oOO 



THE MODERN SYSTEM 



Blood-spavin is unsoundness, because, al- 

 though it may not be productive of lameness 

 at slow work, the rapid and powerful action 

 of the hock in quicker motion will produce 

 permanent, although not considerable lame- 

 ness, and which can scarcely ever be with 

 certainty removed. 



Splent. It depends entirely on the situa- 

 tion of the bony tumour on the inside of the 

 shank-bone, whether it is to be considered as 

 unsoundness. 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, al- 

 though it is often very unsightly. It does not 

 lessen the capability and value of the animal. 



Stringhalt. This singular and very un- 

 pleasant action of the hind leg cannot be 

 termed unsoundness. It is aa irregular com- 

 munication of nervous energy to some muscle 

 of the thigh, observable when the Horse first 

 comes from the stable, and gradually ceasing 

 on exercise, and has usually been found in 

 those Horses that have a more than common 

 decree of streno;th and endurance. 



Thickening of the back sinews. Sufficient 

 attention is not always paid to the fineness of 

 the less of the Horse. If the flexor tendons 

 have been sprained so as to produce consider- 

 able thickening of the cellular substance in 

 which their sheaths are enveloped, they will 

 long afterwards, or perhaps ever after, be 

 liable to sprain from causes by which they 

 would otherwise be scarcely affected. The 

 continuance of any considerable thickness 

 around the sheaths of the tendons indicates 

 previous and violent sprain. This very thick- 

 ening will fetter the action of the tendons, and 

 after much quick work will, from the very 

 friction, occasionally renew the inflammation 



and the lameness ; therefore, such a Horse 

 cannot be sound. It requires, however, a 

 little discrimination to distinguish this from 

 the gwnminess or roundness of leg, peculiar to 

 some breeds. There should be an evident 

 difference between the injured leg and the 

 others. 



Thoroughpin, except it be of great size, is 

 rarely productive of lameness, and therefore 

 cannot, when unaccompanied by lameness, be 

 termed unsoundness ; but as it is the corxse- 

 quence of hard work, and now and then does 

 produce lameness, the hock should be most 

 carefully examined, and there should be a 

 special warranty against it. 



Thrush. There are various cases on record 

 of actions of thrushes in Horses, and the 

 decisions have been much at variance, or per- 

 fectly contradictory. Thrush has not been 

 considered by legal men as unsoundness : it 

 seemed to be necessary to prove lameness, or 

 probable injury to the foot. We confess, how- 

 ever, that we are inclined to consider thrush as 

 unsoundness. 



Windgalls. There are few Horses per- 

 fectly free from windgalls, but they do not in- 

 terfere with the action of the fetlock, or cause 

 lameness, except vvhen they are numerous 

 or large. They constitute unsoundness only 

 when they cause lameness, or are so large and 

 numerous as to render it likely that they will 

 soon cause it. 



In the purchase of a Horse the buyer 

 usually receives, embodied in the receipt, 

 what is termed a warranty. It should be 

 thus expressed : — 



"Received of A. B. forty pounds for a grey 

 mare, warranted only five years old, sounds 

 free from vice, and quiet to ride and drive. 

 £40. C. D." 



