HOW TO BUY A HORSE 385 



causes. If there is any fault here, there generally will 

 be a wasting of 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 semi-circle with the knee at the extreme point 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 disagreeable to ride. In 

 walking, the knee ought to be moderately bent, but 

 only sufficiently so that he may fairly clear stones and 

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



2 B 



