PRACTICAL SOUNDNESS. 697 



of unsoundness." Hill, J. : " The true test is, whether the defect 

 complained of renders the horse less than reasonably fit for present 

 use; and it is immaterial, if there be such a defect, whether it be 

 congenital or of more recent occurrence." " I have always con- 

 sidered that a man who buys a horse warranted sound, must be 

 taken as buying for immediate use, and has a right to expect one 

 capable of that use, and of being immediately put to any fair work 

 the owner chooses " (Mr. Baron Parke in " Coates v. Stephens," 

 " Moody and Robinson's Reports," vol. 2, p. 158). 



Practical Soundness. 



The term, " practically sound," although it has no legal signifi- 

 cance, may be applied for convenience sake to a horse which is 

 capable of doing a fair amount of work, although he possesses one 

 or more defects which might constitute a breach of warranty, if a 

 warranty of soundness had been given. The defects in question 

 may be absolute unsoundnesses in themselves, or may be open to 

 opinion on that point. Thus, if a veterinary surgeon on examining 

 a horse, found that he had a thrush or curb, or had both of these 

 ailments at the same time, or had a slightly enlarged fetlock joint, 

 he might, very reasonably, state in his certificate, after mentioning 

 the defects which he had found, that the horse was " practically 

 sound ; " supposing that the thrush was not an aggravated one ; 

 that neither the back of the hock, nor the fetlock-joint, exhibited 

 any symptoms of recent inflammation ; and that the animal's action 

 was unimpaired. This expression, as we may see, is a very elastic 

 one ; is entirely a matter of individual opinion ; and when applied 

 to a horse, means that he is actually unsound, although to a modi- 

 fied extent. A few veterinary sm'geons, who, I am glad to say, 

 form an insignificantly small minority in the profession, use it to 

 save themselves, even if the horse they are examining fulfils all the 

 usual requirements; lest, perchance, he might reflect discredit on 

 them by developing, in the future, some form of unsoundness which 

 they, at the time, were unable to discern. It is evident that 

 if a man can find nothing in a horse which interferes, or is likely 

 to interfere, with its usefulness, he is conscientiously bound to 

 pass the animal sound, without making any selfish reservation ; and 

 that, if he shirks the responsibility of his position, he does wrong 

 in taking a fee for work he has not faithfully performed. As a 

 rule, the more experience a practitioner has had, the broader view 

 will he take about soundness in horses, few of which are free from 

 some trivial defect or the other, with which a person inclined to be 

 hypercritical, might not find serious fault. 



