Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1894-09-27
QUESTION AND ANSWER.
When Defective Foal Is Born, Who Pays
the Damages?

the Damages?
Question: bred my mare to stand
al 1 bred horse. When the colt was foal-
ca it was an imperfect one and would
have died had not doctored il. Will /
have to pay for it, or can collect dana
ages OF the owner for losing the use of
the mare?
Answer-There is no general rule Of
law or custom which will cover such
cases. but each one depends for answer
upon its own state of facts. The service
is made either with OF without a guar
antee. II without guarantee then, to
avoid payment of the service, it would
have to be shown conclusively that the
imperfect colt was due wholly to the
stallion. If it could be shown that the
stallion had been getting just such i'm
perfect colts, and that frequently, and
that the owner knew of this fault but
concealed the fact from the owner of
The mare, then the chances would be in
favor OF recovering damages from the
Etallioner for loss of the use of the
mare 1t would be an extreme case when
this could be done, however.
Ordinarily, without special contract,
the owner of the mare would have to
pay the service fee. The problem of
life' is one Of the apparently unsolya-
BILE myster1es-at least it is unsolved-
and if in the mating the stallion has
begotten foal that is as much as he is
required to do The strength, condition
and general health of the foal depend
almost wholly on the care given the
mare during the next 10 or / months,
and with this the stallioner has nothing
to do. He simply says: ''My stallion is
potent. The mare is brought The stall
lion proves his owners statements, and
the fee is due. "
On the other hand, many stallioners
take the view that they can gain more
friends for their horse by losing the
service where it does not result in actual
profit to the mare owners. In such cases
the guarantee is made that "the colt
shall stand and suck or no charge for
service. This rule is very frequently
adopted in farming communities, and
in effect the stallioner guarantees the
potency of his horse, the efficacy of his
service, the treatment by the owner
during the pregnancy of the mare and
the skill of the midwife He draws the
line only at the ills of colthood, but up
to the time the foal stands and sucks
the risk is the stallioner's Even in
case of this kind it is no more than the
duty of the owner of the mare to do all
he can to get the foal fairly started Oh
its life journey. If it is weakly, it is
more than probable that it is the result
of some improper treatment the mare
has received at his hands, and If a little
doctoring (the less the better usually
and good nursing will put the foal on
it's feet he should attend to it and pay
the Fee
If the foal is actually deformed or is
of such sickly disposition as to be
practically valueless, and if the mare
has produced strong foals by other
horses, then a plain, fair, straightfor
ward discussion of the matter with the
stallioner will in nine out of ten cases
result in IA mutually satisfactory adjust
ment. If not, the cheapest plan is to pay
the bill and then take the mares and the
neighbors' mares to another stallion the
next season. Another plan is lawsuit.
A calf worth So has been to the Iowa
supreme court three times, costing the
litigants over $4,000 Two real good
fighters could make a foal cost more
than that. Breeders Gazette.