52 HORSES 



and it is his business to sell them whenever he 

 gets the chance, but no good man will " stick " you 

 with an animal, if you say at the outset exactly 

 what you require and take it on his recommenda- 

 tion. If, however, you think yourself as clever 

 as the dealer and pit your skill against his, you 

 must not squeal if you eventually get the worst 

 of the bargain. My experience of horse-dealers 

 is that they are quite as straight as dealers in any 

 other article, but I would have you beware of the 

 grentleman horse-dealer. 



o 



Our old friend Jorrocks quotes, ^'Who should 

 counsel a man on the choice of a wife or a horse ? " 

 but if you take my counsel you will choose both 

 those articles for yourself. 



A small boy w^ould not often be asked to handle 

 or break in a young horse, but when once he has 

 learnt to ride, it is a task he is quite as capable of 

 doing as a man. You may have heard of the 

 rough and ready methods employed out in the 

 west of America, but if you had much experience 

 with the horses which are thus broken, you would 

 see the result is not often satisfactory. Of course 

 out West the time cannot be spared to do any 

 preliminary handling, so that the animal that is 

 wild one day is saddled and ridden the next. Some 

 horses require very little breaking and are willing 

 slaves from the start, but the average animal exacts 

 all the time and patience a man can give if you 

 do not wish him to develop unpleasant habits later 



