6 THE HORSE 



tendency to the same defect. For example, if a horse 

 has naturally a good leg, do not reject him as a sire 

 because he has become unsound. But if the bone of his 

 leg is too small, or if his hind leg is crooked or has 

 a curby formation, he should be rejected because 

 constitutional defects like these are very likely to be 

 transmitted. Bad feet, for example, are usually in- 

 herited, and so, in fact, are all forms of unsoundness. 

 On this subject, a vet of great experience said re- 

 cently : 



In my business I often see colts with ring-bones, spavins, or 

 curbs before they are two years old which, I personally know, 

 they have Inherited from the sire or dam. We have a stallion 

 standing for service In this county that gets 70 per cent of bad 

 hocks on his foals. 



It is almost more important to have a stallion of 

 intelligence and good disposition than to have a sound 

 one. Stupidity and viciousness are transmitted very 

 commonly. Not many horses, it is true, are naturally 

 vicious. The vicious ones are usually made so by bad 

 treatment, but occasionally there is a vicious strain. 

 I remember a stallion of fine breeding and remarkably 

 good conformation who had a bad disposition, and the 

 great majority of his colts were difficult to break, being 

 inclined both to kick and to be sulky. They made 

 unsatisfactory horses. 



The size of the stallion is important in this way: it 

 is a rule, with few exceptions, that a stallion unusually 

 large for his breed will not get good and tough colts. 

 A stallion of compact build and clean, stout bone, but 

 undersized rather than oversized, is the one to choose 



