392 UNSOUNDNESS. 



Cough. — ^This is a disease, and consequently unsoundness. However slight may 

 be its degree, and of whatever short standing- it may be, although it may sometimes 

 scarcely seem to interfere with the usefulness of the horse, yet a change of stabling, 

 or slight exposure to wet and cold, or the least over-exertion, may, at other times, 

 cause it to degenerate into many dangerous complaints. A horse, therefore, should 

 never he purchased with a cough upon him, without a special warranty ; or if — the 

 cough not being observed — he is purchased under a general warranty, that warranty 

 is thereby broken. It is not law, that a horse may be returned on breach of the war- 

 ranty. The seller is not bound to take him back, unless he has contracted so to do; 

 but he is liable in damages. Lord Ellenborough has completely decided this matter. 

 " I have always held," said he, " that a warranty of soundness is broken, if the ani- 

 mal, at the time of sale, had any infirmity upon him that rendered him less fit for 

 present service. It is not necessary that the disorder should be permanent or incura- 

 ble. While he has a cough, he is ungound, although that may either be temporary 

 or prove mortal."* 



Roaring, Wheezing, Whistling, High-blowing, and Grunting, being the result 

 of alteration of structure, or disease in some of the air-passages, and interfering with 

 the perfect freedom of breathing, especially when the horse is put on his speed, with- 

 out doubt constitute unsoundness. There are decisions to the contrary, which are 

 now universally admitted to be erroneous. Broken wind is still more decidedly 

 unsoundness. 



Crib-biting. — Although some learned judges have asserted that crib-biting is sim- 

 ply a trick or bad habit, it must be regarded as unsoundness. This unnatural sucking 

 in of the air must to a certain degree injure digestion. It must dispose to colic, and 

 so interfere with the strength, and usefulness, and health of the horse. Some crib- 

 biters are good goers, but they probably would have possessed more endurance had 

 they not acquired this habit; and it is a fact well established, that, as soon as a hors« 

 becomes a crib-biter, he, in nine cases out of ten, loses condition. He is not to th« 

 experienced eye the horse he was before. It may not lead on to strongly-marked dis- 

 ease, or it may rarely do so to any considerable degree ; but a horse that is morbidlj 

 deficient in condition must, to that extent, have his capability for extraordinary work 

 diminished, and so be brought within our definition of unsoundness. In its very early 

 stage it may be a mere trick — confirmed, it must have produced morbid deterioration. 

 The wear of the front teeth, and the occasional breaking of them, make a horse old 

 before his time, and sometimes render it difficult or almost impossible for him to graze, 

 when the state of the animal or the convenience of the owner requires that he should 

 be turned out. 



Curb constitutes unsoundness while it lasts, and perhaps while the swelling 

 remains, although the inflammation may have subsided ; for a horse that has once 

 thrown out a curb is, for a while at least, very liable to do so again, to get lame in 

 the same place on the slightest extra exertion ; or, at all events, he would there first 



* In deciding: on another case, the same judge said, " I have always held it that a cough 

 is a breach of the warranty. On that understanding I have always acted, and think it quite 

 clear." Tt was argued on the other hand that two-thirds of the horses in London had coughs, 

 yet still the judge maintained that the cough was a breach of warranty. When it was farther 

 argued that the horse had been hunted the day after the purchase, and the cough might have 

 been increased by this, tho reply was singular, but decisive. " There is no proof that lie 

 would have got well if he had not been hunted." This doctrine is confirmed by Parke, B., 

 in the first case cited in p. 391. 



In p. 194, it is very properly stated that roaring is unsoundness, because it impairs the func- 

 tion of respiration. This was not always, however, the law of the bench. " Lord Ellenbo- 

 rough," quoting from Sir .Tames Mansfield, says, " It has been held by very high authority 

 that roaring is not necessarily unsoundness, and I entirely concur in that opinion. If the horse 

 emits a loud noise, which is ofl'ensive to the ear, merely from a bad habit which he has con- 

 tracted, or from any ca\ise that does not interfere with his general health, or muscular powers, 

 he is sliU to be considered a sound horse. On the other hand, if the roaring proceeds from 

 any disease or organic infirmity, which renders him incapable of performing the usual func- 

 tions of a horse, then it does constitute unsoundness. 'I'he plaintifl" has not done enough ii 

 showing that this horse was a roarer. To prove a breaeh of the warranty he must go on to 

 show that the roaring was symptomatic of disease." These extracts are taken from a singu- 

 lar work, not always correct, yet from which much amusement, and instruction too, may be 

 derived — " The Adventures of a Gentleman in Search of a Horse, by Caveat Emptor." 



