HEREDITARY UNSOUNDNESS 19 



admit that coarseness or lack of quality is by no 

 means an unimportant factor in contributing to 

 hereditary predisposition to unsoundness. Tem- 

 perament is the last of the four heads into which 

 we divided the predisposing causes of hereditary 

 unsoundness. Although it must be admitted that 

 it has an influence, we look upon it as the least 

 important of the four. The nervous horse that 

 jumps and gets excited on slight provocation; the 

 anxious horse that is always up in his collar and 

 against the bit, are more taxing on the physical 

 mechanism than easier-going horses. We can- 

 not afford to quite ignore this question of tem- 

 perament in selecting sires and dams, but if the 

 legs and feet are well formed, have sufficient 

 substance, and are made up of a good quality of 

 tissue, they will generally stand any taxing that 

 may result from a high-strung temperament. 



