CAUSES OF UNSOUNDNESS. 99 



big joints. If a horse has been recently purchased, 

 say, within a fortnight, and the buyer given a 

 " general warranty " that the animal was sound, 

 but he subsequently finds this to be incorrect, 

 there ought not to be much difficulty in substan- 

 tiating a claim against the vendor. The presence 

 of a bony enlargement in this situation cannot 

 arise— in the writer's opinion— under, at least, 

 three weeks, though, more probably, months are 

 occupied in its formation. Diseases of this nature 

 are commonest amongst the heavier classes of 

 horses. 



The Foot. 



It is a well-estabUshed maxim, " No foot, no 

 horse," and a buyer cannot adhere too closely to 

 the value of this remark. The feet, so to speak, 

 constitute the foundation stone, and, as the diseases 

 are numerous and the defects of conformation 

 equally so, it behoves the intending purchaser to 

 make a critical inspection of the feet before con- 

 cluding negotiations. Both light and heavy horses 

 are equally subject to diseases of the feet, but horses 

 working in towns are more subject to them than 

 those that work on soft ground, or, at any rate, 

 where the roads are not particularly hard. A 



7* 



