ssh 1.2.26 and suid

[Michael S. Hulet]

I am trying to access the ramifications of making the ssh client binary
550 (not suid).  The documentation says that if the ssh client program is
"not installed as suid root, it will still be usable, but .rhosts
authentication will not be available."  I need to be educated as to what I
lose if .rhosts authentication is not available.  What security risks will
I create if ssh is not suid root?