DEVELOP SPEED III HCPSE^, 57 



CHAPTER XIX. 



BUYING A HORSE. 



In buying a horse that is supposed to possess speed, 

 insist upon seeing him harnessed and driven, if he is 

 broken to harness. Never buy a " lot trotter " unless you 

 know to a dead certainty that he will not '"'shut up "when 

 you hitch him in harness. The writer has seen horses thai: 

 in the field, could show you a gait that would seem to 

 indicate a capacity to wipe out all previous records, and 

 when harnessed could not go fast enough to keep warm. 

 Of course, a thorough horseman can judge something of 

 the claims to merit a horse or colt may have in respect 

 to speed, by observing^ their action in the field, being able 

 by reason of their experience and observation to discrimi- 

 nate between a high "tail over the back" gait, and 

 genuine trotting action, he would take into consideration 

 the conformation of the animal in general, and also his 

 near ancestry, or pedigree upon which the writer places 

 considerable reliance. I had rather have a green colt 

 out of sire and dam who were performers, than out of a 

 sire and dam not performers, whose offspring is untried ; 

 other things being equal. If a man comes to you and 

 says : '* I have got a horse that can show a mile in '25, 

 he is sound and all right and no record, and I'll sell him 

 for a thousand dollars!" If he will agree to show you 

 2-25 and take off fifty dollars per second for every second 

 he falls short of the mark, the probability is, if you can 

 nail him to this agreement, he will have to give you the 

 horse and odds besides. Men always over-rate the speed 

 their horses possess, when negotiating a sale. If you are 

 not a judge of speed, there is no sure test for you to ap- 

 ply but a watch, it will generally beat any trotter. There 



