Breeding. 95 



astragalus is not at all liable to curbs. It is the defective 

 condition of the ligaments there, not the angular junction, 

 which leads to curbs ; and the breeder should carefully 

 investigate the individual case before accepting or reject- 

 ing a mare with suspicious hocks. Bad feet, whether 

 from contraction or from too flat and thin a sole, should 

 also be avoided ; but when they have obviously arisen 

 from bad shoeing, the defect may be passed over. Such 

 are the chief varieties of unsoundness in the legs which 

 require circumspection ; the good points which, on the 

 other hand, are to be looked for, are those considered 

 desirable in all horses that are subjected to the shocks of 

 the gallop. Calf knees are generally bad in the race 

 horse, and are very apt to be transmitted, whilst the 

 opposite form is also perpetuated, but is not nearly so 

 disadvantageous. Such are the general considerations 

 bearing upon soundness of limb. That of the wind is no 

 less important. Broken-winded mares seldom breed, and 

 they are therefore out of the question, if for no other 

 reason ; but no one would risk the recurrence of this 

 disease, even if he could get such a mare stinted. Roar- 

 ing is a much-vexed question, which is by no means the- 

 oretically settled among our chief veterinary authorities, 

 nor practically by our breeders. Every year, however, 

 it becomes more and more frequent and important, and 

 the risk for reproduction is too great for any person 

 wilfully to run by breeding from a roarer. As far as I 

 can learn, it appears to be much more hereditary on the 

 side of the mare than on that of the horse ; and not even 

 the offer of a Virago should tempt me to use her as a 

 brood mare. There are so many different conditions 

 which produce what is called " roaring," that it is difficult 

 to form any opinion which shall apply to all cases. In 

 some instances, where it has arisen from neglected 

 strangles, or from a simple inflammation of the larynx, 

 the result of cold, it will probably never reappear ; but 

 when the genuine idiopathic roaring has made its appear- 

 ance, apparently depending upon a disease of the nerves 

 of the larynx, it is ten to one that the produce will suffer 

 in the same way. Blindness, again, may or may not be 



