The management and treatment of the horse in the stable, field, and ...

In the Stable, Field, and on the Road. 191
a horse that he had hunted for some years, yet this
horse had as bad a cataract in the near eye as any
horse I ever saw that was not blind with it. This
horse was passed as sound, and the owner never
knew that the animal had a bad eye, yet to a minute
observer of small things the horse told instantly,
upon going up to it on its near side, that its vision
was impaired with that eye, as it always held its
head from you if approached on the near side, and
did not do so if approached on the off side. Dealers
in horses know well what a cataract is, and are
always anxious, if the horse has a defect in the eye,
to bring it at once into a strong light, so that the
purchaser or the examiner may be unable to detect
this disease. The cause of cataract is, in most in-
stances, from inflammation, or the result of a blow ;
this causes a light cloudy appearance of the retina,
which cannot be seen unless the examiner brings
the horse out gradually from the dark to the light, and
places his own face to the cheek of the horse and looks
stedfastly into its eye, and watch minutely the contrac-
tion of the pupil when brought to the light, The
examiner should be very careful and observe if both eyes
contract alike, or if in the retina there is a dull blueish
white appearance ; if there is, the chances are that the
horse has imperfect vision, if not cataract. Independently
of the beauty of a prominent eye, it is of much
importance that the cornea should possess considerable
convexity, but this must have a limit. If very
prominent, the rays of light will be too convergent,
which will cause indistinct vision, and the animal