370 HORSE DEALERS. 



for the cliase must generally be sought in the neighborhood of the various 

 "meets." Nevertheless, many a stout horse, which would make an ad- 

 mirable hunter, is to be often bought of a London dealer. The hand- 

 some nag, the showy brougham horse, the spanking trotter, the pretty 

 May bird, etc. — in short, all such quadrupeds as ladies admire, and as 

 gentlemen love to exhibit during "the season," may be met with in every 

 regularly-appointed yard. 



When before a dealer, if the gentleman is no judge of a horse, or has 

 no confidence in his own opinion, he should not attempt to be thought 

 wise on such subjects. The salesman may not stare at the purchaser ; 

 indeed, the trader may appear impressed with an overwhelming idea of 

 the customer's importance, as he humbly asks a question and submis- 

 sively waits a reply. But, long before the first animal has been run out, 

 he will accurately have taken the measurement of his patron. The man 

 will know the limits of his visitor's equestrian attainments as perfectly 

 as though they had been companions from the hour of birth. 



Never demand a warranty. Such things are only temptations to take 

 proceedings. They may influence a jury ; but the plaintiff, frequently, 

 only recovers a loss. The verdict is often unjustly given against a 

 dealer whom a gentleman drags into court ; but private or extra costs 

 generally consume more than the money which marks the difference 

 between a legally sound and a tolerably serviceable quadruped. All 

 dealers are not, in attorney's phraseology, "worth powder and shot." 



