HORSE DEALERS. 375 



executed; and most men are cruel judges, where the exertions o^" 

 another's life are concerned. 



Always enter a dealer's yard prepared to pay for that which you seek ; 

 for, in horses, the cheap is, to the general public, the worthless. Bone 

 and muscle, united to spirit and activity, will always bring their value, 

 and are the cheaper, because they will endure longer than a dozen of 

 those lanky and misshapen substitutes which are disgracefully over- 

 weighted in the majority of genteel broughams which traverse the 

 streets of London. 



However, pay what he may, no unknown individual, walking into a 

 dealer's yard, should expect to have the positive choice of all the trader's 

 stock. Anything very good is never offered to a stranger, who can boast 

 of no better recommendation than his banker's account. In country 

 meetings, at fairs, and at public sales, the highest bidder has a better 

 chance, though at these places the market is commonly forestalled ; but 

 the dealer knows by experience how diflScult it is to procure a prime 

 piece of horse flesh. When he gets such a treasure into his hands, the 

 feelings of his class will not allow him to throw away his good fortune. 

 A fair equivalent or a heavy price can be everywhere obtained ; but the 

 one chance of years — the beauty which is rarely seen and scarcely to be 

 purchased — is always regarded as something out of the sphere of regu- 

 lar business. The dealer hoards such a treasure, and hopes to behold it 

 where, for a number of years, it will remain an honor to his judgment, 

 and a living proof that its late master has dealings with the most ex- 

 alted of England's aristocracy 1 



In this country, a good horse will always fetch its value, and that 

 price includes something more than money. This is the reason why 

 plain Mr. Smith, who is known to pay the highest prices, never can ex- 

 hibit a vehicle so well horsed as are Her Majesty's carriages. The gen- 

 tleman's animals even do not shine forth, when compared with those 

 possessed by some fashionable but notoriously poor scion of nobility. 

 The feelings of the dealers are opposed to Mr. Smith's ambition ; not- 

 withstanding treble his money were expended, he could not be gratified 

 by commanding the excellence which his superiors may purchase toler- 

 ably cheap. 



There is, however, in London too much eagerness to possess a well- 

 furnished stable, for a really fine animal ever to be cast upon the open 

 market. The tradesman, when he sees a prime quadruped, buys it always 

 with a mental determination as to the person best qualified to be the 

 future proprietor. The differences between the sums paid will not, there- 

 fore, fully account for the noble creatures which inhabit the stables of my 

 lord, and the respectable lot which consume moneyed Mr. Smith's corn. 



