Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1894-11-23
QUESTION AND ANSWER.
when a Defective EoaI Il Born, Who Pays
tho Damages?

Question: bred M mare TO stand.
nd bred horse. When the colt was foal-
ed, il was IN imperfect one and would
have died had not doctorcd it. viii l
have to pay for it, or can / collect dam
ages Of the owner for losing the use Of
the mare?
Answcr-Thcro is no general rule OF
law or custom which will cover such
eases, but each one depends for answer
upon IT., own state Of facts. The service
is made either with or without guar
antcc. If without a guarantee, then, to
avoid payment Of the service, it would
have 10 hp shown conclusively that the
imperfect colt was due wholly 20 the
station. If ii c9ald be shown that tho
stallion had been getting Just such inn
perfect colts, and that frequently, and
that the owner knew Of this fault. but
concealed the fact from the owner Of
the u,Gro, then the chances would be in
favor Of recovering damages from the
stallioncr for loss Of the use of the
mare. Itwould be an extreme case when
this could h. done, however.
ordinarily. without special contract,
the owner Of tho mare would have to
pay the service fee. The problem Of
life is cra Cf tie apparently unsolva-
BILE mys;erics-&t least it is unsolved-
and if in the mating the stallion has
bogotton fol that is as much rs he Is
required 10 d.. The strength, condition
and general hoaith Of the foal depend
almost wholly on the care given the
mare durinG TIC next 10 or | / months,
aud with is the stalioner has nothing
to do. lie simply says: My stallion Is
potent. The llGrc is brought The stall.
lion proves his owners statements, and
the fee is Gdc.
On tho other hand, many stallioncrs
take the view that they can gain more
friends for their horse by losing the
service whore it does rot result III actual
profit to the mare owners. In such cases
the guarantee Is made that "the colt
shall stand and suck or no charge foI
service. " This rule is very frequently
adopted in tarHing communities, and
in effect the stallionor guarantees the
potency Of his horse the efficacy of his
service, the treatment by the owner
during the pregnancy Of the mare and
the sill Of the midwife. He draws the
line olly at the ills of colthood, but up
10 tho time tho foal stands and sucks
tho iii; Is the stallioncr's. Even in a
CO Of this kind it Is 10 more than the
duty Cf the owner e the marc 70 do all
he can to e,t the foal fairly started on
its life journey If il is weakly, it is
moro than probable that it is the result
Of sOIc improper treatment the mare
has received al his hands, and if little
doctoring the less the better usually
and good nursing will put the foal on
its feet he should attend TO it and pay
the fee.
If the foal is actually deformed or i
of such sickly deposition as to be
practically valueless, and # the mare
has produced strong foals by other
horses, then plain, fair, straightfor
ward discussion Of the matter with the
stallioncr Will in nine out Of ten cases
result in mutually satisfactory adjust.
mcnt. If not, the cheapest plan i to pay
the bill and then take the mares and the
ncighbors' mares TO another stallion the
next season Another plan is . lawsuit
4 calf worth SO has been 10 the lows
supreme court three times, costing the
litigarts over s., coo Two real good
fighters could make a foal cost more
than that. Breeders Gazette