104 



WHAT DISEASES CONSTITUTE UNSOUNDNESS OR VICE. 



Decision on 

 the subject. 



Sprain and 

 Thickening 

 of the Back 

 Sinews. 



of the shank-bone, whether a Splint is to be considered 

 an Unsoundness {b). If it is not in the neighbourhood of 

 any joint, so as to interfere with its action, and if it does 

 not press upon any ligament or tendon, it can be no 

 cause of Unsoundness. And although it is often very 

 unsightly, it does not lessen the capabilities and value of 

 the animal (e) . 



In an action on the Warranty of a Horse "to be sound 

 wind and limb at this time," the breach of which was 

 lameness, produced by a Splint, it was given in evidence 

 that a Splint might or might not be the efficient cause of 

 lameness, according to its position, its size and extent ; 

 that the Splint in this instance was in a very bad situation, 

 as it pressed upon one of the sinews of the leg and was 

 calculated to produce, when the Horse was worked, inflam- 

 mation of the sinew and consequent lameness. 



Lord Chief Justice Tindal said, " It now appears that 

 some Splints cause lameness and others do not, and that 

 the consequences of a Splint cannot be apparent at the 

 time, like those of the loss of an eye or any other blemish 

 or defect visible to a common observer. We therefore 

 think that by the terms of this written warranty, the par- 

 ties meant that this was not, at that time, a Splint which 

 would be the cause of future lameness, and that the Jury 

 have found that it was. We therefore think that the 

 Warranty was hrohen" {d). 



The Back Sinews are inclosed in a sheath of dense cellu- 

 lar substance, to confine them in their situation and to 

 defend them from injury. Between the tendon and the 

 sheath there is a mucous fluid to prevent friction ; but 

 when the Horse has been overworked, or put to sudden 

 and violent exertion, the tendon presses upon the delicate 

 membrane lining the sheath, inflammation is produced, 

 and a different fluid is thrown out, which coagulates, and 

 adhesions are formed between the tendon and the sheath, 

 and the motion of the limb is more difficult and painful. 

 At other times, from violent or long-continued exertion, 

 some of the fibres which tie the tendons down are ruptured. 



{b) See App. to Lib. U. K. Ed. 

 1862, 524, where Professor Spooner 

 gives it as his opinion that situation 

 has less to do with the lameness 

 occasioned by splint than the cha- 

 racter of the sphnt. He considers 

 that the test of its being an un- 

 soundness or not is, whether there 



is tenderness or not on its being 

 pressed. 



{(■) Lib. IT. K. "The Horse," 

 365. 



{(1) 3[argetsoH v. Wright, 1 M. & 

 So. 622. See also Smith v. O^Brien, 

 11 L. T., N. S. 316; and post, 

 pp. 136, 137. 



