394 UNSOUNDNESS. 



infimiity upon him which renders him less fit for present service. It is not necessary 

 that the disorder shouhl be permanent or incurable. W hile a horse has a cough he 

 is unsound, although it may either be temporary or may prove mortal. The horse in 

 question having been lame at the time of sale, when he was warranted to be sound, 

 his condition subsequently is no defence to the action."* The decisions of Mr. 

 Baron Parke, already referred to, confirm this doctrine. 



Neurotomy. — A question has arisen how far a liorse that has undergone the opera- 

 tion of tiie division of the nerve of the leg (see p. Ill), and has recovered from the 

 lameness witli which he was before affected, and stands Lis work well, may be con . 

 sidered to be sound. Chief .lustice Best held such a horse to be unsound, and in our 

 opinion there camiot be a doubt about the matter. The operation of neurotomy does 

 not remove the disease causing the lameness, but only tlie sensation of pain. A horse 

 on whom this operation has been performed may be improved by it — may cease to be 

 lame — may go well for many years ; but there is no certainty of this, and he is unsound, 

 "within our definition, unless nature gave the nerve for no useful purpose. 



Ossification ok the lateral cartilages constitutes unsoundness, as interfering 

 ■with the natural expansion of the foot, and, in horses of quick work, almost invariably 

 producing lameness. 



PuMicED-FooT. — When the union between the horny and sensible lamina"', or little 

 plates of the foot (see p. 304), is weakened, and the coflTin-bone is let down, and 

 presses upon the sole, and the sole yields to this unnatural weight, and becomes 

 rounded, and is brougiit in contact with the ground, and is bruised and injured, that 

 horse nmst be unsound, and unsound for ever, because there are no means by which 

 we can raise the coftin-bone again into its place. 



QuiDDiNG. — If the mastication of the food gives pain to the animal, in consequence 

 of soreness of the mouth or throat, he will drop it before it is perfectly chewed. This, 

 as an indication of disease, constitutes unsoundness. Quidding sometimes arises from 

 irregularity in the teeth, which wound the cheek with their sharp edges ; or a protrud- 

 ing tootli renders it impossible for the horse to close his jaws so as to chew his food 

 thorouglily. Quidding is unsoundness for the time; but tlie unsoundness will cease 

 when the teeth are j)rcperly filed, or the soreness or other cause of this imperfect 

 chewing removed. 



QuiTTOR is manifestly unsoundness. 



Ring-bone. — Although when the bony tumour is small, and on one side only, there 

 is little or no lameness — and there are a few instances in which a horse with ring- 

 bone has worked for many years without its return — yet from the action of the foot, 

 and the stress upon the part, the inflammation and the formation of bone may acquire 

 a tendency to spread so rapidly, that we must pronounce the slightest enlargement of 

 the pasterns, or around the coronet, to be a cause of unsoundness. 



Sandcrack is manifestly unsoundness. It may, however, occur without the slight- 

 est warning, and no horse can be rejected on account of a sandcrack that has sprung 

 after purchase. Its usual cause is too great brittleness of the crust of the lioof ; but 

 there is no infallible method of detecting this, or the degree in which it must exist in 

 order to constitute unsoundness. When the horn round the bottom of the foot has 

 chipped off so much that only a skilful smith can fasten the slioe without pricking the 

 horse, or even when there is a tendency in the horn to chip and break in a much less 

 degree than this, the horse is unsound, for this brittleness of the crust is a disease of 

 the part, or it is such an altered structure of it as to interfere materially with the use- 

 fulness of the animal. 



Spavin. — Cone spavin, comprehending in its largest sense every bon)' tumour tn 

 the hock, is not necessarily unsoundness. If the tumour afitcts in the slightest degree 

 the action of the horse, it is unsoundness; — even if it does not, it is seldom safe to 

 pronounce it otherwise than unsoundness. But it may possibly be (like splint in the 

 fore-leg) so situated as to have no tendency to affect the action. A veterinary surgeei.' 

 consulted on the purchase will not always reject a horse because cf such a tumour. 

 His evidence on a question of soundness will depend on the fiicts. The situation and 

 history of the tumour may lie such as to enable him to give a decisive opinion in a 

 horse going sound, but not often. 



Bog or Blood Spavin is unsoundness, because, although it may not bo prcduciivti 



* 4 Campbell, 251, Elton v. Brogden. 



