84 HUNTING 



horse-dealer, as the phrase has it ; but, if the purchaser 

 avows his ignorance of horse-flesh, candidly states his 

 powers of horsemanship, and states the price which 

 he is willing to give, telling the dealer that he 

 relies upon his judgment to procure the necessary 

 horse, the dealer will find and sell him the horse 

 which he requires at a fair price. We admit that it 

 is a hard trial to many men to confess ignorance; 

 but it is wiser to confess one's ignorance than to ex- 

 pose it. It is not to the advantage of the horse- 

 dealer to defraud his customers, and the horse-dealer 

 knows such to be the case. 



Very often a man does not know what his riding 

 qualifications are, therefore, when possible, he should 

 go to a dealer who has seen him in the saddle. The 

 dealer will know the class of horse he wants, and 

 will see that he gets it. We strongly recommend 

 every man to buy thoroughbreds for hunting; their 

 bones are firmer and more compact, and though they 

 look small, they are heavier than their half-bred 

 cousins, and will do more work with less fatigue to 

 themselves and to the rider than a hackney will do. 

 But we must warn the novice against buying " weeds " 

 from racing stables, for should the "weed" pass the 

 examination of the veterinary surgeon, the probabilities 

 are that he — or she — has developed temper. Very 

 often a horse is "weeded," i.e. discarded for want of 

 pace ; but our advice is : Don't buy a horse from a 

 racing stable unless you know the trainer, and dis- 

 cover from him his reasons for parting with him. 

 Again, horses bought out of a racing stable, though 

 they may ie safe jumpers^ are invariably "pullers," 



