518 OX SOUNDNESS, AND THE 



right to damages merely nominal. The term ' natural u,sefulncss ' must 

 be borne in mind. One horse may possess great speed, but is soon knocked 

 up ; another ■will work all day, but cannot be got beyond a snail's pace ; a 

 third with a heavy forehand is liable to stumble, and is continually putting 

 to hazard the neck of his rider ; another, with an irritable constitution 

 and a loose washy form, loses his appetite and begins to scour if a little 

 extra work is exacted from him. The term unsoundness mnst not be 

 appHed to either of these ; it would be opening far too widely a door to 

 disputation and endless wrangling. The buyer can discern, or ought to 

 know, whether the form of the horse is that which will render him likely 

 to suit his purpose, and he should try him siiflficiently to ascertain his 

 natural strength, endurance, and manner of going. Unsoundness, we 

 repeat, has reference only to disease, or to that alteration of structure 

 which is connected with, or will produce, disease, and lessen the usefulness 

 of the animal. 



The principles will be best illustrated by a brief consideration of the 

 usually supposed appearances or causes of unsoundness. 



Broken Knees certainly do not constitute unsoundness, after the wounds 

 are healed, unless they interfere with the action of the joint ; for the 

 horse may have fallen from mere accident, or through the fault of the 

 rider, without the slightest damage more than the blemish. No person, 

 however, would buy a horse with broken knees, until he had thoroughly 

 tried him, and satisfied himself as to his form and action. 



Capped Hocks may be produced by lying on an unevenly paved stable, 

 with a scanty supply of litter, or by kicking generally, in neither of which 

 cases would they constitute unsoundness, although in the latter they would 

 be an indication of vice ; but, in the majority of instances, they are the 

 consequence of sprain, or of latent injury of the hock, and, accompanied 

 by enlargement of it, would constitute unsoundness. A special warranty 

 should always be taken against capped hocks. 



Contraction is a considerable deviation from the natural form of the 

 foot, but not necessarily constituting unsoundness. It requires, however, 

 a most careful examination on the part of the purchaser or veterinary 

 surgeon, in order to ascertain that there is no heat about the quarter, or 

 ossification of the cartilage — that the frog, althoiigh diminished in size, is 

 not diseased — that the horse does not step short, and go as if the foot were 

 tender, and that there is not the slightest trace of lameness. Unless these 

 circumstances, or some of them, are detected, a horse must not be pro- 

 nounced to be unsound because his feet are contracted ; for many horses 

 Avith very contracted feet do not sufifer at all in their action, A special 

 warranty, however, should be required where the feet are at all con- 

 tracted. 



Corns manifestly constitute unsoundness. The portion of the foot in 

 which bad corns are situated will not bear the ordinary pressure of the 

 shoe ; and accidental additional pressure from the growing down of the 

 horn, or the introduction of dirt or gravel, vnll cause serious lameness. 

 They render it necessary to wear a thick and heavy shoe, or a bar shoe, in 

 order to protect the weakened and diseased part ; and they are very seldom 

 radically cured. There may be, however, and frequently is, a difference of 

 opinion, as to the actual existence or character of the corn. A veterinaiy 

 surgeon may consider it so shght and insignificant as not apparently to 

 injure the horse, and he pronounces the animal to be sound ; but he should 

 be cautious, for there are corns of every shade and degTce, from the slightest 

 degree to the most serious evil. They may be so slight and manageable as, 

 though ranging under the class of morbid alteration of structure, yet not 

 to diminish the natural usefulness of the horse in any degree. Slight 



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