32 PURCHASING FROM THE STABLES. 



as screws, and deduct at least seventy per 

 cent, in consequence ; for a man who is cruel 

 enough to fire for nothing, or to blister for fun, 

 will not hesitate to palm off on you a bad 

 and patched-up leg.* 



The small scars, or shortened hair from cut- 

 tino-, either behind or at the sides of the fet- 

 locks, are easily seen. If cutting arises from 

 the toes turning too much out, it is, of course, 

 incurable, for "a goose will always go like a 

 goose," and it renders a horse much more un- 

 saleable than a loss of hair from girthgall or 

 sore back, both of which are looked on as most 

 serious objections, as, the hair once off, the spot 

 is so easily galled again, that the horse has fre- 

 quently to be laid up every other month. 



At the inner side of the fetlock, as often 



* Some sporting novices say, a fired leg is worth two others ; 

 it never goes. A fired leg, it is true, will often stand training 

 when its fellow fails ; the reason is plain : the horse favours the 

 fired leg, and the other one has to stand the extra work ; con- 

 sequently, the good leg goes first, but the bad one has caused 

 it ; besides, there is good authority on record, that a leg never 

 moves so freely after having been fired. It is astonishing how 

 much a horse can favour a leg, without its being noticed by 

 ordinary observers ; and it has been remarked that ladies' 

 horses generally fail in the near fore-leg first : these dear crea- 

 tures always must have the horse lead with the off- leg, there- 

 fore it does not get its fair share of the stress, though the foot 

 may get more battering. 



