IN SEARCH OP A HORSE. 161 



tempted by their inferior price; a mare, cceteris 

 paribus, being generally five or ten pounds less val- 

 uable than a gelding ; but they forget that it is this 

 very capriciousness of character that reduces their 

 value, because it unfits them for the collar. 



It can scarcely be necessary to remind a purchaser 

 that any scar on the shoulders, or even under the 

 tail, should lead to a suspicion of tenderness in those 

 parts, not very consistent with length of service in 

 harness ; and in the same way that a blemished hock 

 should excite a doubt whether the splinter bar is not 

 equally damaged. If it can be managed, it would 

 be prudent to see a horse driven in his master's 

 stanhope, were it only to take the opportunity of 

 observing whether the dashing iron or the floor 

 retains marks of the shoe, or has been recently re- 

 paired in order to efface them. 



I once was trying a stanhope horse in company 

 with his owner, but not in his owner's chaise : I 

 had no suspicion, for I was to receive a warranty 

 of "sound and safe in harness," but he appeared to 

 me to show a great deal of work ; and therefore I 

 wished to see the stanhope that he had been accus- 

 tomed to draw. " It was at the coachmaker's." I 



