410 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 



ever high, not being legally held to be any guaranty of the 

 soundness of the animal ; and any thing that might transpire be- 

 tween seller and buyer, implying warranty, being worth nothing 

 without proof, which, being procured, would render the transac- 

 tion, in law, tantamount to an express warranty. A general war- 

 ranty extends to all defects and faults known and unknown to the 

 seller ; but a special warranty is confined in its operation to the 

 parts or particulars specifically pointed out. A horse may be 

 warranted of such an age ; or, having some defect visible upon 

 his limbs, such as a spavin, or a curb, or a fired leg, of which he 

 does not go lame at the time, that defect may be specified, and the 

 horse warranted not (within any reasonable or prescribed period) 

 to become lame in consequence of it. A general warranty, how- 

 ever, affords no protection against such defects as are 'plain and 

 obvious ' to every body, and, consequently, to the purchaser ; no 

 more than a special warranty does against any which are not in- 

 cluded or named in the specification. ' But if, on the sale of a 

 horse, the seller agree to deliver it sound and free from blemish 

 at the expiration of a specified period, the warranty is broken by 

 a fault in the horse when delivered, although such defect was obvi- 

 ous at the time of sale ; and as some splints cause lameness and 

 others do not, a splint is not one of those plain defects against 

 which a warranty will not indemnify ; and when a seller warrants 

 a horse sound at the time of sale, and the horse afterwards be- 

 comes lame from the effects of a splint, visible when the horse 

 was bought, it is certain that the warranty is broken.' This rule 

 will apply to spavin, or to curb, or to windgall, or, in fact, to any 

 other defect ' visible at the time of sale/ For all warranties can 

 only undertake for the animal's qualifications at the time of sale : 

 none can extend to any subsequent period unless there be a 

 special clause ' to deliver the horse free from blemish/ and that 

 delivery be by mutual agreement delayed.* 



" The form in which a receipt including warranty is generally 

 written : — 



" ' Received, the 16th of July, 1845, of A. B., Esquire, the sum 

 of ninety pounds, for a gray gelding (stallion or mare) warranted 

 sound, and quiet to ride and drive.' 



* Tomlm's Law Dictionary, 1838. 



