1 II 



CHAP. xxxm. 



ON EXTERNAL BLEMISHES^ 



IN choosing horses, great care must be 

 taken that they have no external blemishes. 

 If they be clean, well made, and free from 

 them, the chance is greatly in favour of the 

 purchaser that they are sound all over, and 

 healthy in their constitutions. The eyes should 

 be sound, full, and healthy in appearance, and 

 the skin of a silky softness ; for if the hair be 

 rough, and inclined to stand upright, it is a 

 sign that the animal is unhealthy, and that he 

 has the worms or some other internal com- 

 plaint. The fore legs should be clean, firm, 

 bony, and free from splints or ringbones 

 about the pasterns; the hind lego should be 

 also clean, and well made, and free from 

 grease, lumps, or swellings, which indicate the 



