REMARKS ON CRIB-BITING. 
259 
be so arranged, as to require them to be proved to have existed for 
a certain space of time ; this should also be applied to vice, & c., for 
it is well known that many diseases of a mortal character, as well 
as tedious cases of lameness, arise in an extremely sudden manner. 
But I fear I have already spun out my ideas in a very tedious 
way, without touching on the subject with which I set out. To 
the point, therefore, crib-biting being now by the law considered 
as unsoundness, allow me to briefly relate a case that came under 
my own immediate notice. It was that of a black horse, purchased 
of a farmer on the 4th of July, 1843, by a gentleman, for the sum 
of sixty pounds, then being five years old, an excellent fencer, and 
great weight-carrier, intended to be hunted the following season : 
the said horse was warranted sound. Some time during the fol- 
lowing week the purchaser was informed by his groom that the 
horse was a crib-biter, and he at once decided, if such was the case, 
to return him, and accordingly sent for me to examine him : on doing 
so, I found that the horse certainly did bite the crib occasionally, but 
in other respects was, in my opinion, sound, and a very desirable 
animal to carry his (the purchaser’s) weight. I therefore advised a 
compromise being made between buyer and seller. This was ulti- 
mately effected, twenty pounds of the purchase-money being re- 
funded to the purchaser, although he has frequently told me since 
that the horse was not worth, to him, one shilling less, and has re- 
fused upwards of a hundred pounds for him, the horse always 
having carried him well since, in good condition, and during the 
longest day never was known to flag. Where then, may I ask, is, 
even now , this animal’s disease or unsoundness ? I must here be 
allowed to differ from those in opinion who would at once pro- 
nounce every horse that is a crib-biter as unsound. I am ready to 
admit that certain cases do exist in which it may be accompanied 
by disease, either functional or structural ; but in by far the greatest 
majority of instances I should be disposed to view it as a trick , 
habit , or vice. In the case in question, I believe the horse acquired 
the trick after he was delivered to the purchaser, for he was a gross 
feeder, and, in the farmer’s possession, was allowed a large quantity 
of hay; in fact, in farmers’ stables, it is rare to see the rack empty. 
So soon as the animal came into the purchaser’s stable he was 
submitted to new discipline ; hay was given to him very sparingly, 
in consequence of which he was induced, by habit and usage, to 
make use of his masticatory organs some way or other : conse- 
quently he commenced nibbling and gnawing the rack and manger, 
until by-and-by the trick, from gratification, became a confirmed 
habit. 
I have thus given my opinion from the history I collected. The 
horse was never known or seen by his previous owner or attend- 
