26 ON SOUNDNESS. 



actual custom, and decisions by various courts, regards a 

 lame horse as an unsound one. 



Megiums are considered unsoundness, for under this 

 somewhat obscure name we have vertigo, apoplexy, con- 

 vulsions from various causes, etc.; but no matter what 

 may be the actual nature of the disease, as megrims, it is 

 an unsoundness, as it is a disease, whether it be caused 

 from a fullness of the blood-vessels of the brain, or by 

 water in its ventricles or cavities, or from a rupture of a 

 small blood-vessel — they are all dangerous in their action, 

 and a horse once attacked is predisposed to a second, 

 a third, and repeated attacks, endangering the life of his 

 driver the entire time he is being used, and, as Mr. Youatt 

 says: ''That a horse that has had a second attack is 

 never to be trusted." 



Neueotomy is to be considered as unsoundness, as un- 

 soundness by us means any defect in (or absence of) any 

 vital portion of the animal's structure, so as to render him 

 liable at any time to suffer from the want of it, unless an 

 argument can be established that nature gave the nerve 

 for no use whatever, which could not be very well done. 

 A horse may stand work well after the operation, but from 

 the want of that nervous influence, various troubles might 

 arise, and render the animal unfit for use. Chief-Justice 

 Best held that a horse having had the operation of neurot- 

 omy performed on him, is an unsound horse; and Mr. 

 Youatt says, in his opinion, there cannot be any doubt 

 about the matter. 



Ossification of the lateral cartilages is considered as 

 unsoundness, as it interferes with the natural expansion of 

 the foot, and in horses of quick work, almost universally 

 produces lameness. Says Mr. Youatt, this is absolutely a 

 serious disease, involving, in many instances, the pedal 



