90 CAPRICE. 



the better plan is to make up one's mind positively 

 to dispose of such the first time it is put up by the 

 auctioneer, having, of course, placed a reasonable and 

 rather low reserve price on it, and provided that the 

 sale be fairly attended by purchasers ; otherwise I should 

 not allow my property to be offered until a more favour- 

 able opportunity. 



A valuable and fancy animal, if his owner is not 

 pressed to sell, had better be disposed of by full adver- 

 tisement and private sale at his own stable. It is bad 

 management to exhibit for sale an animal that is out of 

 condition ; it always pays to make your horse look as 

 well as possible before he meets the eye of a customer. 

 There is an old and true saying, "no meat sells so well 

 as horse meat" — of course animal flesh is here alluded to. 



CAPEICE."" 



All horsemen know how whimsical horses are, and 

 the best riders feel a certain amount of diffidence, and 

 even awkwardness, on beginning w r ith any new mount, 

 until a more perfect acquaintance is established between 

 man and horse. 



A horseman w T ho identifies himself with his steed will 



* A suggestion has been made by one of the ablest reviewers of 

 the first edition of this work, to add a chapter on caprices of horses ; 

 and doubtless such would be so extremely interesting, that the 

 temptation to insert notes under this head in my first edition was 

 only overcome by the determination to avoid being led into anecdote, 

 which has been strictly observed throughout, as being out of keep- 

 ing with the concise style in which it was intended that the book 

 should be produced. A few practical hints are, however, here 

 classed under the head of " Caprice." 



