I PRECAUTIONS IN BUYING A HORSE 93 



sordes. At the age of twenty and upwards, the 

 teeth become more and more flattened, worn even 

 as far as the alveoli, and completely oblique. 

 Other signs by which we recognize an advanced 

 age of the horse, are sinking of the orbits, white- 

 ness of the hair, especially about the head, long 

 and gray hairs in the eyebrows, rough and uneven 

 hoof's, etc. The horse* may live to "thirty years 

 and upwards. 



PRECAUTIONS IN BUYING A HORSE. 



In buying a horse, the greatest precaution is 

 necessary lest the purchaser should be cheated ; 

 for every part of the horse's body is liable to de- 

 fects and derangements. It behooves us, there- 

 fore in examining a horse, not to be in too great a 

 hurry especially if we have to deal with cunning 

 and bold dealers, or jockeys who know how to dis- 

 guise the faults, peculiarities and age of the horse, 

 and who manage to deceive the purchaser by all 

 sorts of tricks. 



The horse should be examined in the stable, 

 whether he is gay and sprightly, from which we 

 may infer the enjoyment of good health; or 

 whether he is sad and the head is hanging down 

 under the crib, which would show internal dis- 

 ease. Fodder should be placed before him, which 

 he must eat with a good appetite, without biting 

 the crib ; nor should any morbid-looking slime re- 

 main adhering to the crib. 



The eye should be examined in the stable near 

 the open door, where the horse has to be con- 

 ducted. The eye must be bright and clear ; in the 



