ADVICE TO BUYEBS. 47 



sometimes resorted to, I trust that, in what I have written, 

 the candid reader will not accuse me of having gone too 

 far, or that it will excite an undue prejudice against the 

 horse-dealer. I am aware that there are men in that trade 

 who would descend to the deceptive practices that I treat 

 on in another part of this book, but have no doubt that 

 there are also to be found among them, men of strict in- 

 tegrity and honor. 



ADVICE TO BUYERS. 



In this division of the subject we propose to treat of 

 the i)recautions to be observed in purchasing horses, and 

 to explain the various devices practiced by unprincipled 

 dealers to deceive the inexperienced and unwary. The 

 information and advice here introduced is mainly gathered 

 from the experiences of Messrs. Armatage, Mason, Spooner, 

 Gamgee, Youatt, and Blain — who are high authority on all 

 matters pertaining to horse-flesh — together with the results 

 of our own observations and practice. 



It is a very ancient but valuable maxim, that in all 

 transactions, '' honesty is the best policy," and I can see no 

 reason whatever why horse-dealing should not be regu- 

 lated by this excellent law. 



I have known some persons who have persisted in the 

 practice of never giving a warranty with a horse, and have 

 experienced the advantage of it ; for it is evident that few 

 who have had any use for a horse would sell it unless it 

 had some fault ; and if we go to a horse-dealer to purchase 

 a horse of five or six years of age, it is but reasonable to 

 conclude that the horse may have been tried by some 

 other person, and sold for some fault ; still, it should be 



