RACING, OR TURF HORSES. 22-1 



they exist in the particular case. Curby hocks are also hereditary, and 

 should be avoided ; though many a one much bent at the junction of the 

 OS calcis with the astragalus is not at all liable to curbs . It is the defect- 

 ive condition of the ligaments there, not the angular junction, which 

 leads to curbs ; and the breeder should carefully investigate the individ- 

 ual case before accepting or rejecting 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 look- 

 ed 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 per- 

 petuated, 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 

 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 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 difllcult 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 nei-ves of the larynx, it is ten to one that the produce will 

 suffer in the same way. 



Blindness, again, may 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 

 horse or mare has both eyes suffering from this disease, without any other 

 derangement of the eye, I should eschew them carefully. When blind- 

 ness is the result of violent inflammation brought on by bad management 

 or by influenza, or any other similar cause, the eye itself is more or les« 



