HOW TO BUY AND SELL. 71 



that the improper exertion to which he has been sub- 

 jected may have conduced to the accident. 



A particular condition, to be acquired only by a cer- 

 tain treatment or training, will enable the horse to ac- 

 complish any extraordinary work, as in the case of the 

 racer, the hunter, and the trotter. But the further re- 

 moved he is from his legitimate work, so much greater 

 is the chance of the animal's being ruined, even when ex- 

 ercised for a short time only. You should also bear in 

 mind that horses for sale are generally in the very worst 

 possible condition to bear fatigue: they are got up to 

 catch the eye and are made as soft and sleek as possible. 

 In the "selling state" they are, so to speak, all fat; in 

 their "trained state," all muscle. It is the opinion of 

 many horse-buyers that horses should always be in a 

 "trained condition;" but the simple and ordinary re- 

 quirements of commercial transactions render this, gener- 

 ally, impossible. The trotter is the horse kept nearest 

 this state of training, being mostly in the hands of those 

 who possess only one horse, and who are consequently 

 always putting their animal to the trial. A really sound 

 trotter is, therefore, a most uncommon thing: the excep- 

 tions must be sought in those studs where trotters are 

 kept only as match horses and for short distances. Trot- 

 ters are of all horses the most tried the most overtried. 

 Many indifferent horsemen would have no hesitation at 

 driving the trotter, but they would as soon attempt to fly 

 as to mount the racer. 



Neither extreme is good. Horses should not be too 

 much worn when sold, and they certainly should not be 

 got up to such a pitch of sleekness and delicacy that 

 attacks of inflammation or other diseases would be at- 

 tended by more than ordinary danger to the animal. 

 Dealers of course would prefer keeping their horses in a 

 more rugged and vigorous condition, but hitherto buy- 

 ers have looked at horses as butchers do at oxen, and val- 



