PURCHASE AND SALE OF HORSES. 525 



the seller lias a right to expect that the horse shall be returned to him ib 

 the same state he was wheu sold, and not by any means diminished in 

 value ; for if a person keeps a warranted article for any length of time 

 after discovering its defects, and when he returns it, it is in a worse state 

 than it would have been if retui-ned immediately after such discovery, I 

 think the party can have no defence to an action for the price of the ar- 

 ticle on the ground of non-compHance with the warranty, but must be left 

 to his action on the warranty to recover the difference in the value of the 

 ai'ticle warranted and its value when sold.' 



Wliere there is no warranty, an action may be brought on the ground of 

 fraud ; but this is very difficult to be maintained, and not often hazarded. 

 It Avill be necessary to prove that the dealer knew the defect, and that the 

 purchaser was imposed upon by his false representation, or other fraudu- 

 lent means. If the defect was evident to every eye, the purchaser has no 

 remedy — he should have taken more care ; but if a warranty was given, that 

 extends to all unsoundness, palpable or concealed. Although a person should 

 ignorantly or carelessly buy a blind horse, warranted sound, he may reject it 

 — the warranty is his guard, and prevents him from so closely examining 

 the horse as he othervpise would have done ; but if he buys a bhnd horse, 

 thinking him to be sound, and without a warranty, he has no remedy. 

 Every one ought to exercise common circumspection and common sense. 



A man should have a more perfect knowledge of horses than falls to the 

 lot of most, and a perfect knowledge of the vendor too, who ventures to 

 buy a horse without a warranty. 



If a person buys a horse warranted sound, and discovering no defect in 

 him, and, relying on the warranty, re-sells Mm, and the unsoundness is 

 discovered by the second purchaser, and the horse returned to the first pur- 

 chaser, or an action commenced against him, he has his claim on the first 

 seller, and may demand of him not only the price of the horse, or the diffe- 

 rence in value, but every expense that may have been incurred. 



Absolute exchanges, of one horse for another, or a sum of money being 

 paid in addition by one of the parties, stand on the same ground as simple 

 sales. If there is a warranty on either side, and that is broken, an action 

 may be maintained : if there be no warranty, deceit must be proved. 



The trial of horses on sale often leads to disputes. The law is perfectly 

 clear, but the application of it, as in other matters connected with horse- 

 flesh, attended with glorious uncertainty. The intended purchaser is only 

 liable for damage done to the horse through his own misconduct. The seller 

 may put what restriction he chooses on the trial, and takes the risk of 

 all accidents in the fair use of the horse within such restrictions. 



If a horse from a dealer's stable is galloped far and fast, it is probable 

 that he will soon show distress ; and if he is pushed farther, inflammation 

 and death may ensue. The dealer rarely gets recompensed for this ; nor 

 ouo-ht he, as he knows the unfitness of his horse, and may thank himself 

 for permitting such a trial ; and if it should occur soon after the sale, he 

 runs the risk of having the horse retuimed, or of an action for its price. 



In this, too, he is not much to be pitied. The mischievous and fraudulent 

 practice of dealers, especially in London, of giving their horses, by over- 

 feedino-, a false appearance of muscular substance, leads to the ruin of many 

 a valuable animal. It would be a useful lesson to have to contest in an 

 action or two the question "whether a horse overloaded with fat can be 

 otherwise than in a state of disease, and consequently unsound. 



It is proper, however, to put a limit to what has been too fi'equently 

 asserted from the bench, that a horse warranted sound must be taken as 

 fit for immediate use, and capable of being immediately put to any fair 

 work the owner chooses. A hunter honestly warranted sound is certainly 



