HEREDITARY UNSOUNDNESS 17 



in question has sufficient substance in the various 

 structures that make up his legs and feet to give 

 them strength and abihty to stand "wear and 

 tear." 



The practical horseman of experience learns 

 that the horse with disproportionately small feet 

 seldom stands much work without going sore 

 from some unsoundness of these organs. So with 

 the slender-pasterned horse. He is not only sub- 

 ject to strain at that point, but predisposed to 

 ringbone. The horse light under the knee is apt 

 to suffer from strains of the tendons and liga- 

 ments in that situation, as well as troublesome 

 splints. Proportionately large joints give wear- 

 ing ability to the legs. This is well exemplified in 

 the case of hocks with plenty of tissue in them. 

 The sire that transmits small hocks to his off- 

 spring has handed down to him one of the most 

 prolific sources of unsoundness in these joints. 

 Defects of formation of these joints are often 

 a cause of trouble, as has already been pointed 

 out, but not so much so in my experience as lack 

 of size. Stating that a horse has plenty of tim- 

 ber under him does not cover all cases, as some 

 horses have plenty of tissue in their front legs 

 and are deficient in their hind ones. In addition 

 to formation and quantity of tissue, "quality" is 

 of vast importance in influencing the wearing 

 ability of the legs and feet. Parents transmit 



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