The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1881-10-28
THE FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.


Cribbinr.
The Prairie Farmer says that on e1-
aiming the teeth of horse, with view
of determining his age, we sometimes
find that the incisors are worn irregu-
larly. The upper ones are rounded at
their front edge and the lower ones have
the front surface of the crown much
rubbed down. Horses with their teeth
in this condition are, rs rule crib
biters. The habit Of Selling the Manager,
bending the neck and emitting noise
similar to that of eructation, has been
termed cribbing. The expression "wind
sucker" has been applied to the same
habit of the horse when the teeth are
not applied against any solid object in
the act Of sucking. Ciib-biting and
wind-sucking have been defined condi-
| ions in which there are morbid move
ments OF the esophagus, arrangement
OF the stomach and intestines, with
eructation or with deglutition of air. In
regard to the nature of the act of crib
bling or wind-sucking the condition is
ct all times one and the same-viz., the
act of swallowing air. Some horses
swallow little and others swallow much.
1t is fact that crib-biting is volun-
tary act, and it is quite opposed to our
knowledge Of physiology that any act Of
disengaging air from the stomach should
be under the control of the will. This
is more especially unlikely in the horse,
in which animal the act of vomiting can
not readily occur with the normal
stomach. Young horses, in the most
healthy condition, acquire the habit
very rapidly, ana this caunot be &C.
counted for by supposing the sudden
occurrence of disease of the cardiac end
of the esophagus, which is found in a
few inveterate cases.
The swallowing of air is known to
occur in some animals, in which tym
panitis (bloating) occurs, very rapidly,
and this affords us the most positive
proof on the subject. Crib biters liable
to tympanitis are sure to suffer from
gaseous distention of the intestines if
allowed to crib, but the accident is pre-
vented by tying broad strap around
the neck Or otherwise stopping the act
of crib biting. It is evident that the
abnormal condition of the esophagus
are rather results than causes Of crib
biting. Post-mortem examination has
revealed occasionally dilatation Of the
gullet, especially in its cervical portion,
enlargement of the stomach, thickening
of it's coats. disease of the py lorus and
even affections of the liver. As to the
causes of this troublesome vice it occurs
mostly in young horses that are we'll
fed and insufficiently worked. They get
fretful, and bite or lick the manager, and
by degrees contract the habit. There
is, no doubt, also special predisposi-
ton to the habit. With some horses it
appears to arise naturally, as though
the sucking of air gave them pleasure
or relief from some sort of suffering,
and it has been observed that horses at
all disposed to it may be easily led into
it by the practices Of some men in clean
ing them for if they clean them be-
fore the Manager and irritate them with
too severe O comb, and in parts where
they cannot endure it, they seize upon
the Manager for counteraction to their
sufferings and in doing this they first
get habit of it, and which may after
ward extend to the removal of other
pains or distressful feelings. Some
horses indulge in habit of licking the
manager and gnawing the woodwork,
which eventually lead to sucking. The
act of sucking air is observed under
different circumstances. AS rule crib
biters require a manger, rack or stall
post to lay hold of. They avail them
selves of any prominent object,
even as a nail or ring, and in
the absence Of all these they may
press with the chin against q knee,
or grasp the halter or bride rein. Wind
suckers need no resting point; and in ex.
aiming horses for this defect we must
not mistake another habit, which con
sists in noise produced in rubbing the
lips firmly against each other, and which
is simply playing with air. This is fire.
quently done by horses that are neither
crib biters nor wind suckers, but the
noise they make in smacking the lips is
sometimes considerable. In the act of
crib biting the act Of respiration is mo-
mentarily suspended, the glot is closed,
the head fexed, neck arched and mus
cles of the chest and abdomen fixed.
At this moment there is noise produ-
ced in the pharnyx very similar to that
Of eructation or belching. The laInyx
and hyoid bone are depressed and fixed,
the pharnyx expanded and the air (which
passes into this is on the relaxation of
the parts partly swallowed and partly
returned by the nose. According to the
dexterity with which the act is effected
is little or much air swallowed, and
some borses become rapidly tympanitic.
When horses first begin to crib bite,
and sometimes inveterate crib biters,
they only indulge in the practice at in
tervals; some while eating, and others
while standing in the stables without
food before them. During attacks of
acute and painful diseases the animals
do not attempt the act. Crib biters are
very liable to attacks of collie. When,
from long practice of this vice, the oeso-
phagus stomach pipe) has undergone
changes there is tendency to choking
and in some instances the animals be-
come subject to vomiting. Crib biters
are unfit for hard work and from the
weakened condition of their system are
liable to other diseases. Crib biting has
been looked upon both as a vice aud as
an unsoundness.