4J4 SOUNDNESS. 



It IS proper, however, to put a limit to what has been too fre- 

 quently asserted from the bench, that a horse warranted sound 

 must be taken as fit for immediate use, and capable of being- im 

 mediately put to any fair work the owner chooses. A hunter 

 honestly warranted sound is certainly warranted to be in imme 

 diate condition to follow the hounds. The mysteries of condition, 

 as has been shown in a former part of the work, are not suiii- 

 ciently unravelled. 



In London, and in most great towns, there are repositories for 

 the periodical sale of horses by auction. They are of great con- 

 venience to the teller who can at once get rid of a horse with 

 which he wishes to part, without waiting month after month be- 

 fore he obtains a purchaser, and he is relieved from the nuisance 

 or fear of having the animal returned on account of breach of 

 the warranty, because in these places only two days are allowed 

 for the trial, and if the horse is not returned within that period 

 he cannot be afterwards returned. They are also convenient to 

 the purchaser, who can thus in a large town soon find a horse 

 that will suit him, and which, from this restriction as to returning 

 the animal, he will obtain twenty or thirty per cent, below the 

 dealers' prices. Although an auction may seem to offer a fail 

 and open competition, there is no place at which it is more neces- 

 sary for a person not much accustomed to horses to take with him 

 an experienced friend, and, when there, to depend on his own 

 judgment, or that of his friend, heedless of the observations or 

 manoeuvres of the bystanders, the exaggerated commendation of 

 some horses, and the thousand faults found with others. There 

 are always numerous groups of low dealers, copers, and chaunters, 

 whose business it is to delude and deceive. 



One of the regulations of the Bazaar in King Street was ex- 

 ceedingly fair, both with regard to the previous owner and the 

 purchaser, viz. — 



" When a horse, having been warranted sound, shall be returned 

 within the prescribed period, on account of unsoundness, a certi- 

 ficate from a veterinary surgeon, particularly describing the un- 

 soundness, must accompany the horse so returned ; when, if it be 

 agreed to by the veterinary surgeon of the establishment, the 

 amount received for the horse shall be immediately paid back ; 

 but if the veterinary surgeoa of the establishment should not 

 confirm the certificate, then, in order to avoid further dispute, one 

 of the veterinary surgeons of the college shall be called in, and 

 his decision shall be final, and the expense of such umpire shall 

 be borne by the party in error." 



