SOUNDNESS AND UNSOUNDNESS. 487 



than it is found to do 2 The fact is, the seller or 

 his agent is generally asked the question, Is your 

 horse sound ? or, Do you believe him to be sound I — 

 and if answered in the affirmative by a person of 

 common veracity and respectability, it is in great 

 measure considered binding ; at least, a remon- 

 strance is sure to be made on the part of the pur- 

 chaser, if he has given any considerable price for 

 the horse, and he proves unsound, particularly if 

 the bargain has been a private one. In this case, 

 the matter in dispute is often submitted to a refer- 

 ence. An arbiter is appointed on each side, and 

 a third called in should they not be able to decide ; 

 and we consider this by much the best medium 

 for the arrangements of all disputes about horse- 

 flesh, and one in which justice is most likely to be 

 dealt out to each party. But we do not wonder at 

 a strong remonstrance being made against any 

 man's selling a horse he knows to be unsound, at 

 what may be called a sound price ; for, indepen- 

 dently of pecuniary loss and disappointment, a 

 dear bargain is considered a disagreeable reflection 

 on a man's judgment. 



We will now proceed to the most important part 

 of this subject, and state what constitutes a sound, 

 and what an unsound horse. Mr. Stewart, veteri- 

 nary surgeon, and Professor of Veterinary Surgery 

 in the Andersonian University, Glasgow, says, (Ad- 

 mce to Purchasers of Horses^ p. 16,) " At first 

 view, it seems easy enough to define a sound horse. 

 It may be said a horse is sound when every part 

 of him is in perfect health ; but, upon farther con- 



