704 
SOCIETY MEETINGS. 
Dr. H. W. Hawley then presented his paper entitled 
VICES AND THEIR RELATION TO SOUNDNESS. 
I shall define a vice in a horse as a fault or habit which in¬ 
jures the selling- price or usefulness of the animal for the pur¬ 
pose required, and which cannot be remedied. I shall name ; 
cribbing, weaving, balking, kicking, shying, halter pulling, 
switching, side reining, lugging, running away and nervousness ' 
as vices. Vices are natural, hereditary or acquired. Some are ' 
the result of a diseased condition. - i 
Cribbing is a habit, the result of idleness and too long inter- t 
vals between meals. The horse amuses itself or is hungry and ' 
bites at the manger, and gradually works himself into this habit. i 
A cribber should in every case be rejected, as it is a disagreeable 
habit, leading to indigestion and kindred diseases. The animal i 
is also liable to disfigure or destroy anything with which his : 
teeth come in contact. Wedges driven between the teeth will I 
produce sufficient soreness in a few hours to prevent temporary ; 
cribbing. All suspicious cases shoidd be examined for this 
trick. 
Weaving is also a habit acquired from idleness. The rattle ^ 
of a chain halter may assist in the formation of the vice. Cir¬ 
cumstances might determine the acceptance or rejection of a 
weaver. A horse does not weave in harness ; at least, I have 
never seen one. There is slight danger of it injuring the health ! 
of the animal, especially if he is in constant service. After ex¬ 
plaining the nature of a weaver to the buyer, he should be ad¬ 
vised to use his own judgment. The animal might be valuable 
as a prize winner, sire or brood mare. ' 
Balking.—A man who has patience enough to use a balky 
horse, deserves to be pensioned. I have never known of a balky ' 
horse being cured of the habit. He is liable to stop at any moment, 
and if stopped may refuse to move, and should by all means be 
rejected. We have what may be termed green balkers. The 
horse may be clever in double harness, but when first put in 
shafts will manifest all the symptoms of a balker, but soon be¬ 
comes clever with a lesson or two. Unless sold to be thoroughly 
broken to single harness, such a horse should not be per¬ 
manently rejected. A good test for a balky horse is to start, 
stop, back up, and then start again. If he does this perfectly he 
is probably all right. 
Kicking.—A kicking horse is certainly not a very desirable 
animal either in stall or in harness. A horse when first put in 
single harness may kick a few times, but soon becomes gentle 
