24 THE COMPLETE HORSEMAN 



man who would part with his money on their 

 warranty, may, hke Dogberry, be written down 

 an ass. 



The ways of the Horse trade were undoubtedly 

 peculiar in the good old days and a fairly innocent 

 and straightforward man had but a poor chance 

 if he fell in amongst the ' Jockeys ' of EHzabeth 

 and James, as the gentry who were known as horse 

 chaunters in the early days of the nineteenth 

 century were styled in the argot of the times. 



The earliest Books about the mxanagement of 

 horses have details of the tricks of these Horse 

 Jockeys, and Gervase Markham devotes con- 

 siderable pains to explaining some of their 

 methods. One of them may be given as a 

 sample. *' First then, To make a dull Jade 

 both Kick, Wince and Fling without either 

 Whip or Spur, they use this Device ; in the fore 

 part of a Saddle made for that purpose, they 

 have an Iron Plate, through which is drilled 

 three Holes, through which with a Spring, come 

 three sharp Wyers, the which as long as the 

 Rider sits upright, do not prick the Horse ; but 

 when he leans forward, and presses the Bow of 

 the Saddle, they Torment him so that he Capers 

 and Dances, tho' never so dull, which the ignorant 

 Buyer often supposes to proceed from the highth 

 of his Mettle, which the Jocky spares not to 

 avouch with Oaths." 



One is naturally inclined to take such a state- 

 ment cum grano salts if one did not know how 

 easily an ignorant man who is afraid of showing 



