ON SOUNDNESS. 17 



equitable adjudication appears to be, as in the case of dis- 

 ease, to declare that any of them constitutes unsoundness 

 that is probable or certain to give rise, on work, to lame- 

 ness ; but then we shall experience difQculty, in some of 

 the cases, in drawing the line between actual lameness 

 and natural failing or weakness. A horse foaled with evi- 

 dent deficiency of physical power, partial or general, can 

 hardly be called unsound; though should he have that 

 about him which renders it likely he will, when put to 

 work, become actually lame, he ought, assuredly, be pro- 

 nounced prosx:)ectively so. Cutting (as striking one foot 

 against its fellow leg is called), arise from whatever cause 

 it may, is apt to produce occasional lameness, and when it 

 does so is fairly regarded as a species of prospective un- 

 soundness. Springhalt is action so unnatural that some 

 do not hesitate to affirm it to be a species of unsoundness, 

 though it is a well-known fact that many horses so affected 

 will do the same amount of work as it is reasonable to 

 suppose they would or could do were they free from it. 

 After all, as the foregoing observations will abundantly 

 testify, a good deal in the decisions between soundness 

 and unsoundness must be left to the skill and judgment of 

 the professional man ; he alone can unriddle the true na- 

 ture of the case, and form a just estimate of the proba- 

 bilities of lameness; and if he be but trustworthy and 

 honest in his opinions, he is, beyond question, the prefera- 

 ble authority in such cases of appeal for advice. 



When ^ve, as men acquainted with the animal economy, 

 consider the multiplicity of evils even quadruped flesh is 

 heir to, and reflect in how many ways its health and action 

 may become impaired, and how graduated down those im- 

 pairments may be into states of indisputable soundness, we 

 have no right to feel surprised at the intricacy in which we 



