524 



Types and Market Classes of Live Stock 



one or more unsoundnesses. Considerable difference of opinion exists 

 among well-informed persons as to the hereditary transmission of some 

 unsoundnesses. 



A number of minor troubles which are not unsoundnesses are here 

 given brief mention, because of the frequency with which they are met 

 and to satisfy curiosity regarding them. Treatment is briefly men- 

 tioned in some cases for a similar reason. Many minor troubles are 

 important because they blemish a horse. A blemish merely detracts 

 from the appearance of an animal, whereas an unsoundness interferes 

 with his working capacity. Many unsoundnesses are blemishes as 

 well. A study of the ills to which the horse is heir shows that his eyes, 

 legs, and wind are the seats of unsoundness. 



Blindness. — Any defect of sight is a serious defect in a horse, and 

 eye trouble always furnishes grounds for rejecting horses for unsound- 

 ness. Inspecting a horse for blindness requires expert knowledge of 



Fig. 209. — Bog spavin. A, Bog spavin; B, sound hock. 



the diseases of the eye, and, although the average horseman can in 

 many cases discover defective eyes, no horse is safely passed as sound 

 in eyes except by a well-qualified veterinarian. Severe weeping, par- 

 tially closed eyelids, sunken eyes, inability to bear strong light, a 

 cloudy appearance of the cornea, unnatural or dull color, failure of the 

 iris to contract to a considerable degree when brought from darkness 

 to light, too active play of the ears, failure to blink when an object is 

 passed close to the eye— these and many other conditions give evidence 

 of defective vision. (See also cataract and periodic ophthalmia.) 



Blood spavin is situated in front and to the inside of the hock, 

 and is merely a varicose or dilated condition of the vein passing over 

 that region. It occurs directly over the point where the bog spavin 

 is found, and is sometimes confused with the latter. It constitutes a 

 blemish rather than an unsoundness. 



Bog spavin is a round, smooth, well-defined swelling in front and a 

 little inward of the hock. On pressure it disappears to reappear on the 



