The Management of Light Horses i6i 



he cannot expect to develop the best of manners. Of course if a 

 breeder is also a horseman, matters are simplified, and if he is, he 

 knows as much as I can tell him. I know of many farmers who 

 are fine horsemen, who breed young hunters, and never sell them 

 till they are five years old, when they make big prices. And these 

 farmers are always ready to buy a good young horse, two-year-old, 

 three-year-old, or even yearling or foal. It is not so very long since 

 I saw one give well on to ^^150 for a three-year-old, and many 

 instances of the farmer who " grazes " a hunter or two giving big 

 prices for young unbroken horses occur to the memory. The large 

 hunter dealers, who are generally, though not always, large exhib- 

 itors as well, are also good customers for good horses, but they 

 must be good. 



Of course the breeder gets the most out of his horse when he 

 keeps him till he is five years old, and sells him to some hunting 

 man; but it must not be forgotten that if his profits are greater 

 than those of the man who sells earlier, his risks are greater in 

 proportion. 



But there is plenty of money to be got out of selling a good 

 young horse, and many dealers are always on the lookout for 

 those that come up to their standard. And it is astonishing 

 how they find where there is a good one. 



There is not much difficulty in selling a good three-year-old 

 for £60 or upwards, and by a good three -year -old I do not 

 mean here a high-class show horse with a reputation, but a 

 three-year-old likely to grow into a good "wearing" horse — a 

 horse that is described in the words: " So and so has a goodish 

 colt like making a hunter". And I think that a three-year-old 

 sold at £60 leaves a fair margin of profit. Of course there are 

 those that go wrong to take into consideration. But against 

 them we have to set the real good ones, those that make £ioa 

 or more at three years old. And if a man begins with good 

 sound brood mares, mates them with something like knowledge, 

 and manages them and their offspring intelligently, it will go 

 hard with him if he does not breed a good one sometimes. 



I have heard it insisted with some acerbity that the dealer 

 gets all the profit and the breeder is put off with a poor and 

 insignificant sum. The breeder, unless he is a horseman, and is 

 willing to conduct his business on the same lines as a dealer, 

 cannot expect to realize the prices which a dealer does. In the 

 first place, the dealer is always ready to change a horse that 

 does not suit his customer, of course under certain conditions. 

 Then he generally gives credit — sometimes long credit. And if 

 VOL. III. ' 44 



