IN SEARCH OF A HORSE. 127 



I will take this opportunity of making a remark 

 applicable to most cases of slight lameness. The 

 frequent exhibition of a horse during the day, when 

 the spring is just beginning, will make him more 

 supple and pliant in his action than when he is 

 first led out of the stable in the morning. A pur- 

 chaser who wishes to see a horse to disadvantage, 

 ought therefore to visit the stables at an early hour, 

 at least not later than nine o'clock : he will detect 

 stiffness of the joints with much more facility at 

 this time of the morning than when the day is more 

 advanced. There are other advantages which an 

 observant buyer may derive from_such early visits : 

 sometimes the removal of night bandages may be 

 noticed ; sometimes, as in a case I have already 

 mentioned, a careful fining down of the legs, after 

 the warmth of the night's rest has swelled them up 

 to the dimensions proper to disease. Nor is it un- 

 frequently the disease, that the understrappers about 

 a stable, especially if you tip one of them half-a- 

 crown in a quiet way, will let you privately into the 

 merits and demerits of the whole stud, before they 

 appear in full dress for the day to the fashionable 

 customer who strolls in at three or four o'clock in the 



