HORSEMAXSHIP. 



make trickery their trade, the purchaser must enter their 

 premises with the seeds of suspicion sprouting freely within 

 him. He need not, by his manner or remarks, show any 

 sign of want of faith, only, as the sailors say, let him " Keep 

 his weather eye lifting." It is impolitic and in bad taste to 

 say or do anything to insult the fellow who, till ruffled, will 

 probably be most polite. Should any unsoundness or any 

 objectionable fault present itself, it serves no purpose to 

 remark on it, or decry the man's wares ; better far let the 

 horse be rejected with the simple remark, ^' It's not exactly 

 the animal I want." These gentry, when they see there is 

 no prospect of a deal, are very touchy and, as a rule, are 

 adepts at slanging. In the event of the horse pleasing, to 

 express one's self in that sense means an addition to the 

 contemplated price. The Turks have a saying, *'He that 

 masters his tongue saves his head " — in this case substitute 

 " purse " for " head." Endeavour, in the first instance, to 

 see the horse at rest in his stable. Introduce yourself by 

 saying you are on the look out for such and such a horse, 

 and express your desire to have "a look round," otherwise 

 the astute dealer, on learning your requirements, will at 

 once order a saddle and bridle to be put on So-and-so. 

 Should this look round be declined, rest assured that there 

 is some screw loose about the horse it is intended you 

 should see ; it is pretty certain to be unsound, ill-tempered, 

 or given to some evil habit. 



Having gained admission to the stable and made your 

 selection, watch him narrowly and quietly as he stands. You 

 may detect him in the act of crib-biting or wind-sucking ; 

 he may stand with one toe of the fore-leg pointed or ad- 

 vanced, a sure sign that all is not right inside the wall of 

 that hoof; if standing so that almost all his weight is thrown 

 on his hind feet, in which position they will be placed well 



