340 THE HORSE. 



epif!:lottis or covering of the windpipe, to convey air to the stomach, wc are 

 inclined to conclude, that this fixed point is used to enable the animal to 

 accomplish this alteration, and suck up and convey a portion of air into 

 the stomach. 



The effect of crib-biting is plain enough. The teeth are injured and 

 worn away, and that, in an old horse, to a very serious degree ; a con- 

 siderable quantity of corn is often lost, for the horse will frequently crib 

 with his mouth full of corn, the greater part of which will fall over the 

 edge of the manger ; and much saliva flows out while the manger is thus 

 forcibly held, the loss of which must be of serious detriment, as impairing 

 the digestion. The crib-biting horse is notoriously more subject to colic 

 than other horses usually are, and to a species difficult of treatment, and 

 even dangerous. Although many a crib-biter is stout and strong, and 

 capable of all ordinary work, these horses do not generally carry much 

 flesh, and have not the endurance of others. On these accounts, crib- 

 biting has very properly been decided to be unsoundness. 



It is one of those tricks which are very contagious. Every companion 

 of a crib-biter in the same stables is likely to acquire the habit, and it is 

 the most inveterate of all habits. The edge of the manger will in vain be 

 lined with iron, or with sheep-skin, or with sheep-skin covered with tar 

 or aloes, or any other unpleasant substance. In defiance of the annoyance 

 which these may occasion, the horse will in a very short time again attack 

 his manger. A strap buckled tightly round the neck, by compressing the 

 windpipe, will prevent the possibility of this action ; but the strap must be 

 constantly worn, and its pressure is too apt to produce a worse affection, 

 viz. an irritation in the windpipe, which terminates in roaring. 



Some have recommended turning out for five or six months ; but this has 

 never succeeded except with a young horse, and then rarely. The old 

 crib-biter will employ the gate for the same purpose as the edge of his 

 manger, and we have seen him gallop across a field for the mere object 

 of having a gripe at a rail. Medicine will be altogether thrown away in 

 this case. 



The only remedy is a muzzle, with bars across the bottom ; sufficiently 

 wide to enable the animal to pick up his corn and to pull his hay, but not 

 to grasp the edge of the manger. If this be worn a very long time, the 

 horse may be tired of attempting that which he cannot accomplish, and 

 may possibly for a while forget the habit ; but in the majority of cases the 

 desire of crib-biting will return with the power of gratifying it. 



The causes of crib-biting are various, and some of them beyond the 

 control of the proprietor of the horse. We have said that it is often the 

 result of imitation ; but it is more frequently the consequence of idleness. 

 The high-fed and spirited horse must be in mischief, if he is not usefully 

 employed. Sometimes, but v/e believe not often, it is produced by partial 

 starvation, whether in a bad straw-yard, or from unpalatable food. An 

 occasional cause of crib-biting is the frequent custom of grooms, even when 

 the weather is not severe, of dressing them in the stable. The horse 

 either catches at the edge of the manger, or at the edge of the partition 

 on each side, if he has been turned, and thus he forms the habit of 

 laying hold of these substances on every occasion. 



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 

 Uorse istands with his neck bent ; his head drawn inward ; his lips alter- 



