424 WAERANTY 



VICES 



Besides diseases and defects which amount to unsoundness, there are 

 certain faults which will entitle a buyer to return a horse when wan-anted 

 " free from vice ". Of course, it must be clear that such faults existed at 

 the time of sale, and are not the result of subsequent mismanagement or 

 unskilfulness. The first we shall have occasion to notice is: — 



Biting. — A biter is manifestly vicious, as being dangerous to those 

 who have occasion to approach it. From the great power in a horse's jaw 

 it is capable of inflicting terrible injuries. 



Bolting, or running away, is also held to be a vice, if habitual. It is 

 open to question, however, whether a horse that has run away once would 

 not be likely to do so again if a favourable opportunity offered. 



Crib-biting, as tending to injure a horse, is sometimes held to be 

 a vice. If it has that eff"ect, it undoubtedly is a vice. Many devices have 

 been tried to cure this habit, with more or less success. One, adopted by 

 a well-known sportsman, is a slung bar in front of the manger, which slips 

 away from the horse as often as he attempts to gnaw it. 



Kicking. — This is a very bad and dangerous habit, and a confirmed 

 kicker is unquestionably a vicious animal. It is, however, not at all 

 an unusual thing for a high-mettled or even a docile horse to develojj a 

 hal)it of kicking, in consequence of mismanagement or cruelty, which before 

 purchase was perfectly free from the vice. Thus a young horse warranted 

 " quiet to ride and drive", after being kept in the stable a long time 

 and too highly fed, may, on being put into harness, run away, though 

 it had never shown a tendency to do so before; or kick the dashboard 

 to pieces and upset the vehicle, from being urged uphill with sticks. 

 Before returning a horse, therefore, for the alleged vice of kicking, it is 

 always desirable to ascertain, first, whether the horse is a confirmed kicker; 

 and secondly, if it be so, how it acquired such a habit. Kicking when 

 " merely a mode of letting off superfluous spirit" is, of course, not a vice. 



Rearing, if it has become a habit, is most dangerous, as the horse 

 may fall backw^ards upon and kill its rider. In this stage it is probably 

 incurable, and is a vice. In a raw, unbroken solt, however, it could 

 hardly be accounted a vice. 



Restiveness, in the sense of refusing to go in the direction desired, 

 is a returnable vice. 



Shying, when a confirmed habit, is a vice. 



Weaving in the stable, or an uneasy moving of the head from side 

 to side, like a wild beast in his cage, is a vice. 



