24 THE PRACTICAL HORSE KEEPER. 



English horses, and which are often seen in Irish horses, 

 viz. : — rough bony hocks, and rings or ridges round the hoofs. 

 The hocks if they are square, wide, well let down, and both 

 alike, often are the best and strongest hocks : big hocks with 

 plenty of room for insertion of ligaments and tendons are 

 safest and most durable. With regard to the ringy or ridged 

 hoofs — if the foot is of a good shape they should not be objected 

 to ; the ridges are called " grass rings," and are due to the 

 animal being pastured in damp fields, bogs, etc. 



A favourite description of the dealers, if they have a good- 

 looking horse, but one a little flat in the sides, and light behind 

 the saddle, is to say " the horse has been off his feed for some 

 days owing to a change of stable, but he will fill out after- 

 wards." But if the horse is to be purchased he should be 

 taken as he is ; at the same time it must be remembered that 

 the conformation is a bad one for any horse that has to gallop 

 and carry weight. 



Having decided on the above points, the horse should be 

 walked with a loose rein away from the purchaser. Some 

 horses go close at a walk and wide at a trot ; others vice-versa ; 

 but a good horse should always walk well. Then have him 

 trotted. It is a good plan to have the horse either taken into 

 a street or road for this, as the inn-yards are usually covered 

 with straw, and no true idea can be formed of a horse's action 

 on straw. As a rule, he goes higher and steps better on straw 

 than on the road ; it is also to be noted that a slight lameness 

 which would be imperceptible on straw or on soft ground, is 

 very apparent on the hard road. The horse should have a 

 snaflle bridle on, and the man ought to take the rein over the 

 horse's head, and hold it about eighteen inches from the bit. 

 The animal should be run at a slow trot ; if there is a slight 

 lameness, the dealer will do all he can to make him go fast 

 and step high, and if there is a door convenient to him, he 

 will be kicking:; it with his feet to make a noise, or rattling 



