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that every horse is sound that is not diseased, or 

 menaced with disease, to a degree that incapa- 

 citates him for fair and serviceable exertion in that 

 labour for which he is sold. A veterinary sur- 

 geon will declare a horse unsound, that has any 

 symptoms of past, present, or future infirmity. 

 A dealer, or his ostler, will vouch for the sound- 

 ness of every animal that can place one foot before 

 the other, or manage to stand upon all four. 

 Between these high authorities, especially if his 

 attorney has an eye to costs rather than character, 

 the unlucky purchaser is bewildered, and like all 

 men in that predicament, commits one blunder 

 that leads to a second, till he is lost in a labyrinth 

 of squabbling, litigation, and expense: consohng 

 himself eventually with the comfortable conviction 

 that all lawyers, farriers, and dealers, are rogues 

 alike ; beleaguered together to swindle him out 

 of his money, and make dupes of honest men ! 

 The proportion of knaves among them is large 

 certainly: but very little reflection will satisfy a 

 reasonable man, that in most cases he can only 

 have himself to blame. 



My first advice is not to be too prompt in re- 

 turning a defective horse. Shght faults, or even 

 doubtful indications of disease, should not be con- 

 clusive. No horse is without a fault of some kind, 



