VICES 425 



We may conveniently sum up this brief enumeration of ailments 

 amounting to unsoundness and returnable vices with the definition laid 

 down in Elton v. Brogden (4 Camp. 281): "If at the time of sale the 

 horse has any disease which either actually does diminish the natural 

 usefulness of the animal, so as to make him less capable of work of any 

 description, or which in its ordinary progress will diminish the natural 

 usefulness of the animal, this is imsoundness; or if the horse has, either 

 from disease or accident, undergone any alteration of structure that either 

 actually does at the time, or in its ordinary effects will diminish the 

 natural usefulness of a horse, such a horse is unsound ". 



It should also be borne in mind that ailments to amount to unsound- 

 ness need not be permanent or incurable. It is sufficient if the horse 

 is affected by such ailment at the time of sale; or even, according to 

 the decision in the leading case of Margetson v. Wright, to which we 

 have already had occasion to refer, if the horse has the seeds of unsound- 

 ness in him at the time of sale. Even if a horse which was unsound 

 at the time of sale, recovers before action is brought, this is no defence 

 to such action. 



We may conveniently close this chapter with a few remarks as to 

 the proper course to be adopted where a horse is believed not to answer 

 to its warranty. 



If there can be no mistake about its unsoundness, and that such 

 unsoundness existed at the time of .sale, it should be at once returned, 

 with a letter demanding back the purchase - money. It is, however, 

 always desirable to obtain independent veterinary testimony, written if 

 possible, or the opinion of an expert, previous to returning the horse. 

 Such return should also be accompanied by a copy of the veterinary 

 surgeon's report, or the expert's opinion. If the seller refuses to take 

 the horse back, it may be .sold, and he may be sued for any deficiency 

 between the price realized at such sale and the price originally paid for 

 it, together with any expenses to which the buyer may have been thereby 

 put. Of course, there must be no unnecessary delay in returning the 

 animal, as the law does not aid those who sleep upon their rights. 



No definite time is fixed by law for the return, and each case must 

 be governed more or less by its own peculiar incidents; but generally, 

 in the absence of any stated time, as where the horse has not been .sold 

 subject to the rules obtaining at some fair or repository for tlie .sale of 

 horses, eight days inclusive may be taken to be a reasonable limit. 



If the horse is very valuable, legal aid should be sought, and action 

 will then be taken in one of the superior courts, but many cases of 

 warranty will naturally come within the jurisdiction of the county courts, 



