UNSOUNDNESS. 491 



hard work, and now and then does produce lameness, the hock should be most 

 carefully examined, and there should be a special warranty against it. 



Thrush.— There are various cases on record of actions on account of thrushes 

 in horses, and the decisions have been much at variance, or perfectly contra- 

 dictory. Thrush has not been always considered by legal men as unsound- 

 ness. We however, decidedly so consider it ; as being a disease interfering and 

 likely to interfere with the usefulness of the horse. Thrush is inflammation of 

 the lower surface of the inner or sensible frog — and the secretion or throwing 

 out of pus — almost invariably accompanied by a slight degree of tenderness of 

 the frog itself, or of the heel a little above it, and, if neglected, leading to 

 diminution of the substance of the frog, and separation of the horn from the parts 

 beneath, and underrunning, and the production of fungus and canker, and, 

 ultimately, a diseased state of the foot, destructive of the present, and dangerous 

 to the future usefulness of the horse. 



Windoalls. — There are few horses perfectly free from windgalls, but they do 

 not interfere with the action of the fetlock, or cause lameness, except when they 

 are numerous or large. They constitute unsoundness only when they cause 

 lameness, or are so large and numerous as to render it likely that they will 

 cause it. 



In the purchase of a horse the buyer usually receives, embodied in the receipt, 

 what is termed a warranty. It should be thus expressed : — 



" Received of A. B. forty pounds for a grey mare, warranted only five years old, 

 sound, free from vice, and quiet to ride and drive. 



"£40 "CD." 



A receipt, including merely the word " warranted," extends only to sound- 

 ness, — " warranted sound" goes no farther; the age, freedom from vice, and quiet- 

 ness to ride and drive, should be especially named. This warranty comprises 

 every cause of unsoundness that can be detected, or that lurks in the constitution 

 at the time of sale, and to every vicious habit that the animal has hitherto 

 shown. To establish a breach of the warranty, and to be enabled to tender a 

 return of the horse and recover the difference of price, the purchaser must prove 

 that it was unsound or viciously disposed at the time of sale. In case of cough, 

 the horse must have been heard to cough immediately after, the purchase, or as he 

 was led home, or as soon as he had entered the stable of the purchaser. Coughing, 

 even on the following morning, will not be sufficient ; for it is possible that he 

 might have caught cold by change of stabling. If he is lame, it must be 

 proved to arise from a cause that existed before the animal was in the pur- 

 chaser's possession. No price will imply a warranty, or be equivalent to one ; 

 there must be an express warranty. A fraud must be proved in the seller, in 

 order that the buyer may be enabled to return the horse or maintain an action 

 for the price. The warranty should be given at the time of sale. A warranty, 

 or a promise to warrant the horse given at any period antecedent to the sale, is 

 invalid ; for horseflesh is a very perishable commodity, and the constitution and 

 usefulness of the animal may undergo a considerable change in the space of a few 

 days. A warranty after the sale is invalid, for it is given without any legal con- 

 sideration. In order to complete the purchase, there must be a transfer of the 

 animal, or a memorandum of agreement, or the payment of earnest-money. 

 The least sum will suffice for earnest. No verbal promise to buy or to sell is 

 binding without one of these. The moment either of these is effected, the 

 legal transfer of property or delivery is made, and whatever may happen to the 

 horse, the seller retains, or is entitled to the money. If the purchaser exercises 

 any act of ownership, by using the animal without leave of the vendor, or by 

 having any operation performed, or any medicines given to him, he 



