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 arc 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 : ihev 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 iean^ a broad strap may 



