l68 ON PURCHASE AND SALE. 



hours before the fale, where he may probably 

 make good advantage of his own, or the expe- 

 rience of an attendant. He will find, as well 

 here as elfewhere, that the filver key will un- 

 lock the fecrets of the interior cabinet. The 

 loweil price that a horfe will be fold at, is fre- 

 quently fixed ; in which cafe, if he be judged 

 worth the money, it is obvioufly the interefi; of 

 a buyer to prevent his going to the hammer. 

 Thefe fales furnifh the occafion of a confider- 

 able fpeculative trade in horfes, which are there 

 purchafed and fent into the country, to be made 

 frefh, and in condition to be refold. Great 

 fkill is requifite to determine whether a worked 

 horfe be in a recoverable ftate, becaufe if too 

 much injured in his joints, or too old, he will fre- 

 quently come up from grafs more crippled than 

 when firfl; fent thither ; a thing which I have of- 

 ten witneffed, but could never account for to my 

 own fatisfaftion. When the paftern joints, from 

 conftdnt fevere labour over the road, have be- 

 come callous and floney,and the finews contra6l- 

 ed, the cafe is infinitely worfe than when they are 

 in a lax ftate ; the former fituation is hopelefs. 

 The middle priced horfes, and fuch as are war- 

 ranted found, are the befl: obje6ls of fpeculation. 

 The London repofitorics are the bell markets 

 in the world for brood mares, of all defcriptions, 

 except firft-rate cart-mares, and I have often 

 wondered that recourfe is fo feldom had thither 



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