72 THE HORSE 



should not possess a well-groomed horse, a horse that is 

 well harnessed and looks well in harness, and one that is 

 able to give a fair day's return for a fair day's keep. 

 The author would like to see the small trader with a 

 totally different class of horse from those which the 

 majority of them now possess. The type of horse should 

 be a bantamised form of the Suffolk, and animals of this 

 type can, by judicious selection, be bred, and the correct 

 way to breed them will be through using a stoutly built 

 Highland pony sire and a Galloway mare. The small 

 trader requires a horse that can trot with anything up to 

 4 or 5 cwt. without showing undue effects of fatigue. 



The reader will ask what about the soundness of the 

 tradesman's horse. If the animal is practically sound it 

 is not necessary to worry about anything else. Eyesight 

 and wind must be right ; the feet must be good ; the 

 limbs must be clean, and the joints strong and supple. 

 When buying a horse of this class, flex the knee joints, 

 the fetlock joints, and both hock joints, and if there is 

 any stiffness, don't purchase. Another trouble to avoid 

 is a navicular disease either in one or both fore feet. A 

 horse affected with this has generally a short, catty step, 

 goes groggy, and in horsey vernacular it is called a 

 " grog." Plenty of tradesmen's horses are sold with this 

 trouble, which is always progressive and incurable. 

 Further evidence is afforded by lameness when the 

 animal comes out of stable, but this usually passes 

 off with exercise. (See " Navicular Disease in connec- 

 tion with the Foot and its Diseases.") A tradesman, 

 when contemplating buying a horse, should never 

 purchase without having the animal examined by a 

 qualified veterinary surgeon, and the fee for such examina- 

 tion ranges from half to one guinea. Many a foolish 

 speculator might have saved himself pounds, to say 

 nothing of the annoyance, had he followed the advice 

 which the author now tenders, and which the tradesman 

 would do well to adopt when buying a horse. 



