XIV PREFACE. 



occasion, from the circumstance of the horse 

 having, perhaps, been but a short time in 

 his possession. 



A^Hien it is considered that, owing to the 

 fooHsh practice of working horses before 

 they have arrived at maturity, there are very 

 few that are perfectly sound at six years of 

 age, it cannot be a matter of surprise that a 

 dealer, who is obliged to keep up a certain 

 stock, should be liable to be cheated in hij> 

 ])urcliases, as well as the rest of the com- 

 munity. The dealer buys a horse, of whose 

 secret defects he must in most cases be ig- 

 norant, and sells him as soon as he can find 

 a purchaser. He, therefore, is moralhj less 

 responsible for the defects of the animal, 

 than an indifferent person who sells and 

 warrants as sound a horse that has been in 

 his possession a year or two, and with whose 

 faults he cannot help being acquainted ; yet 

 the latter shall not only escape censure, but 

 shall frequently come off victorious in a law 

 suit, by bringing a host of witnesses, such 

 as the colt-breaker and blacksmith, and a 

 few kind neighbours, who think it is but 

 doing as they would be done by, to stretch 

 their consciences a little in support of a 

 friend. Seryants, also, very unpropcrly con- 



