70 
DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
of structure that impairs, or is likely to impair, his natural usefulness. 
The horse is unsound that labors under disease, or has some alteration 
of structure which does interfere, or is likely to interfere, with his natural 
usefulness. The term “ natural usefulness ” must be borne in mind. One 
horse may possess great speed, but is soon knocked up ; another will 
work all day, but cannot be got beyond a snail’s pace : a third with a 
heavy forehand is liable to stumble, and is continually putting to haz- 
ard the neck of his rider ; another, with an irritable constitution and a 
loose, washy form, loses his appetite and begins to scour if a little extra 
work is exacted from him. The term unsoundness must not be applied 
to either of these ; it would be opening far too widely a door to dispu- 
tation and endless wrangling. The buyer can discern, or ought to 
know, whether the form of the horse is that which will render him 
likely to suit his purpose, and he should try him sufficiently to ascer- 
tain his natural strength, endurance, and manner of going. Unsound- 
ness, we repeat, has reference only to disease, or to that alteration of 
structure which is connected with, or will produce disease, and lessen 
the usefulness of the animal. 
These principles will be best illustrated by a brief consideration of 
the usually supposed appearances or causes of unsoundness. 
Broken Knees certainly do not constitute unsoundness, after the 
wounds are healed, unless they interfere with the action of the joint , 
for the horse may have fallen from mere accident, or through the fault 
of the rider, without the slightest damage more than the blemish. No 
person, however, would buy a horse with broken knees, until he has 
thoroughly tried him, and satisfied himself as to his form and action. 
Capped Hocks maybe produced by lying on an unevenly paved stable, 
with a scanty supply of litter, or by kicking generally, in neither of 
which cases would they constitute unsoundness, although in the latter 
they would be an indication of vice ; but, in the majority of instances, 
they are the consequence of sprain, or of latent injury of the hock, 
and" accompanied by enlargement of it, and would constitute unsound- 
ness. A special warranty should always be taken against capped 
Hocks. 
Contraction is a considerable deviation from the natural form of the 
foot, but not necessarily constituting unsoundness. It requires, how- 
ever, a most careful examination on the part of the purchaser or veteri- 
nary surgeon, in order to ascertain that there is no heat about the quar- 
ter, or ossification of the cartilage — that the frog, although diminished 
in size, is not diseased — that the horse does not step short and go as if 
the foot were tender, and that there is not the slightest trace of lame- 
ness. Unless these circumstances, or some of them, are detected, a 
horse must not be pronounced to be unsound because his feet are con- 
tracted ; for many horses with strangely contracted feet do not suffer at 
all in their action. A special warranty, however, should be required 
where the feet are at all contracted. 
Corns manifestly constitute unsoundness. The portion of the foot in 
which bad corns are situated, will not bear the ordinary pressure of the 
shoe ; and accidental additional pressure from the growing down of the 
horn, or the introduction of dirt or gravel, will cause serious lameness. 
