SOUNDNESS 421 



by any disease or defect in the horse, will not be held to amount to 

 unsoundness. 



Windgalls usually arise from overwork, and when of small size and 

 unproductive of lameness, do not constitute unsoundness. 



We now come to consider those diseases or forms, or stages of disease, 

 which do constitute unsoundness. 



Blindness. — All forms or degrees of blindness which impair a horse's 

 usefulness amount to unsoundness. 



Bog spavins, when so severe as to interfere with the action of the 

 joint, amount to unsoundness. 



Breaking down. — A horse is said to be broken down when through 

 an extraordinary strain on the sinews and tendons of the leg it has become 

 temporarily lame, and the part affected is swollen and inflamed. The 

 swelling may sometimes be so reduced as to pass unnoticed by an ordinary 

 buyer, but a broken-down horse is undoubtedly unsound. 



Broken Knees. — These, when the injury is only slight and superficial, 

 do not, as already intimated, render a horse unsound; but when the knees 

 have been so badly broken as to allow the synovia, or joint-oil as it is called, 

 to escape, or when the skin over the knees has become so thickened, in con- 

 sequence, as to impede their action, the horse will be unsound. The latter 

 kind of unsoundness, however, occurs more especially when a horse has been 

 thrown down repeatedly, or when the injury has been deep and severe. 



Cataract constitutes unsoundness in every stage of the disease. 



Cold. — This is unsoundness, and will vitiate a warranty of soundness 

 if the horse is suffering from a cold at the time of sale. 



Corns, which generally occur in the fore-feet, are usually held to be a 

 mark of unsoundness, and if they cause, or are likely to cause, lameness, 

 are so. If, however, they are superficial and only of a trifling nature, they 

 would not apparently amount to unsoundness. In an aggravated form, or 

 in any of their more serious developments, they would unquestionably 

 amount to unsoundness. 



Coughs. — A cough will render a horse unsound, that is, of course, if 

 the horse had it at the time of sale. To avoid unnecessary litigation, how- 

 ever, it should be observed that horses are specially liable to acquire this 

 ailment, and if they do so at any period after sale, there can be no return 

 for breach of warraaty. 



Curbs are accounted unsoundness, even though there be no lameness. 

 A horse with a curb, sold under a general warranty, can be at once 

 returned; if, however, the curb be pointed out at the time of sale, it 

 will be a case of special warranty, and the buyer must be upon his guard. 

 Curby hocks have already been noticed. 



