BUYING A LIGHT HORSE 8i 



duced into the British Army through the agency of 

 inexperienced buyers during the recent war was consider- 

 able, but nevertheless, very regrettable, as animals other- 

 wise excellent had to be destroyed as they were useless 

 for either military or any other purpose. 



Vicious horses are sometimes, before sale, heavily 

 doped, and when the effects of the dope have passed off 

 the vice is revealed in all its severity. Animals treated 

 in this manner are difficult to discover, but sometimes 

 reveal it by their stupidity of manner. Latent vice, i.e. 

 vice which remains dormant for a time and then 

 recurs is one of the most objectionable features that a 

 horse can possess, though it is by no means infrequent. 

 It is comparable to latent or occult disease, and either 

 may prove equally disastrous. If buyinig from a private 

 source it is a wise expedient for the buyer to obtain a 

 general warranty of soundness and freedom from vice, in 

 order to enforce liability should the exigences of circum- 

 stances require it. 



Light horses may possess many defects, but soundness 

 of eyesight and wind are particularly necessary. Roaring, 

 broken wind, cataract, opacity of the cornea and total 

 blindness, interfere with or destroy the commercial value 

 and usefulness of the animal 



There are several common diseases affecting the fore 

 and hind limbs, the chief of these being splint in the fore- 

 hmbs, also ring-bone, and in the hind limbs, bone-spavin, 

 whilst drop sole and navicular disease are frequently 

 met with in the fore limbs. 



If a horse is five years old, free from lameness, and the 

 splint in a good position, the animal may be regarded as 

 practically sound. On the other hand, a horse under or 

 about four years of age, having splint, can hardly be re- 

 garded as sound, there being greater liability to develop 



ameness. 



For description of the other troubles alluded to the 

 reader is referred to the chapter dealing with these. 



