JUDGING HORSES 149 



venience, and is not liable to, it is of little or no consequence. 

 The technically sound horse is an exceptional individual and 

 has less actual additional value over the serviceably sound horse 

 than is generally credited to him. 



On the other hand, the nature or extent of an unsoundness 

 may be such as to cause the total disability of a horse either at 

 present or in the future. Serviceable soundness is all that it is 

 practical to seek or require; and just what constitutes service- 

 able soundness is arbitrarily determined by the nature of the 

 work which the horse is expected to do. If more thought were 

 given to the real causes of unsoundness, present and prospective, 

 and less to its technical existence, it would probably give less 

 annoyance. 



The durability of any machine is a matter of construction, 

 covering the grade of materials used, the assembling of all parts, 

 the alignment and adjustment of all bearings and wearing parts 

 in order to minimize friction, distribute wear, and to facilitate 

 operation in general. Allow any little cog to slip or an adjust- 

 ment to become displaced, and either the whole machine is 

 rendered useless or its operation is greatly impaired. 



The Equine Machine. — It is so with the equine mechanism. 

 Most unsoundnesses have their origin in stinictural defects or 

 imperfections. The spavin and the curb make their appearance 

 on the crooked hind leg as a result of the cuneifonn l)onc and 

 curb ligament being called upon to do more than their nonnal 

 share of the work of the leg, on account of the deflection in the 

 line in which weight is borne and power applied. 



Side bones are most common on the outer quarters of wide- 

 fronted draft horses, because such horses are inclined to be " toe 

 narrow," which brings the outer quarter nearer to the centre of 

 weight bearing, thereby imposing weight and wear which should 

 be borne by the other quarter. As a consequence the cartilage 

 ossifies or changes to bone. 



If an existing unsoundness has apparently developed, inde- 

 pendent of predisposing causes of conformation, and does not 

 impair the horse's usefulness, it is of less account than when 

 the causative defect in confonuation is apparent but no actual 

 unsoundness exists yet. In the first place, a repetition of the 



