464 THE HORSE. 



In all large towns there are men of some character and standing 

 who may be selected for this purpose; and in London, Dublin, 

 Edinburgh, Birmingham, Liverpool, Cheltenham, and Leamington, 

 there are repositories, where horses are sold by auction on stated 

 days. These auction-marts save the vendor from all responsibility, 

 whether pecuniary or moral, unless a warranty is given, either of 

 soundness or freedom from vice, and then the stipulation only lasts 

 for forty-eight hours. If the horse is returned within that time, 

 accompanied by a certificate of unsoundness or vice, the auctioneer 

 must take him back, and return the purchase-money, unless he is 

 prepared to dispute the evidence which is forwarded to him. 

 Under ordinary warranties there is no limitation of the time to 

 which they shall extend, and a horse warranted sound may be re- 

 turned at any subsequent time if the purchaser can prove that he 

 was unsound at the time of sale. But the lapse of several weeks 

 or months without doing so is generally considered to be a strong 

 argument that the purchaser did not consider the animal to be un- 

 sound until he gave notice to the vendor ; and this is stroug pre- 

 sumptive evidence that the unsoundness did not exist. 



The definition of unsoundness is, " the existence of dis- 

 ease or alteration of structure which does or will impair the horse's 

 natural usefulness." Vice also may be defined, on a similar prin- 

 ciple, as '" the prevalence of a habit which interferes with the 

 horse's natural usefulness." But these definitions must be taken 

 with some modifications, for there is not one horse in a hundred 

 which does not possess some disease or vice likely to impair his 

 general usefulness to some slight extent ; indeed, the proportion of 

 strictly sound horses may be considered to be much smaller even 

 than this. A bad feeder is so generally from a disordered state of 

 stomach, and such a horse cannot stand work like one which will 

 consume double the quantity of corn, yet he would not be consid- 

 ered unsound ; nor would a horse be returnable as vicious if he 

 showed the usual symptoms of being " fresh," though they might 

 impair his usefulness in carrying a timid rider. But subject to 

 such modifications, the above definitions may be accepted as suf- 

 ficient to make intelligible the terms, Unsoundness and Vice. 



The following diseases and accidents are generally consid- 

 ered not to render their possessors unsound : — 



Bog spavin, in a slight degree only. 



A broken knee, unless the joint is injured so as to impair its 

 functions, is not considered to be unsoundness. 



Capped hocks and elbows do not produce any lameness, nor 

 do they in any way interfere with the action of the joints to which 

 they are adjacent. 



Contraction op the foot is no evidence of disease, and, taken 

 by itself, is not sufficient to prove it to be unsound. 



