HORSE DEALERS. 3T3 



therefore to be abruptly broken off. Many a promising and a valuable 

 horse is thus cast upon the dealer's hands, the estimable qualities 0/ 

 which a little patience would have made apparent. But a good horse 

 may require to be educated, before it will carry a certain master as he 

 desires ; this reason forms an almost unsurmountable objection to any 

 conclusion being just, which is based upon a solitary trial. Most 

 dealers, if they know the animal should suit, will grant a fortnight's 

 further acquaintance, before the bargain is concluded. The terms gener- 

 ally are, that if the sale is broken off, then the gentleman pays for the 

 services he has engrossed : should the treaty be ratified, then the pur- 

 chase money covers all demands, the purchaser paying only for the 

 provender consumed during his period of hesitation. 



In every horse transaction, treat the tradesman with consideration. 

 Many gentlemen, when speaking to a dealer, assume a familiarity which 

 is an impertinent, and not unseldom proves to be an expensive, affecta- 

 tion. Others adopt a superciliousness which is very offensive and rather 

 dangerous; for, while the customer is supporting a foreign behavior, 

 the dealer may be humoring the whim, and covertly flattering, though 

 watching his opportunity for revenge. Above all things never lose your 

 temper, or by your language violate the rules of decency; as, by so 

 doing, you descend to a level where you are certain to be mastered. 

 These cautions must be observed during personal intercourse. With 

 respect to the rest. Avoid lawyers. This is the more easily done, if 

 the few directions here laid down are rigidly adopted. 



Dealers are, generally, very accommodating in their trade transactions. 

 They will do anything, excepting return money ; a condition with which 

 most of them are not able to comply. They will take back an animal 

 which does not suit. They will allow the dissatisfied gentleman to 

 walk through their stables, and to choose another horse, on the terms 

 that the choosing party pays the difference of price between the nag 

 which has been sent back and the steed which is afterward preferred. 

 To be sure, such exchanges are apt to prove costly, and, generally, are 

 prosecuted very much to the dealer's advantage. Therefore, a gentle- 

 man has reason for suppressing his discontent; and may do well to 

 endure, a little longer, the quadruped which originally pleased him, and 

 which may turn out an estimable acquaintance after the first qualms of 

 early proprietorship have subsided. 



If dealers have an aversion, it is to be bothered by the visit of a 

 "greenhorn," who does not know exactly what he wants. Consequently 

 everybody, before entering the premises, should ascertain his desires. 

 He must not request "to see an animal fit to run in a gig, but which can 

 carry saddle occasionally." He should not inquire for "a nag which he 



