HOW TO BUY A HORSE. 411 



the muscles, and the defect will be more readily detected 

 when he is in motion. If any symptoms of lameness are 

 observable, pass the hand over the spot, and heat will be 

 found to exist in it, and it may be probably verified by the 

 smell of some liniment, which may have been applied. 



When examining a horse, never permit the dealer's man 

 to hold his head high, nor to place his fore feet on rising 

 ground ; because, while a horse stands in this position, the 

 defects (if he has any) of his fore legs will not be apparent ; 

 whereas if he stands with his feet upon level ground, if the 

 limbs have been shaken from hard work, they will exhibit a 

 tremulous appearance, and the knees will be more or less 

 bent, and the heels will not rest firmly on the ground, 

 as they ought to do. Horses that have been severely 

 worked, have the fetlocks of the hind legs bent and relaxed, 

 and the natural elasticity of the tendons and ligaments will 

 have departed. The horse that is groggy, when standing in 

 a quiescent state, will be found in a posture leaning over 

 the fore legs, the feet of which will be further under the 

 belly than the upper part of the leg, and the entire limb 

 forming a flat semicircle with the knee at the extreme poini 

 of the curve. 



In looking at the action of a horse, see that his fore feet 

 are lifted high, and that he completely clears the ground and 

 throws his legs out freely and lightly. This is especially 

 necessary in a saddle-horse. Horses with a short, confined 

 step, can never have good action, and are always disagree- 

 able to ride. In Avalking, the knee ought to be moderately 

 jjent, but only sufficiently so that he may fairly clear stones 

 and other objects which he may meet with on a road ; and 

 when the foot is set down, the sole should fall flat, so that 

 the toe does not first touch the ground. The legs should 

 be thrown straight out ; that is, the toes should neither be 



