460 
OBSERVATIONS ON SOUNDNESS. 
have known many, very many horses with narrow and flat fore¬ 
heads possessing small, ill-shaped eyes, desperate and danger¬ 
ous shyers. The shape of the cornea has not been convex, but I 
have found it more prominent at one part than at another; they 
are what I have termed them, angularly convex.^^ 1 have 
noticed a similar shaped eye in the bovine race. These horses 
are the worst shyers of any I have met with. They gene¬ 
rally have a fancy for shying at water marks in the road, 
especially after dark. There are eyes which are extremely pro¬ 
minent, and horses with eyes such as these must be very near¬ 
sighted ; there are others with very flat eyes, although said 
to be so from old age. I do not find these animals shy as 
they grow old, but the reverse. I think, as a general rule, if 
an eye is perfect in youth, and up to eight or twelve years 
old, the possessor of that eye will not be found to be¬ 
come a shyer, as these animals are not often found so old as 
to have impaired vision. I have been acquainted with hun¬ 
dreds of old horses that have not shyed in their old age. 
The shaped forehead to ^^ hich I have alluded has been found 
to exist in nervous and ill-tempered horses. AVhen they are 
bad tempered, and shyers to boot, it becomes dangerous to 
drive them. They seem to make a point of starting at an 
object when there is no difficulty in the way, which becomes 
very annoying. I am not aware of any writer having noticed 
this peculiarity. No doubt hundreds of veterinarians have 
made similar observations, but I do not know of anv such 
having been recorded. 
Shying may be considered to be one of the most unplea¬ 
sant, and is oftentimes a dangerous practice. As veterinary 
examiners we are not expected to make any remark about 
the shape or the shying propensities of a horse when brought 
for our inspection. This subject demands our especial atten¬ 
tion. I know of no portion of our professional duties w’hich 
requires so strict an investigation as that of the examination 
of the eyes. Who can tell what accidents happen from 
riding and driving shyers ? I think I could name several 
which owed their origin to defective sight. 
In giving an opinion as to soundness, we ought to be 
called upon to speak as to the probability of the animal under 
examination being free from vice in this respect. I say vice, 
because it is known by that name, not that I can recognise 
the name as being a proper designation of shying. I am of 
opinion that an animal found to be a shyer is indeed unsound, 
although it has been held by some great authorities that if 
an animal has been formed in a certain manner it does not 
constitute unsoundness. Provided this peculiarity does not 
