236 
VETERINARY JURISPRUDENCE. 
ever slight in their character, likely to interfere with the natural usefulness 
of the horse, and therefore productive of unsoundness, and they always re- 
jected such animals as unsound on examination. In consequence of the 
defendant’s refusal to take her back the mare was sent to livery at Oswestry, 
where she was ultimately sold by auction in the fair on the 6th of January 
for the sum of £33, Mr. Preece’s clerk (Mr. Rowley) becoming the pur- 
chaser. 
At t his stage of the case the defendant expressed a strong desire that the 
jury should be afforded an opportunity of examining the mare’s feet for 
themselves, with a view of judging how far the descriptions of Mr. Hales 
and Mr. Crowe were borne out by present appearances — a proceeding which 
the advocate for the plaintiff strongly opposed, but the judge left it to the 
jury themselves to say whether or not they had any wish to do so. They 
preferred, however, to be guided, as they said, entirely by evidence. 
For the defence, it was shown that the mare was purchased by Mr. Preece, 
in October last, at the sale of Mr. Pocock, of Walsbach, near Bridgnorth, 
for the sum of £54, and the bailiff of that gentleman was called to show that 
she had been purchased by him from the breeder, at five years old, and had 
been in Mr. Pocock’s possession a year and a half, during the whole of 
which time she was regularly worked, and was always perfectly sound. Mr. 
Preece himself said he had driven her regularly while in his possession, and 
he had never seen the slightest appearance of lameness or other unsound- 
ness, and knew nothing of thrushes, but believed her to be as good and 
sound an animal of her class as any in Englaud. Since she had come back 
into his possession he had again driven her, and she had gone perfectly sound. 
He considered her frogs to be quite well now, although they had not had 
the slightest medical treatment. Several other witnesses spoke to the like 
effect, and the groom who looked after Mr. Preece’s horses during the whole 
time he had the mare in his stable, said that there was no lameness, or 
thrush, or anything else the matter with her at that period. 
Mr, Litt, veterinary surgeon, of Shrewsbury, saw the mare at Bryngwyn, 
on the 26th of December, and found a slightly ragged condition of the frogs 
of the hind feet, with a little moisture exuding from the clefts of the frogs. 
This was so common an appearance in the hind feet of horses allowed to 
stand in moist dung or litter that he took little or no notice of it. For want 
of any other term he might call it thrush, but it was a different and much 
less serious affection than what was termed thrush in the fore feet. In the 
fore feet thrush was often connected with much more serious diseases, such 
as inflammation and contraction. He did not agree, however, with those 
who considered it a cause of contraction, but thought it rather a conse- 
quence. In the hind feet these were seldom of the slightest consequence, 
as they were very common indeed, though seldom noticed, and arose 
merely from exposure to dirt and wet, and were generally removeable by 
very moderate attention. In this case the horse had certainly never been 
destroyed, as had been stated, and was now quite perfect, although no treat- 
ment had been made beyond keeping 1 he feet clean and dry. Mr. Litt was 
further of opinion that so slight an ailment ought not to be esteemed an 
unsoundness. He had never seen the slightest sign of lameness in this 
mare’s hind feet — indeed such could not be, there was nothing to produce 
it. If such trivial things were to be held to constitute unsoundness, it 
would be difficult to find s sound horse at all, and the question of sound- 
ness was reduced to an absurdity. 
Mr. Dayus , veterinary surgeon, of Longnor, had also seen and examined 
the mare in question, and he took a similar view of the case to Mr. Litt, 
being of opinion that thrushes of this character are not sufficient to render 
a horse unsound. 
