SOUNDNESS. 433 



false representation, or other fraudulent means. If the defect 

 was evident to every eye, the purchaser has no remedy — he should 

 have taken more care ; but if a warranty was given, that extends 

 to all unsoundness, palpable or concealed. Although a person 

 should ignorantly or carelessly buy a blind horse, warranted sound, 

 he may reject it — the warranty is his guard, and prevents him 

 ii-om so closely examining the horse as he otherwise would have 

 done ; but il' he buys a blind horse, thinking him to be sound, and 

 v/ithout a warranty, he has no remedy. Every one ought to ex- 

 ercise common circumspection and common sense. 



A man should have a more perfect knowledge of horses than 

 falls to the lot of most, and a perfect knowledge of the vender too, 

 who ventures to buy a horse wit-iout a warranty. 



If a persdn buys a horse wai ranted sound, and discovering no 

 defect in him, and, relying on the warranty, re-selis him, and the 

 unsoundness is discovered by the second purchaser, and the horse 

 returned to the first purchaser, or an action commenced against 

 him, he has his claim on the first seller, and may demand of him 

 not only the price of the horse, or the difierence in value, but 

 every expense that may have been incurred. 



Absolute exchanges, of one horse for another, or a sum of money 

 being paid in addition by one of the parties, stand on the same 

 ground as simple sales. If there is a warranty on either side, and 

 that is broken, an action may be maintained : if there be no war- 

 ranty, deceit must be proved. 



The trial of horses on sale often leads to disputes. The law is 

 perfectly clear, but the application of it, as in other matters con- 

 nected with horse-flesh, attended with glorious uncertainty. The 

 intended purchaser is only liable for damage done to the horse 

 througli his own misconduct. The seller may put what restriction 

 he chooses on the trial, and takes the risks of all accidents in the 

 fair use of the horse within such restrictions. 



If a horse from a dealer's stable is galloped far and fast, it is 

 probabJe that he will soon show distress ; and if he is pushed far- 

 ther, inflammation and death may ensue. The dealer rarely gets 

 recompensed for this ; nor ought he, as he knows the unfitness of 

 his horse, and may thank himself for permitting such a trial ; and 

 if it should occur soon after the sale, he runs the risk of having 

 the horse returned, or of an action for itp price. 



In this, too, he is not much to be pitied. The mischievous and 

 fraudulent practice of dealers, especially in London, of giving 

 their horses, by overfeeding, a false appearance of muscular sub- 

 stance, leads to the ruin of many a valuable animal. It would 

 be a useful lesson to have to contest in an action or two the ques- 

 tion whether a horse overloaded with fat can be otherwise thar. 

 in a state of disease, and consequently unsound. 

 28 S 



