POESTTS OF BRoon marf:s. 283 



is the defective condition of the ligaments there, not the angu- 

 lar junction, which leads to curbs ; and the breeder should care- 

 fully investigate the individual case before accepting or reject- 

 ing a mare with suspicious hocks. Bad feet, whether from con- 

 traction 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 un- 

 soundness 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. Roaring is a 

 much-vexed question, which is by no means theoretically 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 of 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 Yirago 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 ideopathic roaring has made its appearance, 

 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 or may not be hereditary ; but in all 

 cases it should be viewed with suspicion as great as that due to 

 roaring. Simple cataract without inflammation undoubtedly 

 runs in families ; and when a hoi-se or mare has both eyes suf- 

 fering from this disease, without any other derangement of the 



