60 ADVICE TO BUYERS. 



every other respect to be in perfect bealtb. Sometimes 

 tbe sound of tbe cough is husky, or asthmatic, which in- 

 dicates a tendency to broken-wind ; more commonly it is 

 loud and clear ; the fit of coughing is generally violent, and 

 the horse often appears as if some extraneous body had 

 got into the wind-pipe, and he was endeavoring to cough 

 it up. 



The chronic cough is most considerable when the horse 

 is first put in motion ; by continuing the exercise it grad- 

 ually ceases, after which the horse may be ridden a long 

 journey without coughing. I have often observed that 

 horses with chronic cough are very shy of having their 

 throats touched, often rearing and making considerable 

 resistance when any one attempts to make them cough by 

 grasping the top of the wind-pipe; and "in many in- 

 stances,' 7 says Mr. Armatage, " I have observed that they 

 cannot be made to cough, in cases of a chronic nature, by 

 squeezing the top of the wind-pipe, however strong the 

 grasp may be." This, probably, as well as the shyness 

 they manifest on the occasion, may arise from the trial 

 having been often made upon them. 



In the recent cough the horse generally appears rather 

 dull and heavy, and looks like a horse laboring under a 

 catarrh or cold ; he readily coughs when the wind-pipe is 

 pinched, in doing which there is no difficulty, as the horse 

 seldom makes any considerable resistance. 



When the cough is of recent date, the horse is sometimes 

 relieved by throwing up mucous through the nostrils, and 

 the cough is often so much moderated by strict attention 

 to his diet and exercise, as to appear scarcely worth notice. 

 When a horse, therefore, is observed to have a cough, the 

 purchaser may not always be able to determine whether 

 the complaint be unimportant, or of long standing and in- 



