4 HACKS AND HUNTERS 



high have to do their buying in a different and more 

 interesting way, but one equally beset with pitfalls 

 for the unwary. 



If, though ignorant of horse-flesh, they acknowledge 

 their ignorance, they may avoid some of these mis- 

 takes; but if they are ignorant and know it not, as is 

 usually the case, they will fall into one of two diffi- 

 culties: 



(1) They will be ensnared by some unscrupulous 

 dealer whom they will try to impress with their vast 

 knowledge, be secretly laughed at, and end by buy- 

 ing a " skate." 



(2) They will rely on their own " superior" knowl- 

 edge and attempt to buy a horse at auction, or, worse 

 yet, think they have acquired a bargain because they 

 have managed to get at a low price some cast-off from 

 a prominent show stable, that, according to the ad- 

 vertisement, is " being entirely sold out because the 

 owner has given up riding, or is going abroad." 



In nine cases out of ten so-called " dispersal sales" 

 are merely a process of weeding out the culls. The 

 real winners, although put in the catalogue as in- 

 cluded in the sale, are used as bait to attract buyers, 

 and are either withdrawn before the sale or else 

 "bought in." It is not a very honorable practice but 

 one very commonly indulged in. 



Buying at auction is at best, even for an experienced 

 horseman, a very ticklish business. There is no way 

 of testing, adequately, the prospective purchase before 

 the sale. There i-s but little opportunity to learn his 

 past except by hearsay, and it is extremely difficult 

 to judge much of his way of going or his manners 

 during the few short runs up and down the tan-bark 

 at the sale. There is method in the madness of most 



