ROARING—VENTILATION. 
83 
thing of that nature, has much to do with roaring; and Mr. Carter 
admits that many four-year-olds, never harnessed, have come up 
from grass roarers. Besides, every horse’s neck is bent when 
ridden—the race-horse, hunter, and hack; and although, as Mr. 
Markham observes, the racing colt goes with his head down, poking 
his head before him, it is only at times that he can do this, and not 
when restrained by the bit, as he must be, and is, in five races out 
of six—to say nothing of him in his exercise, when he is almost 
always restrained to regulate his speed with that of the rest of the 
string, undergoing a similar preparation. 
Now, my opinion—worthless as it may be considered—of the 
cause of roaring is this; on the cure of it I shall be silent, although 
I see no reason why it should be considered hopeless. I do not 
think it is entirely unconnected with conformation of the parts 
which are the seat of it, or that there does not exist in some horses 
—as we know is the case with the human species—a greater de¬ 
licacy of organization of their throats, and a greater tendency to 
inflammation in them, than in others; and, consequently, a very 
slight attack of cold or distemper, which would pass away and 
leave one unharmed, would leave the other either a roarer or a 
whistler—as, in like manner, we find a tendencv to asthmatic com- 
plaints in particular families of our own race. The eftect of one of 
these causes, however—the tendency to inflammation and its results 
—might, in my humble opinion, be greatly modified, if not ren¬ 
dered nugatory, by instantly stopping horses in their work on the 
slightest appearance of catarrh or sore throat; and this is prac¬ 
ticable with all stabled horses, and should be put into practice with 
those of much value. Should, however, a cure be found out for 
this second curse on good horse-flesh—for it was distressing to 
me to see and hear of the number of otherwise sound and valuable 
hunters last winter rendered valueless by it*—it will be the greatest 
boon of the many already conferred by the veterinary profession to 
the sporting world. 
One word on ventilation of stables that may have some relation 
to the present subject. The mere use of the wheel ventilator on 
the window of a stable containing six or eight horses is insuf¬ 
ficient for the purpose of preserving the requisite purity of the air, 
on which important point I am enabled to offer the following fact:— 
The celebrated Lavoisier found that, at the conclusion of a spec- 
* I rode no less than three splendid hunters, just in their prime, thus af¬ 
flicted, their owners being quite at a loss to account for their affliction. Two 
of them, tlie property of Sir .lames Musgravc and Mr. John White (both of 
Melton fume), went ami.ss all at once, as did the other, the })r()perty of Lord 
Segrave; but the last-named horse can go well to hounds. J'he otliers are 
useless, except as hacks, or in harne.ss. 
