414 HEALTH AND DISEASE 



attributed to the use of a curry-comb in the act of cleaning, as when the 

 instrument is used with much force it causes a good deal of irritation, 

 which the animal indicates by biting at anything within its reach; and it 

 is supposed that the habit of biting and making spasmodic movements 

 of the lips and other parts at the same time might finally lead to 

 cribbing. 



Cribbing and so-called wind-sucking induce occasional attacks of colic 

 from the quantity of air which is developed in the stomach, and both are 

 associated with -an irritable condition of the mucous membrane of the 

 digestive organs, which we believe to be a cause of these remarkable acts. 

 In a legal point of view cribbing and wind-sucking would amount to 

 unsoundness if that term is construed strictly, and in some parts of the 

 Continent the habit is recognized as sufficient to constitute a breach of 

 warranty. In any case, a horse addicted to crib-biting or wind-sucking, 

 or both, can hardly be said to be as useful for its intended purpose as 

 an animal which is free from such defects. If there were no other objection 

 to be urged, it would be sufficient to point to the well-known fact that 

 the animal loses flesh and becomes thin. 



Treatment. The owner of a crib-biter or wind-sucker is very anxious 

 to find out some means of cure, and various mechanical appliances have 

 been suggested for the purpose. The plan of using movable mangers 

 and troughs, and avoiding all projecting posts on which the animal may 

 place his teeth and get a point of support, has been said to be successful 

 in cases of crib-biting, but it is obviously of no use in the case of a wind- 

 sucker, which does not require such assistance. In most instances of crib- 

 biting and wind-sucking the ordinary throat-strap (fig. 179), which is 

 arranged to be buckled round the throat, acts as a preventive, but to be 

 effectual it must be constantly employed while the animal is in the 

 stable. 



The other habit which has been referred to under the term weaving, 

 consists in swaying the head and fore part of the body from side to side 

 like a bear. Although perhaps less objectionable than wind-sucking, it 

 is, nevertheless, a serious fault, since the animal which is addicted to it 

 is constantly using his legs when he should be resting them. Weaving 

 is most commonly seen in horses which are tied to the manger by means 

 of two side -ropes fixed to the head -collar and carried through rings on 

 each end of the manger. At the end of each rope a perforated wooden 

 block is fixed on purpose to prevent the removal of the halter -ropes from 

 the rings. 



The habit of weaving may sometimes be corrected by keeping the 

 animal in a loose-box without any head-collar or halter-ropes. This, how- 



