Young Horses are not at full strength till they are nearly five years old. At fast work they require careful shoeing to prevent cutting, careful stable-management to prevent the evils arising from changes of temperature, to which they are more liable than mature horses. They are not fit for full work, but they require good feeding for what they do.

Old Horses, those above ten or twelve, are rarely fit for long stages. They are soon exhausted. They need full feeding; and some, having bad teeth, need to have much of their food broken or cooked.

Defective Fore Legs last longest in harness, and in the lead; but when the horse is apt to fall, when he is a notorious stumbler, he is better in the wheel. The other horse helps to keep him on his feet.

Roarers do most work when their work is slow. Some can not go above five miles an hour : and many can not go more than four miles, when the pace is near eight per hour. Some do better on one side of a coach than on another. The head should not be confined by the bearing-rein, and the throat-lash should be loose. Time must be given in up-hill work, otherwise the roarer may choke and fall. He should work with little food in the belly; the first mile is sometimes the worst with him; a slower pace for the next half mile enables him to finish the remainder with less distress than when he is pushed from the start.

Chronic Cough, that is, a settled cough, is very common among fast-workers. It is most frequent when the horse is taken from the stable, when he returns to it, and after drinking and feeding. There is no cure. Occasionally a mild dose of physic; and after severe work, or much exposure in bad weather, cordial balls soften and mitigate the cough. Many horses have it for years without any apparent evil, but it often produces broken wind. Carrots and boiled barley are good The work should be regular.

Broken-winded horses require regular work, regular feeding, and a rich concentrated diet, consisting of oats, beans, and barley, in large measure, with a limited allowance of fodder. Wheat straw seems better than hay for these horses. From six to eight pounds is sufficient, if the work be fast; when slow, there is less need for restriction; carrots and boiled barley, one or both, may be of use. Bad food seems more injurious to broken-winded than to healthy horses. They drink much water, and before work they should not have so much as they would take. At night no restriction is necessary. Broken-winded horses are rarely fit for more than an eight-mile stage, to which they need an hour. But there are various degrees of the disease, some being much worse than others.

Fig. 23.

Crib-biters are horses who swallow air by a peculiar effort. They seize the manger or any other fixture with the fore teeth, arch the neck, and gulp over a quantity of air, making at the same time, a grunting kind of noise. Horses often [earn this from others : they should stand alone.

When the crib-biter swallows so much air as to enlarge his belly, to incommode his breathing, make him liable to frequent attacks of colic, or keep him lean, a broad strap may be put on the throat, tight enough to prevent dilatation of the gullet, yet not to stop the return of blood from the head.

There is a kind of muzzle sometimes used for the purpose of preventing crib-biting among valuable horses. Its most essential part is a kind of rack, consisting of two iron spars jointed at each extremity, and curved to receive the muzzle. The spars are about three fourths of an inch broad; the space between them is wide enough to receive the lips, and let them seize the grain and hay, but so narrow that it will not admit the teeth. The horse can eat well enough; he can reach his food with the lips, but he can seize nothing with his fore teeth. This muzzle is better than a strap, which disposes the horse to swelling of the head, and is blamed for producing roaring.

Wind-sucking consists in swallowing air without applying the teeth to any fixture. The horse presses his lips against the edge of the manger, having his neck and back arched, and his feet all gathered together. This habit does not seem to be so often injurious as crib-biting. It is said that a muzzle, having three or four short sharp spikes at bottom, will prevent it. The points run into the lips when the horse attempts to place them in position for sucking or swallowing air.