76 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



they do not interfere with the action of the fetlock, or cause lameness, 

 except -w'hen they are numerous or large. They constitute unsoundness 

 only when they cause lameness, or are so large and numerous as to ren- 

 der it likely that they will cause it. 



In the purchase of a horse, the buyer usually receives, embodied in 

 the receipt, what is termed a warranty. It should be thus expressed : 



** Received of A B two hundred dollars for a gray mare, warranted only five 

 years old. sound, free from vice, and quiet to ride or drive. 



"$200. "CD." 



A receipt including merely the word " warranted" extends only to 

 soundness; "warranted sound" goes no farther; the age, freedom from 

 vice, and quietness to ride and drive, should be especially named. This 

 warranty comprises every cause of unsoundness tliat can be detected, or 

 that lurks in the constitution at the time of sale, and to every vicious 

 habit that the animal has hitherto shown. To establish a breach of 

 warranty, and to be enabled to tender a return of the horse and recover 

 the difference of price, the purchaser must prove that it was unsound 

 or viciously disposed at the time of sale. In case of cough, the horse 

 must have been heard to cough immediately after the purchase, or as 

 he was led home, or as soon as he had entered the stable of the pur- 

 chaser. Coughing, even on the following morning, will not be sufficient ; 

 for it is possible that he might have caught cold by change of stabling. 

 If he is lame, it must be proved to arise from a cause that existed be- 

 fore the animal was in the purchaser's possession. No price will imply 

 a warranty, or be equivalent to one ; there must be an express warranty. 

 A fraud must be proved in the seller, in order that the buyer may be 

 enabled to return the horse or maintain an action for the price. The 

 warranty should be given at the time of sale. A warranty, or a promise 

 to warrant the horse given at any period antecedent to the sale, is invalid, 

 for horse-flesh is a very perishable commodity, and the constitution and 

 usefulness of the animal may undergo a considerable change in the 

 space of a few days. A warranty after the sale is invalid, for it is given 

 without any legal consideration. In order to complete the purchase, 

 there must be a transfer of the animal, or a memorandum of agreement, 

 or the payment of the earnest-money. The least sum will suffice for 

 earnest. Xo verbal promise to buy or to sell is binding without one of 

 these. The moment either of these is effected, the legal transfer of prop- 

 erty or delivery is made, and, whatever may happen to the horse, the 

 seller retains, or is entitled to the money. If the purchaser exercises 

 any act of ownership, by using the animal without leave of the vender, 

 or by having any operation performed, or any medicine given to liim, he 

 makes him his own. The warranty of a servant is considered to be 

 binding on the master. 



If the horse should be afterward discovered to have been unsound at 

 the time of warranty, the buyer may tender a return of it, and, if it be 

 not taken back, may bring his action for the price ; but the seller is not 

 bound to rescind the contract, unless he has agreed so to do. 



Although there is no legal compulsion to give immediate notice to tlie 

 seller of the discovered unsoundness, it will be better to have it done. 



