482 HORSE-DEALING. 



warranted a horse to be sound every where except 

 a leg on which he had had a kick, the Court of 

 King's Bench held it to be a qualified, and not a 

 general warranty. With respect to a general war- 

 ranty, the law is thus laid down by Lord Ellen- 

 borough, before whom bv far the neatest number 

 of important cases relating to horses have been 

 tried ; and who, in addition to his great legal ac- 

 quirements, had a better practical knowledge of the 

 animal (his Lordship was celebrated for his excel- 

 lent horses,) than any judge of past or present 

 times : — " If a horse be affected by any malady,"' 

 said his Lordship, " which renders him less ser- 

 viceable for a permanency, I have no doubt that 

 it is unsoundness.'' Again : — " I have always 

 held, and now hold, that a warranty of sound- 

 ness is broken, if the animal, at the time of the 

 sale, had any infirmity upon him which rendered 

 him less fit for present service. It is not neces- 

 sar}-- that the disorder should be permanent or 

 incurable." It is asserted, that these doctrines, so 

 concisely expounded by Lord EUenborough, went 

 far to check the indiscriminate use of the general 

 warranty which formerly prevailed and led to so 

 much litigation — substituting the qualified war- 

 ranty in its place, where any is required — as few 

 horses can stand the test of a general warranty, of 

 '-' sound wind and limb, and quite free from ble- 

 mishes." 



With respect to the length of time to which a 

 warranty shall extend, there does not appear to be 

 any general rule on the subject, and few persons 



