48 THE STUD. 



vessels in bigh-bred horses may in some way con- 

 tribute to the rupture of them when unusually dis- 

 tended, but I do not pretend to anatomical know- 

 ledge enough to say that it is so : be it so or not, 

 it is exertion that brings it on. To what extent a 

 liability to this casualty affects the value and utility 

 of the animal, depends in great measure on the pur- 

 poses for which he is intended. Great liability to 

 this occurrence would reduce the value of a race- 

 horse (that is, as one in training) from a thousand 

 to perhaps a hundred ; in fact, as a race-horse, be he 

 as superior as he may, he would be comparatively 

 worthless, as no dependence could be placed on 

 him. With a steeple-chase horse it would be the 

 same thing, and it is, I may say, also fatal to the 

 value of a hunter. It can scarcely be called 

 dangerous to the animal, as it seldom causes suf- 

 ficient loss of blood to be more than a very tem- 

 porary inconvenience. 



A horse subject to bleeding at the nose when 

 racing, or in long and fast bursts across country, 

 might never have a recurrence of it if ridden as 

 a park hack, as a ladies' horse, or in harness for 

 moderate work. If, therefore, one subject to this 

 casualty was particularly desirable in other re- 

 spects, I should not object to purchase him for 

 purposes of much less exertion than he had been 

 accustomed to ; but I would on no account buy 

 him at any price, if I wanted him for the same 



