48 THE HORSE. 



CUTTING. 



Should there be any places on the inside of the pastern 

 joint which have at some period had the hair knocked 

 off by the foot of the opposite leg, which yon may know 

 to be the fact by the little bald places that remain ever 

 after, yon must examine the action and present condition 

 of the horse, so as to ascertain whether it was weakness, 

 poverty, being over-worked, or worked too young, bad 

 horsemanship, or a natural defect in the action of the 

 horse, that induced cutting. 



This last ought to be an unsoundness, according to 

 the rule laid down, and is so, where the malformation is 

 so serious as to render the horse naturally incaj^able of 

 doing the work of horses of his class, unless, whatever 

 his breed, he is to be numbered with the slow-draught 

 horses; in tluit case he is inefficient, not being capable of 

 the ordinary work of horses of his class. 



When a horse uses his legs so awkwardly that on the 

 least exertion he must cut them — whether the peculiar 

 gait of the animal has been acquired by bad management, 

 or from usaoje in the breakinp*, or from malformation — 

 my opinion is that he is Unsound. 



The law should be governed by common sense, and a 

 jury, I feel confident, Avould be of the same opinion; for 

 in this latter case it is only by extreme care and not tiring 

 the horse that you can keep his legs from becoming raw. 

 AYhile the legs are in that state any horse is Unsound. 



It requires care to keep him from falling. Cuts prevent 

 his doing the work of horses of his class with ordinary 

 care, and this renders him doubly dangerous, as horse- 

 men will not be troubled with so unsatisfactory an animal. 



Where the horse has been cut through over-fatigue 

 or poverty, and has recovered from the weakness conse- 

 quent thereon, requiring no more care than other horses, 

 the wounds being healed, lie is Sound. 



