96 PRECAUTIONS IN BUYING A HORSE. 



easy or limping, whether the legs are moved along 

 in regular order, the horse is sprightly, and 

 whether some of the above mentioned defects may 

 perhaps be discovered by this means. Immedi- 

 ately after exercise, the horse must not draw breath 

 with widely dilated nostrils, or with the sides 

 drawn up, or moved with redoubled quickness ; 

 nor must he cough hard or hoarse, as if the air- 

 passages were sore or inflamed, or as if he would 

 suffocate. Such a condition shows that the lungs 

 of the horse are diseased, spasmodically irritated, 

 more or less disorganized, and points to a state of 

 things termed broken-winded. 



Moreover the whole shape of the horse has to 

 be considered, inasmuch as the price of the horse 

 depends upon it ; in this respect the use to which a 

 horse is to be put has to be considered ; for agricul- 

 tural purposes, for instance, the most beautiful 

 horse, which is perfectly free from fault, but skit- 

 tish or otherwise intractable may be useless. 



Finally, we have to mention a few tricks which 

 are frequently resorted to by horse-dealers in order 

 to facilitate the sale of a horse. These tricks are 

 anglicising, dressing , peppering and ipliipping the 

 horse. By anglicising a common horse he is made 

 to look nobler, for by bending and stiffening his 

 tail the pendent quarters and hollow back become 

 straighter, the slovenly gait is steadied, and the 

 horse looks more sprightly. 



Dressing the feet, manes, and particularly the 

 inner ears, is a great means of embellishing the 

 horse ; for the horse seems to acquire a more im- 

 posing posture, the neck looks more slender and 

 graceful, the hearing becomes more acute, the an- 

 imal is more attentive to everything that is taking 

 place around it, and the pendulous ears look more 

 erect. 



