DEALERS' TRICKS 125 



widow (?) who is watching proceedings, says, "No, Jim, 

 don't sell him ; he was the old guv'nor's favourite horse. 

 We ought never to part with him/' 



Upon hearing this Juggins insists upon buying him, 

 not knowing he has bought a cripple who has been 

 levelled up for the occasion, viz., by striking the sound 

 foot with a hammer to render it lame, like the unsound 

 foot, thus making the animal go level and apparently 

 sound. Giles, from the country, then calls to see the 

 in-foal mares, and he is shown two old broken- winded, 

 pot-belly mares. These he is told proved in foal after 

 they came from Scotland, and Giles is tempted to buy 

 them much to his regret, for after foaling season he can 

 see how he has been bitten. 



A great many horsemen, and veterinary surgeons too, 

 have been deceived when buying a horse with regard to 

 his age. Experience and experience only teaches how 

 to tell a horse's age. I always examine a horse's teeth 

 and afterwards ask the correct age if I know the owner 

 has bred the animal ; and by constantly practising I 

 can sometimes tell the age of any horse up to thirty years. 

 Many buyers are deceived when they visit Barnet fair ; 

 they are shown a sturdy cob and told by the dealer that 

 he is just five years old, having a nice full mouth, when 

 really he is only two years old. The buyer, through 



