THE HORSE. 141 



to emit that peculiar sound. This is usually over- 

 done, to the needless pain and alarm of the horse. 

 The cause of the malady is obstruction in the wind- 

 pipe, natural or acquired. When in a young and 

 unworked subject, sometimes, but rarely the case, it 

 may be presumed to originate in malconformation. 

 Roarers, and, indeed, all horses in which the wind is 

 materially affected, and crib-biters, are generally 

 lean and gaunt, seldom carrying much flesh. Crib- 

 biting is the habitual trick in the horse of laying hold 

 with his teeth of the manger, or a post, or any sub- 

 stance he can come at ; and, while nibbling, sucking 

 in the external air and inflating his lungs, his body 

 heaves and swells. The teeth, from this habit, are 

 sometimes broken and much injured. This is a se- 

 rious defect, the cause of which does not appear to 

 be hitherto satisfactorily ascertained ; it may, proba- 

 bly, indicate a morbid or imperfect state of the lungs ; 

 some have supposed it to arise from a depraved state 

 and heat of the stomach. A confirmed crib-biter 

 should not be accepted as sound. It being judged a 

 mere trick, or acquired habit in a young horse, pre- 

 vention is the obvious remedy. The horse should 

 never be fed from rack or manger until he has relin- 

 quished the practice. 



Hacks of high qualification, whether for superior 

 form and ability to carry weight, speedy trotting, or 

 elegance and steadiness in their canter, command 

 high prices; and the advantage lies on their side, 

 who have either the judgment, or the good fortune 

 to get the start of the public, in discovering the 

 merits of such. The horse, to be able to carry a high 



