HACKS AND HARNESS HORSES. 31 



it worth. The writer remembers buying a very handsome cob 

 at a fair in the north of England, and as he was wanted for 

 harness, as well as to ride, the dealer was asked if he would 

 warrant him quiet in harness. " He would not warrant aiiiy 

 horse," he said; "but he would give his word that he was 

 quiet, as he had driven him himself." However, it was after- 

 wards found that the animal was anything but quiet ; in fact, he 

 was a most dangerous beast to drive. Meeting the man again, 

 he was taxed with the deception. He said he thought the 

 horse was quiet, as the person he bought him from had him 

 from a farmer, and the farmer said he had driven him. This 

 instance is only given to show how little such statements are 

 to be relied on, with regard to a horse a dealer wishes to sell. 

 It is the same with other horses, both as regards their sound- 

 ness and freedom from vice, and whether they are quiet to ride 

 or drive. Dealers have horses in their possession such a short 

 time, that they cannot possibly know much about them. We 

 are speaking more particularly about hunters, and only citing 

 the case of the cob as an illustration. 



Nearly all the business done at the fairs in hunters is with 

 dealers, as stated before ; it is almost entirely a separate 

 business. When the fair commences in the street, most of 

 this business is over, and the market is full of horses of dif- 

 ferent classes. Should a hunter be seen in the streets,, which 

 has been standing in stables for two days previously, one of 

 two things is the cause of it : either he has missed his market, 

 which sometimes occurs, or he is unsound for some cause or 

 other, which more often happens. 



HACKS AND HARNESS HORSES. 



These horses, as a rule, are purchased in quite a different 

 way to hunters. A large number are shown by local people ; 

 others belonging to private individuals are sent, perhaps, fifty 



