IN SEARCH OF A HORSE. 151 



hairs visible in a kind of ring round the fetlock joint, 

 or above and below the knee, they imply the fre- 

 quent and perhaps habitual wearing of a boot, and of 

 course habitual cutting, or the speedy cut. 



Any traces of a sore back, though apparently 

 healed, are very suspicious ; a new saddle may have 

 occasioned them, as you will assuredly be told is the 

 fact; but your own saddle may be equally new to a 

 new horse. The slightest tenderness of the back 

 makes the horse unserviceable for weeks and even 

 months, and not unfrequently causes the animal to 

 rear or plunge, the moment that he is mounted. 



It is by no means easy to detect vice in a horse 

 till after several trials. Vicious horses are usually 

 cunning, and try their rider before they venture to 

 take liberties with him. It has frequently been no- 

 ticed that where the horse exhibits much of the white 

 of the eye, he is vicious ; and this idea is not alto- 

 gether without foundation. The white of the ball is 

 exposed when the eye is thrown back to watch the 

 approach of a stranger into the stall: and this 

 jealous vigilance is itself indicative of temper. A 

 hint may not be misplaced as to the course to take 

 if you find yourself, as I have done, thus agreeably 



