68 VICE. 



slipping off the head collar, tearing off the bandages, 

 or clothing, and wasting the hay, etc., bad habits. 

 They are certainly not vices, neither are they hkely 

 to be discovered before purchasing the animal. If 

 a man warranted a horse free from all faults, that 

 animal could be returned to the seller for having 

 any of these habits. To warrant a horse as being 

 free from all faults is a foohsh practice, and one 

 that should never be done, because it includes such 

 a wide range of equine imperfections that it may 

 lead the purchaser to seek redress through the 

 most trifling cause. When buying a horse, the 

 purchaser should always endeavour to get a war- 

 ranty against vice, in addition to a general warranty 

 as to its soundness, because a vicious horse may 

 be very much worse than an imsound one, and it 

 may be a difficult matter to prove, to the satisfaction 

 of the judge and jury, that the vice is intimately 

 associated with the animal's unsoundness. It is not 

 sufficient evidence to be able to show that the 

 animal bites or kicks, etc., but one must be able to 

 prove that such vices were present when he was in 

 the seller's possession, because so many horses 

 acquire vicious habits directly they pass into the 

 hands of strangers. Consequently, the seller can- 

 not justly be held liable. Strange surroundings, 



