DISEASES OF THE EYE. 289 



Horses which are hard driven are subject to the 

 disease. I have been told that in the old coaching- 

 days nearly half the coach-horses were blind, 

 evidently from the pressure of the collar and being- 

 forced to travel at a high rate of speed to keep 

 time. Hence, perhaps, the old coaching phrase, 

 ' Three blind 'uns and a bolter.' Within half a 

 mile of the place where I am sitting as I write 

 this is a field in which in those days the horses 

 belonging to a then well-known coach proprietor 

 were turned out to grass. I have been told, by 

 the most unquestionable authority, that more than 

 half of them were partially or totally blind. 



Blind horses rarely stumble or fall. I suppose 

 that their other senses are sharpened by their loss 

 of sight, and they are careful also to raise their 

 feet clear of the ground. A horse's eye is very 

 easily knocked out. I often wonder that their eyes 

 are not more frequently damaged than they are, 

 from the rough and ruthless manner in which 

 grooms thrust the collars over their heads. 



It is very difficult for an amateur to detect a 

 cataract in its primary stages, and it requires the 

 skill of a practical veterinary surgeon to do so. 

 The best way to examine the sight of a horse is 

 to put him into a darkened stable, and inspect it 

 by the light of a candle. 



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