€i}t J^or^c to Blip. 51 



In my own experience I have invariably found the 

 best tempered horses make the best hunters, and I 

 would not, at auction, myself buy a piggy, sour-eyed 

 horse unless I knew something about his credentials. 

 The character of a horse, like that of a human being, 

 is as often as not discernible in his countenance, and 

 if I set my heart upon a horse, his price suited me, 

 and there was 710 palpable reason why he should not 

 answer my requirements, I should not easily have 

 my faith shaken in my choice were the V. S. not to 

 pass him with a thoroughly clean certificate. Back 

 your own fancy in buying as much as is consistent 

 with ordinary common sense ; and 7iever buy a horse 

 you dou't personally like, let his credentials be never 

 so good, is, I think, good general advice on which 

 to act, and first impressions are not unfrequently the 

 best, although they must, of course, be followed up 

 by a subsequent and more critical examination. I 

 have personally found the former to be generally 

 right, and have often regretted having been persuaded 

 not to follow them. 



A horse should, of course, be sound in wind and 

 eyesight ; free from cribbing, and other stable vices ; 

 and stand straight and well upon his legs. Calf 

 knees are ugly, but unless their development is very 

 extreme, I think, except perhaps in a weight carrier, 

 they are chiefly to be objected to on the score of 



