368 HORSE DEALERS. 



In the first place, the horses known as Cleveland bays are costly to 

 purchase and expensive to keep. These creatures soon lose condition, 

 and almost as rapidly yield to disease. Then, their sale is mostly con- 

 fined to the London season. If not disposed of during their third year, 

 age does not increase their value. Moreover, there are parties styled 

 "large job masters " who, almost exclusively, trade in this kind of animal. 

 These persons all keep extensive studs, some of the body being said to 

 possess more than a thousand horses of this particular description. Such 

 animals are let out by the year, for amounts varying from fifty to one 

 hundred and fifty pounds ; the latter sum, however, mostly includes a 

 contract to supply the stables also with food. 



Should a quadruped, while thus engaged, be taken ill, the owner 

 receives back the invalid, and fills its place with a healthy substitute. 

 If an animal is not approved of, it can always be exchanged. Thus, for 

 a fixed sum, a carriage is nearly certain to be well horsed ; which, when 

 equine episootics prevail, cannot be assured, where even more than the 

 necessary pair are maintained. The gentleman is consequently spared 

 the fruitless trouble of searching for, and the great expense of purchas- 

 ing, those horses which fashion points to as, 2oar excellence, alone fitted 

 to run before a stylish equipage. The person, howevei", who lets out 

 the animals does not always provide the food ; very rarely does he pay 

 the cost incurred for shoeing, for lodging, or for attendance; though, for 

 a proper consideration, he will contract to provide everything, — even the 

 carriage in which his patrons shall ride. 



The owner of the carriage generally has to find shoes, stables, and 

 servants, the jobbing being limited to the horses or to their sustenance. 

 Job masters are generally much more wealthy than dealers, notwith- 

 standing the feeble character of the Cleveland bays, and the notorious 

 want of care bestowed by most persons who hire other people's prop- 

 erty. Such a business evidently requires some tact and a large capital, 

 to be successfully pursued. It is imperative the job master should stand 

 especially well with the servants of his patrons. Such a necessity im- 

 plies a perpetual drain upon the pocket, as the menial's good-will, if 

 desired, must be purchased. Then, there is a large body of retainers to 

 keep and to trust. The employment of these persons is to loiter about 

 the different mews ; to treat the servants ; to coax information concern- 

 ing masters' habits and missuses' exactions. 



Such particulars are essential, that the jobber may know where to 

 place his animals. Young horses would be battered to pieces in the 

 service of a lady who likes to be driven fast, pulled up sharp, or who 

 stays "out late o' nights." An elderly jDerson, who never ventures 

 abroad after dark, and is averse to speed, has the carriage sometimes 



