THE HORSE. 
65 
should likewise be of such a nature that it cannot be rapidly bolted. 
Chaff should be plentifully mixed with the grain, and, in some cases, 
and especially in horses of slow work, it should, with the grain, consti- 
tute the whole of the food. This will be treated on more at large un- 
der the article “ Feeding.” 
In every case of this kind the teeth should be carefully examined. 
Some of them may be unduly lengthened, particularly the first of the 
grinders; or they may be ragged at the edges, and may abrade and 
wound the check. In the first place the horetb cannot properly masti- 
cate his food ; in the latter he will not; for these animals, as too often 
happens in sore-throaty would rather starve than put themselves to much 
pain. 
Crib-Biting. — This is a very unpleasant habit, and a considerable de- 
fect, although not so serious a one as some have represented. The 
horse lays hold of the- manger with his teeth, violently extends his neck, 
and then, after some convulsive action of the throat, a slight grunting 
is heard, accompanied by a sucking or drawing in of air. It is not an 
effort at simple eructation, arising from indigestion. It is the inhalation 
of air. It is that which takes place with all kinds of diet, and when the 
stomach is empty as well as when it is full. 
The effects of crib-biting are plain enough. The teeth are injured 
and worn away, and that, in an old horse, to a very serious degree. 
A considerable quantity of grain is often lost, for the horse will fre- 
quently crib with his mouth hill of it, and the greater part will fall over 
the edge of the manger. Much saliva escapes while the manger is thus 
forcibly held, the loss of which must be of serious detriment in impair- 
ing the digestion. The crib-biting horse is notoriously more subject to 
colic than other horses, and to a species difficult of treatment and fre- 
quently dangerous. Although many a crib-biter is stout and strong, 
and capable of all ordinary work, these horses do not generally carry 
so much flesh as others, and have not their endurance. On these 
accounts crib-biting has very properly been decided to be unsoundness. 
We must not look to the state of the disease at the time of purchase. 
The question is, docs it exist at all? A case was tried before Lord Ten- 
terden, and thus decided : “ a horse with crib-biting is unsound.” 
It is one of those tricks which are exceedingly contagious. Ever}’ 
companion of a crib-biter in the same stables is likely to acquire the 
habit, and it is the most inveterate of all habits. The edge of the 
manger will in vain be lined with iron, or with sheep-skin, or with 
sheep-skin covered with tar or aloes, or any other unpleasant substance. 
In defiance of the annoyance which these may occasion, the horse will 
persist in the attack on his manger. A strap buckled tightly round the 
neck, by compressing the wind-pipe, is the best means of preventing the 
possibility of this trick ; but the strap must be constantly worn, and its 
pressure is too apt to produce a worse affection, viz., an irritation in the 
wind-pipe, which terminates in roaring. 
Some have recommended turning out for five or six months; but this 
has never succeeded except with a young horse, and then rarely. The 
old crib-biter will employ the gate for the same purpose as the edge of 
his manger, and we have often seen him galloping across a field for the 
