AS TO SOUNDNESS. 5 
man has to look to in purchasing a horse has to be 
well looked to in the type we propose to take,— 
eyesight, wind, limb, everything. Suppose such a 
horse is for examination: look at him in a stall, if 
possible in his own stall, and spend ten minutes in 
seeing what he is doing, and ow he is doing it. It 
not unfrequently happens that the very tying of a 
horse is objectionable, and has to be rectified ; he 
is often tied short for various reasons, so that your 
first care is to have the horse tied so that he may 
have plenty of liberty. We may often learn a great 
deal by merely looking at a horse as he stands in 
his stall; but watching a horse for some time is of 
the greatest importance to us in making a thorough 
examination. 
“ Crib-biting,” “weaving,” and position in standing, 
are what we are for the most part looking for. Crib- 
biting can only be practised when the horse has 
something to pull at; but if he be more accomplished, 
he will be able to “suck wind,” as it is called, by 
elevating his head, and having nothing to grasp. As 
veterinary surgeons, you have little to do with vice, 
and these come under that head; but it is always 
to your advantage to get every information you can 
about any horse you examine, and both “cribbing” 
and “wind-sucking” are, or lead to, real unsound- 
ness. Crib-biting is at first a nervous disease, and 
may be the result of imitation; or it may result de 
novo from gastric discomfort long continued or fre- 
