ii6 HINTS ON PURCHASING. 



for though I have seen many horses with them, very few ever 

 were hurt by either blemish. Nothing, however, would induce 

 me to buy a horse with a thorough-pin ; for I have never 

 known one so affected to stand a thorough preparation, no 

 matter what, or how numerous the remedies that were tried. 



I remember well the late Lord George Bentinck buying 

 Defender of Mr. Isaac Sadler for 2,000 guineas (a large sum 

 in those days). On his arrival at Danebury his lordship 

 asked my grandmother (Mrs. A. Day) to look at him ; and 

 she said he had a thorough-pin, though perhaps it was not 

 fully developed, adding that he would never stand a prepara- 

 tion. At this startling and unwelcome announcement his 

 lordship immediately sent for that eminent veterinary sur- 

 geon the late Mr. Field, who after examining the horse said 

 he apprehended no danger, and that he thought the defect 

 would yield to mild treatment ; if not, that a seton would 

 effect a cure. This and many other remedies were tried, but 

 to no purpose, and the horse never ran afterwards, and was 

 put early to the stud. 



When horses break down they are best sold or given away 

 for other than racing purposes ; because not one in a hundred 

 ever stands afterwards. Soapstone was an exception, and so 

 was Misdeal ; the latter was fired, but the chances of standing 

 with a crooked sinew are too remote to be worth a trial. 



Horses sometimes are lame from big joints, and if the en- 

 largement be on the inside, it is, as I have observed before, as 

 a rule, fatal ; but, if on the outside, with a little rest and blis- 

 tering, the joint generally gets right, though the enlargement 

 remains. Capote and Maid of the Vale had such legs ; yet 

 both stood, and won lots of races. A fair-sized foot is pre- 

 ferable to a very large or extremely small one ; for the former 

 of the two is better suited for cross-country purposes than for 



