254 THE COMPLETE FOXHUNTER 



gallop more than a field or two, and he was always 

 ailing. But he took first prize, while his stable com- 

 panion was never looked at ; and the judges were right 

 enough from their point of view, because the bad horse 

 was handsome of outline and a pretty mover in the 

 ring, while the really valuable, tried hunter was slightly 

 hog-backed and not by any means a handsome horse. 



It is not necessary to offer much advice as regards 

 buying horses, because so much depends on the 

 knowledge and judgment of the buyer, and so much 

 more on the length of his purse. The man to whom 

 the price is of little account almost invariably puts him- 

 self in the hands of a big dealer, and the dealer soon 

 gets to know the sort of horse his customer requires, 

 and probably four out of five which he may send 

 will give satisfaction. But the hunting man of less 

 ambition, who hunts two or three days a week in a 

 provincial country, and who does not care to give 

 more than £']o or ^80, is not so easily suited. He of 

 course must be very careful that he does not buy a 

 misfit, for he probably cannot afford to keep a horse 

 which does not serve his turn, or to lose money by 

 buying a "wrong un." If he has the knack of pick- 

 ing out a good horse, the buying of a new one is 

 sometimes a source of pleasure, but if he knows little 

 about horses his task is a hard one, and he is very 

 likely to be done. One man who hunts regularly 

 can gauge all the young horses bred by the farmers 

 in his district to a nicety, while his neighbour, hunt- 

 ing just as often, will be "stuck" by all the gay 

 deceivers of the country-side. Some men are so 

 conceited that they do not realise their own ignor- 

 ance or gullibility in the matter of horseflesh, but 

 trust to their own judgment, and are generally badly 



