BUYING HORSES 27 



than to rue keep/' but all proverbs have their 

 limitations. 



I may give another very annoying instance 

 of the limitations of the proverb in question 

 which I hope may be a lesson to my readers. 

 It was an experience of my own. I bred a very 

 useful mare and sold her well to a gentleman 

 who took a fancy to her, but she failed to satisfy 

 his veterinary surgeon. Time however proved 

 that the veterinary surgeon was wrong and the 

 slight blemish which was the result of hitting 

 herself when she fell hunting soon disappeared. 

 I liked the mare as well as I liked the money 

 and she made a clever hunter and carried me 

 well. About eighteen months later I sold her 

 again — unseen as it happened — and about a 

 week afterwards I was told that the mare w^as 

 wrong in her back, that she had probably been 

 injured in transit but that as my customer was 

 from home at the time of her arrival and for a 

 few days after there was no chance of getting 

 any recompense from the railway company. I 

 went to see her and she was slightly lame, only 

 very sHghtly though, but my friend and I both 

 thought she was lame in her back. So I agreed 

 to send her to the Repository to let her go for 

 what she would bring. I did not see her for 

 three weeks and when she ran out I remarked 

 to my friend that she ran sound and he agreed. 

 As we were talking a man we both knew came 

 up and asked me if that was not my mare and 

 on my replying in the affirmative he said he 



