218 INJURIES TO ANIMALS ON HIGHWAYS. 



the question arises how far this record presents such a case. 

 It will not do to apply any far-fetched and unreasonable rule 

 in such cases. ... It is customary in all towns to allow 

 ditches to be dug and building materials of all kinds and 

 colors to be piled up and kept for considerable periods in the 

 body of the street. . . . The use of streets for such purposes 

 is too common to justify the owners of horses to assume it 

 will not be allowed, and they should be prepared to guard 

 against their animals' freaks and fears of such ordinary ap- 

 pearances." ^"^ 



Where a horse took fright at a log at the side of a narrow 

 road and, when struck with a whip, jumped down a bank, it 

 was held that the proximate cause of the injury was not the 

 narrowness of the way and that the township was not liable.^"* 

 But it is- otherwise where the object at which the horse takes 

 fright is a defect in the travelled part of the road.^"^ 



Where a bridge was without railings so that the horses 

 could see the water and one of them became frightened and 

 backed off, the court below directed a verdict for the defend- 

 ant on the ground that the want of barriers was not the prox- 

 imate cause of the loss. This was held to be erroneous, as 

 the question of proximate cause was for the jury. The ques- 

 tion of the city's negligence depended on whether it was 

 reasonable to suppose horses of ordinary gentleness would 

 take fright and back and whether ordinary care would have 

 dictated placing barriers in consequence.^"* 



In Maine, it was held in an early case that where a horse 

 was frightened by the appearance of an ordinary repair of the 

 highway, the town was not liable. "It is not to be expected 



'" Agnew V. Corunna, 55 Mich. 428. 



'"^ Beall V. Athens Tp., 81 Mich. 536. So, a city is not liable for in- 

 juries resulting from the fright of a horse at a trench being excavated 

 for the purpose of laying water-pipes; it is not bound, where sufficient 

 room to pass is left, to close the street or erect barriers along the trench 

 during the daytime: O'Rourke v. Monroe, g8 id. 520. 



'™ Simons v. Casco Tp., 105 Mich. 588. 



"" Ross V. Ionia Tp., 104 Mich. 320. 



