ADVICE TO BUYEBS. 53 



reasonably be suspected that he will soon become lame. 

 Should such a horse be purchased with a warranty of sound- 

 ness, he could not perhaps be legally returned, if lameness 

 take place two or three weeks afterwards, as the seller 

 would be able to prove that the horse had not been lame 

 up to the time he was purchased. It may be said, per- 

 haps, that the defect in the foot was observed at that time, 

 but it is well known that we rarely meet with a horse, at 

 the age of seven or eight, whose feet are not more or less 

 imperfect, caused principally from bad shoeing, and that a 

 considerable alteration in form sometimes takes place with- 

 out causing lameness. Another point, special attention 

 should be called to. After purchasing your horse with a 

 good and sound foot, try and avoid all fancy shoers, who 

 think that cutting out the sole, paring away the frog, plac- 

 ing on nice-looking small shoes, and finally using the rasp 

 to finish their disgraceful jobs, is perfection. Let the sole 

 alone, except when absolutely required. Do not touch the 

 frog, and do not allow the rasp to be too freely used. All that 

 is required is simply to take off the roughness of the old 

 shoeing, and for the purpose of clinching the nails, and to 

 go no higher than the clinch. 



Cutting is a defect often met with; and when it is con- 

 siderable — that is, when the scar on the inside of the fetlock 

 is large, the parts surrounding thickened, and if it appears 

 also to have been recently wounded — it must be deemed a 

 serious imperfection. Cutting on the inside and immediate- 

 ly below the knee joint (speedy cut, as it is termed), is also 

 a material defect, as it sometimes causes a horse to fjxll sud- 

 denly, or he may become so lame as to be almost useless. 



The back sinews are next to be examined, by passing the 

 hand down the back part of the leg. If the tendon or 

 sinew can be distinctly felt, with the suspensory ligament 



