lip against the 

 Upper. Certain horses, harnessed, mounted, at rest, or during exer- 

 cise, in the stable or outside, have the bad habit of continually moving 

 their lower lip, by sudden and rapid to-and-fro movements, which 

 cause it to strike, sometimes with a noise, against the upper lip. This 

 singular vice is nothing worse than unpleasant. In the language of 

 horsemen, it is called cracking nuts. It is prevented either by adapting 

 to the bit a lip-strap, or by fastening to the lower part of its two 

 branches a sort of metallic cross-piece, conforming with the shape of 



