386 DISEASES OF BEEATHING. 



the breathing, while the horse is " blowing hard." Any roughness 

 of sound during inspiration should be sufficient to at once condemn 

 the horse. I advise riding the animal, because the nature of the 

 respiration can be noted much more accurately when riding Jiim 

 than when listening to his breathing as he passes us on foot. 

 Wlien testing a horse's wind, it is well to gallop him (in small 

 circles to the left for choice) with his head held high and turned 

 to the left, and his chin drawn in ; in that position the animal 

 will be more likely to manifest his infirmity than in any other way. 

 It is impossible to make a sound horse emit the characteristic 

 noise of roaring by holding his head in any particular position. 

 On this account and by reason of the fact that recurrent laryngeal 

 paralysis is a progressive disease, make every practical effort to 

 prove that the horse is incapable of emitting the objectionable 

 sound, the slightest sign of which should be regarded as a proof of 

 urisoundness ; if he is a saddle-horse, do not rest content without 

 giving him a strong and fairly long gallop, if possible, through 

 heavy ground, or up an ascent. A similar procedure may be 

 adopted with a harness-horse, which should, if practicable, be 

 driven on soft ground, so that the noise, if it be present, may be 

 heard. When testing the wind of a heavy cart-horse, make him 

 fully exert his powers by moving a big load. If this be not avail- 

 able, use a drag, or improvise one by locking the hind wheels of 

 the cart by means of a stout pole passed between the spokes. 



When unable to put the horse to severe exertion, in order io 

 facilitate the task of observing the nature of his brea tiling, 

 " grunt " him by catching him short by the head with one hand, 

 and suddenly threatening to strike him under the belly with a 

 stick or whip ; when, if he is a roarer, he will, in the large majorit}' 

 of cases, grunt. This effect is best produced when the animal, 

 before being threatened, is placed (so that he may not whe^l round) 

 alongside a wall, the portion of which reserved for this purpose, 

 at dealers' yards, is sometimes covered with a sheet of india-rubber, 

 so that the horse may not hurt himself by knocking up against 

 the wall. Koarers, as a rule, are difficult to " cough " by pressing 

 their larynx with the fingers. Hence, after proving that a horse 

 does not grunt, if he coughs readily and in a healthy manner, when 

 we squeeze his larynx between the finger and thumb, we may be 

 fairly confident that his wind is all right. B6ar in mind that 

 " coughing " is not always a reliable test. Owners of valuable 

 horses, as a rule, strongly object to their horses being " coughed," 

 because the repeated performance of this test, especially if it is 

 roughly done, is apt to injure the larynx. When sending up a 

 hunter for sale to any of the public horse marts, such as Tattersall's, 

 it is much better, supposing that the animal's powers of breathing 



