DISEASED AND DEFECTIVE HORSES. 



363 



weather, cordial balls soften and mitigate the cough. Many 

 horses have it for years without any apparent evil, but it often 

 produces broken wind. Carrots and boiled barley are good. 

 The work should be regular. 



Broken-winded horses require regular work, regular feeding, 

 and a rich concentrated diet, consisting of oats, beans, and 

 barley, in large measure, with a limited allowance of fodder. 

 Wheat straw seems better than hay for these horses. From 

 six to eight pounds is sufficient, if the work be fast ; when 

 slow, there is less need for restriction ; carrots and boiled 

 barley, one or both, may be of use. Bad food seems more 

 injurious to broken-winded than to healthy horses. They 

 drink much water, and before work they should not have 

 so much as they would take. At night no restriction is 

 necessary. Broken-winded horses are rarely fit for more 

 than an eight-mile stage, to which they need an hour. But 

 there are various degrees of the disease, some being much 

 worse than others. 



Fig. 23. 



Crib-biters are horses who swallow air by a peculiar effort. 

 They seize the manger or any other fixture with the fore 

 teeth, arch the neck, and gulp over a quantity of air, making, 

 at the same time, a grunting kind of noise. Horses often 

 learn this from others : they should stand alone. 



When the crib-biter swallows so much air as to enlarge 

 his belly, to incommode his breathing, make him liable to 

 frequent attacks of colic, or keep him lean, a broad strap may 



