70 DOMESTIC AXIMALS. 



of structure that impairs, or is likely to impair, his natural nscfnlness. 

 The horse is unsound that labors under disease, or has some alteration 

 of structure which does interfere, or is Hkely to interfere, with his natural 

 usefulness. The term " natural usefulness''' must be borne in mind. One 

 horse may possess great speed, but is soon knocked up ; another will 

 work all day, but cannot be got beyond a snail's pace : a third with a 

 heavy forehand is liable to stumble, and is continually putting to haz- 

 ard the neck of his rider ; another, with an irritable constitution and a 

 loose, washy form, loses his appetite and begins to scour if a little extra 

 work is exacted from him. The term unsoundness must not be applied 

 to either of these ; it would be opening far too widely a door to dispu- 

 tation and endless wrangling. The bnyer can discern, or ought to 

 know, whether the form of the horse is that which will render him 

 likely to suit his purpose, and he should try him sufficiently to ascer- 

 tain his natural strength, endurance, and manner of going. Unsound- 

 ness, we repeat, has reference only to disease, or to that alteration of 

 structure which is connected with, or will produce disease, and lessen 

 the usefulness of the animal. 



These principles will be best illustrated by a brief consideration of 

 the usually supposed appearances or causes of unsoundness. 



Broken Rliees certainly do not constitute unsoundness, after the 

 wounds are healed, unless they interfere with the action of the joint ; 

 for the horse may have fallen from mere accident, or through the fault 

 of the rider, without the slightest damage more than the blemish. No 

 person, however, would buy a horse with broken knees, until he has 

 thoroughly tried him, and satisfied himself as to his form and action. 



Capped Hocks may be produced by lying on an unevenly paved stable, 

 with a scanty supply of litter, or by kicking generally, in neither of 

 which cases would they constitute unsoundness, although in the latter 

 they would be an indication of vice ; but, in the majority of instances, 

 they are the consequence of sprain, or of latent injury of the hock, 

 and accompanied by enlargement of it, and would constitute unsound- 

 ness. A special warranty should always be taken against capped 

 hocks. 



Contraction is a considerable deviation from the natural form of the 

 foot, but not necessarily constituting unsoundness. It requires, how- 

 ever, a most careful examination on the part of the purchaser or veteri- 

 nary surgeon, in order to ascertain that there is no heat about the quar- 

 ter, or ossification of the cartilage — that the frog, although diminished 

 in size, is not diseiised — that the horse does not step short and go as if 

 the foot were tender, and that there is not the slightest trace of lame- 

 ness. Unless these circumstances, or some of them, are detected, a 

 horse must not be pronounced to be unsound because his feet are con- 

 tracted ; for many horses with strangely contracted feet do not suffer at 

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

 where the feet are at all co!itracted. 



Corns manifestly constitute unsoundness. The portion of the foot in 

 which bad corns arc situated, will not bear the ordinary pressure of the 

 shoe; and accidental additional pressure from the growing down of the 

 horn, or the introduction of dirt or gravel, will cause serious lameness. 



