523 
THE VETEEINARIAN, JULY 1, 1869. 
Xe quid falsi dicere audeat, ne quid veri non audeat.— Ciceeo. 
CERTIFICATES OF SOUNDNESS OF HORSES ENTERED 
FOR EXHIBITION. 
It is fair to presume that the managers of live-stock exhibi¬ 
tions are in earnest when they require that horses which 
are sent to compete for prizes shall be certified sound by a 
veterinary surgeon previous to being entered on the list. 
The requirement is perfectly reasonable, hut while we are 
ready to contend for the justice of the principle of admit¬ 
ting only sound animals, and are perfectly satisfied of the 
good faith of those who established the rule, we are not 
so certain that their wishes are always respected, or their 
intentions understood either by exhibitors or by those 
veterinary surgeons who are in the habit of giving the 
required certificates of soundness. In our own experience 
it has happened that owners of horses have felt themselves 
much aggrieved by the refusal of a certificate, and have 
represented that the proceeding was merely a matter of form, 
as the horses would be examined again before a prize Avas 
awarded, and Ave have knoAvn instances Avhere the persistent 
refusal has given much offence, and the OAvner has gone to 
some less discriminating or less scrupulous member of the 
profession and obtained the document Avhich Avas necessary 
to enable him to enter his animal for the shoAv. Perhaps it 
is a natural Aveakness for the intending exhibitor or seller of 
a horse to hold an unbounded belief in the animal’s soundness, 
and to feel personally hurt by the expression of an opinion 
to the contrary. This, hoAvever, has nothing to do Avith the 
fact that the Avriter of a certificate of soundness is bound to 
state what he means AAnthout reference to any special pleas, 
Avhich may be advanced by the OAvner; and taking a more 
personal vieAv of the matter, it is not satisfactory to us to 
have often, in our official capacity, to disqualify animals as 
unsound, and then to he told that they Avere entered Avith 
a certificate from a qualified veterinary surgeon. 
I 
