CHAPTER XII 

 JUDGING HORSES 



Judging horses is the most difficult and at the same time 

 the most fascinating task of the hve stock judge. The 

 judge should be familiar with the variations in type due to 

 the many different uses to which horses are put ; the various 

 breed types ; the blemishes and unsoundnesses ; and the 

 " tricks of the trade " in showing horses. All these com- 

 bine to make horse judging the highest art in the judging 

 of live stock. 



BLEMISHES AND UNSOUNDNESS 



An unsoundness is a defect of a horse, a predisposition 

 towards which is inherited from its ancestors. Blemishes 

 are defects caused by injury, such as bruises and wire cuts. 

 While blemishes are disfiguring, undesirable, and hurt the 

 sale of a horse,, they do not disqualify the breeding animal. 



Horses should be carefully examined for unsoundness, 

 because in the judging of all classes no unsound horse ghould 

 be awarded a place. If in the detailed examination in the 

 show ring, any of these defects are discovered, the defective 

 horse should be retired from the competition. The com- 

 mon unsoundnesses which every one who judges horses 

 should very readily recognize are : poll evil, fistula of the 

 withers heaves, bad wind or roaring, ringbone, sidebone. 



