116 DEFECTS AND BLEMISHES. 



DEFECTS AND BLEMISHES. 



Scars and bruises are occasioned either by accident or 

 brutality, or are self-inflicted owing to faulty conformation, 

 weakness or clumsiness. When these telltales are discov- 

 ered they should be carefully examined in order to deter- 

 mine their origin. When the fault lies in the horse, their 

 appearance is limited to certain locations, and the position of 

 each indicates a distinct form of weakness ; thus a horse 

 that interferes or cuts himself will cause a sore, and in time 

 a scar, to mark the point of contact between the leg and the 

 hoof or shoe; again, the absence of hair on the knees or 

 patches of different colored hair indicates that the horse is 

 a stumbler and has at some time come down upon them, or 

 if a hunter that he tops his fences. Long, thin lines free 

 from hair just under the fetlock mark the animal as having 

 suffered or suffering from grease, sand crack or mud fever. 

 A line of white spots four or five inches long and an inch 

 wide on the inside of the leo' below the knee confirms a 

 suspicion that the horse has been "fired" for splint, and so 

 on adinfinitiun. An owner or dealer has a long list of ex- 

 planations with which to disarm adverse criticism and bol- 

 ster up an animal's reputation, but they are no more likely to be 

 true than is the supposition that the jade is a high stepper and 

 broke the skin on his knees by hitting them against his chin. 

 Horses that show any tenderness or lameness when driven 

 or ridden, without any of the various devices employed to 

 lessen concussion, should not be considered sound. When 

 leather pads are found between the hoof and the shoe, or 

 similar contrivances used, the horse should be reshod with a 

 plain shoe before being tried. 



Fortunately the various remedies resorted to in serious 



