Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1891-07-23
soUNDNEss IN HORSES.
Why the Ordinary Warranty Has AbsO-
Iutely No Value.

Why the Ordinary Warranty Has Abso-
Iutely No Value.
Who can answer? One authority has
said that when applied to horses
Sound" means perfect" but this
definition has been overthrown, for
there Is scarcely perfect horse in ex-
istence. The most slxillful veterinary
surgeon cannot many times tell
whether a horse is sound or not. The
internal organs are hidden from view,
and symptoms OF their affections are
not always clear and plain. The or
gans Of respiration vary in different
animals under different conditions: and
any apparent abnormal respiration, for
instance, might in one case indicate
disease and in another not, even
though the apparent or real abnormal
respiratiOns were exactly alike. SINH
lar undecisive conditions may prevail
IL the osseous anatomy. No two horses
are alike IN their osseous develop
ments, hence arise those strange anom-
allies in limbs and joints about which
experts are so prone to differ in opin-
ion as TO the presence or absence of
disease. The hooks, for instance, pre-
sent such a variety in conformation,
and in some instances such unusual de-
yelopment of bony structure as to
render correct diagnosis a matter of
the greatest uncertainty If the ex-
traordinary osseous development is con-
genital, then so far as this point is con-
cerned the animal is sound, but other
wise not. Not knowing the animal
from birth up, no one could tell
whether he were sound or not
There are several different confor-
nations of horses and gaits in travel
that often indicate unsoundness in some
respect when none exists. A certain
construction of the rump, when exist
ing in an exaggerated form, imparts to
the action behind the appearance of
lameness in one hind limb when the
horse goes from you and in the other
when he approaches. A slight inclina-
ton inward of one fore foot conveys
the impression of 1ameness in the op-
posite limb, and this inclination may
be caused by improper shoeing. Straight
shoulders and upright action tend to
the belief of lamoness in both fore legs.
The hind legs set widely apart occasion
oscillation of the body, and a sense of
lameness is melted as affecting both
fore limbs. Sometimes the smith in
shooting has ''pricked" both fore feet,
and in consequence when the animal
moves he appears "stif in front. " or
'foundered." So often disease exists
when there are no evidences of it, and
so frequently does disease not exist
when there is apparent evidence of 1t,
that, unless evidences are clear and be-
yond dispute, it is precarious to express
a judgment.
A piece of machinery may be taken
apart and examined, and an expert can
tell whether it is sound or not; physi-
clan could not tell half the time
whether a person is sick or not if the
patient would keep his mouth shut
he must get his ''cue" from the sick
one himself; but with dumb animals
they cannot be taken apart and be ex-
amined, piece by piece, nor can they
tell whether or how they are sick or
unsound, hence the difficulty many
times TO tell whether disease exists or
not. A second authority, in defining
''soundness," says: IF the disease is
not of such nature as to impair the
natural usefulness Of the animal for
the purposes for which he is used it
will not amount to an unsoundness."
A third authority states similarly as fol-
lows: eff a horse is purchased to be
used in given way the word sound
means that the animal is useful for that
purpose; and unsound means that he
at the time is affected with something
which will have the effect of impairing
that use. In large majority Of cases
horse warranty is not worth more
than a snap of the finger Galen
Wilson, in Horseman.