7^ THE HORSE 



usually be relied upon to provide the intending purchaser 

 with an animal suitable for his requirements, provided 

 that sufficient time be allowed and an adequate price 

 paid for the animal. Moreover, nearly every dealer will 

 allow a week or ten days' trial, so that the buyer has 

 every opportunity afforded him of judging as to the good 

 and bad points of the animal. In the meantime its 

 soundness or otherwise can be ascertained by submitting 

 it to examination by a qualified and experienced veterin- 

 ary surgeon. The writer emphasises the word " experi- 

 enced " because examination of horses and the relation- 

 ship to soundness can only be acquired after many years 

 of experience. Another word of advice whilst discussing 

 this matter is that of having every animal, prior to 

 purchase, professionally examined, as the modest fee 

 exacted by a veterinary surgeon may be the means of 

 saving many pounds, to say nothing of the trouble and 

 annoyance at some future date. In every instance it 

 is advisable, when purchasing from a source available 

 for the purpose, for the intending buyer to try the 

 animal as to its suitability for his requirements : at the 

 same time, the possibility — in the event of such existing — 

 of vice or some objectionable habit or habits may be 

 revealed. The percentage of horses which are sound, 

 more especially the ordinary roadster and draught horses, 

 is, from a legal standpoint, very small, whereas, from a 

 practical point of view, 75 per cent of horses are sound. 

 There would be very few horses at work if this were 

 not so, the mere fact of a horse being legally sound is no 

 criterion as to its utility, in fact, it may even be the 

 reverse. When a horse is classed as " practically " sound 

 the natural inference is, that the animal is capable of 

 performing all the duties required of it, and likely to be 

 required, at the present time, or at any subsequent 

 period within a reasonable hmit, as to age, etc. All 

 horses purchased at horse repositories are sold subject 

 to the conditions of the sale regulations, and if a horse is 



