Quand le sabot du cheval pronostique son caractère

In a letter, Apsyrtos gives a detailed list of the qualities and defects of the hoof, according to colour, shape, height and dimensions, the volume of the frog and the coronet, the combinations of different criteria that lead to a good- natured or bad-tempered horse. The influence of physiognomy, – which has been inseparable from medicine since Hippocrates – is obvious, and knowledge of temperament – which can be traced as far back as Aristotle –, deduced from the physical features, and codified, was transposed to hippiatry.