422 SOUNDNESS RULES I'OIl rURCIIASL. 



the horse docs not sit'p short and ^o as if tho loot were tender, 

 and that there is not the sli«!:litest traee of lameness. Unless 

 these eircunistaiutes, or some ot" them, are detected, a horse must 

 uot be pronounced to be unsound because his leet arc contracted ; 

 for many horses with strangely contracted ieet do not suller at 

 all in their action. A special warranty, however, should be 

 required where the feet are at all contracted. 



Corns manifestly constitute unsoundness. The portion of the 

 foot in wliich bad corns are situated will not bear the ordinary 

 pressure of the shoe ; and accidental additional pressure from the 

 p:r()win«!: down of the horn, or the introduction of dirt or gravel, 

 will cause serious lameness. They render it necessary to wear 

 ;i tliick and heavy shoe, or a bar-shoe, in order to protect the 

 weakened and diseased part ; and they are very seldom radically 

 cured. There may be, however, and frequently is, a dilierence 

 of o})inion as to the actual existence or character of the corn. 

 They are sometimes, too, so slight that they do not diminish the 

 value oi' the horse, and will disappear on the horse being shod 

 with ordinary skill and care, even without any alteration in the 

 shoe. 



Cough. — This is a disease, and consequently unsoundness. 

 However slight may be its degree, and of whatever short stand- 

 ing it may be, althougli it may sometimes scarcely seem to inter 

 lere with the useiulness of the horse, yet a change of stabling 

 or slight exposure to wet and cold, or the least over-exertioi/, 

 may, at other times, cause it to degenerate into many dangerous 

 comjilaints. A horse, therefore, should never be purchased with 

 a cough upon him, without a special warranty; or il^ — the 

 cough not being observed — he is ])urchased under a general war- 

 ranty, that warranty is thereby broken. It is not law, that a 

 Jiorse may be returned on breach of the warranty. The seller 

 is not bounil to take him back, unless he has contracted so to do ; 

 but he is liable to damages. Lord Ellenborough has completely 

 decided this matter. "1 have always held," said he, "that a 

 warranty of sounchiess is broken, if the animal, at the time of 

 sale, had any infirmity upon him that rendered him less fit for 

 present service. It is not necessary that the disorder should be 

 permanent or incurable. While he has a cough, he is unsound, 

 nlthough tlnit may either be temporary or prove mortal." 



Iii deciding on another case, tlie same judge said, " I have al- 

 ways held it that a cough is a breach of the warranty. On that 

 understanding I have always acted, and think it quite clear." It 

 was argued on the other liand that two-thirds of the horses in 

 liondon had coughs, yet still the judge maintained that the cough 

 was a breach of warranty. When it was larther argued that the 

 n(.rse had been hunted tlie day after tho purcliase, and tlie ..ough 



