INDIVIDUAL DEALERS. 149 



long figure he is safer in the hands of such dealers than in 

 purchasing from other sources. These men are expert 

 judges of horses of the fashionable stamp, and base their 

 reputation and profit on fair dealing. The owners of large 

 breeding establishments find that better prices are obtained 

 by conducting their own private sales, and therefore send 

 the inferior young or old horses to the auction rooms. The 

 small breeders send consignments of the unsold stock to be 

 disposed of at the weekly or bi-weekly sales in large cities. 



INDIVIDUAL DEALERS. 



Veterinary surgeons and livery-stable keepers often com-" 

 bine the part of commission agent with that of their respec- 

 tive vocations, and they will buy and sell for a consideration. 

 They usually act as middlemen between private buyers, but 

 they not infrequently purchase a horse with the hope of 

 turning a penny or have an animal forced upon them in pay- 

 ment of a bad debt. " Cappers " are professional commis- 

 sion agents whose chief interest is in their commission. 

 Horses from private stables are frequently sold by the owner, 

 or by his coachman who with some confrere act as middle- 

 men between two masters. Horses thus offered for sale 

 generally belong to one of the three following types : first 

 are those which have gone wrong under the presiding ser- 

 vant's mismanagement ; second, a few of the poorest of an 

 overstocked stable which the owner wishes to reduce. These 

 are the horses that are advertised under the head of " to be 

 sold as the owner is going to Europe," " has no future use 

 for them," and are to be looked at suspiciously, as these 

 explanations are well known baits for the unwary who, feel- 

 ing safe at last from the dreaded horse shark, buy blindly. 



