650 ANNUAI- REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



might be known in reference to the subject we would be better pre- 

 pared to make laws and regulations for the future. We would attempt 

 in all possible ways to collect true facts on this important subject. 



In the meantime, laws disqualifying horses from breeding on ac- 

 count of unsoundness should be conservatively drawn. The follow- 

 ing is the Pennsylvania statute of 1907 on this subject : 



''Stallions ailiicted with hereditary, contagious, or transmissable 

 unsoundness or disease may be refused license by the State Livestock 

 Sanitary Board; and when license is so refused, the said stallion shall 

 not be used for public service or profit or gain in this State; Pro- 

 vided, however, that a license may be refused under this section, only 

 when it is certified to the Board by the State Veterinarian that the 

 stallion in questi'on is afflicted with an hereditary, contagious, or 

 trans'missible unsoundness or disease of such a nature or that the 

 abnormal condition is accomplished by such a defect of conformation, 

 as to render it probable that the j)rogeny of the said stallion will be 

 specifically liable to said unsoundness or disease. Blemishes and 

 deformities due to accidents shall not be regarded as unsoundnesses, 

 within the meaning of this act." 



After the reading of this paper, Mr. Powell again took up his re- 

 port as follows : 



You will notice that we have recommended nothing, so far. After 

 giving full consideration to the matter, and also consulting with a 

 good many others, we have come to the conclusion that the law be 

 so amended that the defects be covered in the certificate. At the 

 present time there are men in every county who, under cover of the 

 State license, are doing much to continue hereditary unsoundness in 

 horses. Any one who has given any observation to the matter, knows 

 that this is so. In our conservative report, we would simply recom- 

 mend that the certificate set forth what these unsoundnesses are, and 

 then let the breeder draw his own conclusions as to whether he wants 

 to breed to these defects, or not. 



Now, there are defects that are the result of accident, but are of 

 very little account, and there are others that are of very great ac- 

 count. Just a little instance from my own experience: We had a 

 horse, a very valuable one, with as good eyes as I have ever seen. 

 By accident, one of the boys struck him in the eye with a whip. We 

 paid very little attention to it, but to our great surprise, the colts 

 that were born during that period all had defective eyes. We have 

 investigated back for several generations, but can not find that any 

 of his ancestors had ever shown this defect. This is one of the things 

 that we must take into consideration, and must educate the people 

 up to. 



There is one thing that you will notice in the report there: the 

 Doctor spoke of what kind of hocks are likely to produce sprain, and 

 so on. How are you to guard against that? It becomes a matter 

 of judgment; it cannot well be described. Horses have the same in- 

 dividuality as man, and every man has his own individualit3\ When 

 I meet our President, I know him. Can I tell you how I know him? 

 You know him when you see him, but can you tell me how I will know 

 him when I meet him? What we will say is that he is a good-looking 

 man, about such an age and size, very agreeable to speak to; but it 

 does not cover the individuality; we must learn that by practice. So 

 it is with horses. We must learn to judge them by practice. 



