BUYING A LIGHT HORSE 79 



bought and afterwards found not to comply with the 

 catalogue description, it can and should be immediately 

 returned, along with the veterinary certificate, to the 

 auctioneers, within the prescribed period. Any mis- 

 representation should be treated upon these lines, but 

 nothing can be done after the time stipulated by the 

 auctioneers has expired. 



Throughout London and the provinces there are numer- 

 ous horse repositories, and a considerable amount of 

 traffic in horse-flesh takes place through these channels. 

 All classes of horses are obtainable in this manner, but 

 a great deal of circumspection is necessary, otherwise the 

 buyer mxay become possessed of a highly undesirable 

 animal — as useless to the buyer as it was to the seller. 



Apart from purchase from the repository, the horse 

 fairs in various parts of the country afford a ready means 

 for the bartering of horses. Many excellent animals are 

 bought at fairs, and with equal truth it may be said that 

 so are many useless ones. The number of horses offered 

 for sale at horse fairs within recent years has declined, 

 and in the future there is every probability of a further 

 reduction, owing to the continued progress of motor 

 traction. The horse fair of the future will never, so far 

 as quality and number of animals is concerned, reach 

 those of the past, no matter how optimistic one may 

 be as to the future v/elfare of the horse. At some of 

 the principal horse fairs in Ireland the highest class of 

 animal is bought and sold. A list of these fairs can be 

 obtained by reference to any of the live-stock annuals, a 

 remark which is equally applicable to the horse fairs and 

 markets periodically held throughout England and Wales. 



For the purchase of Welsh ponies, the Welsh horse 

 fairs afford undeniable opportunities, and anyone con- 

 templating purchase of these will do well to pay a visit to 

 these fairs. In the latter case, the animals are usually 

 unbroken, coming into the market in droves. The 

 facilities for examination at the horse fairs are, of course, 



