HOW TO BUY AND SELL. 117 



But if, upon examination of the eyes of the horse, you 

 find them to be diseased or injured, you must then treat 

 him, not as vicious, but as UNSOUND. 



STIFF HOCKS. 



Some horses are naturally stiff er and less elastic than 

 others in the movements of the hocks. It is only by 

 the stiffness of these propellers cceteris paribus that 

 a horse is prevented from being the fastest of his kind. 



There are, therefore, relative degrees of perfection of 

 horses in this respect; so that, where the degree of elas- 

 ticity is insufficient for one species of work, it may yet 

 be suited to work of another kind, so long as such com- 

 parative stiffness does not inconvenience the horse; and 

 the buyer has every opportunity for ascertaining whether 

 the "paces " of his proposed purchase are suitable for the 

 labor required. 



Stiff or naturally slow hocks do not prevent the horse 

 from being declared SOUND. 



Where, however, as in the articles "Spavin" and 

 " Curb," such stiffness is caused by disease, the horse is 



UNSOUND. 



HARD MOUTH. 



The mouth being so hard as to render the horse un- 

 manageable by ordinary users is a VICE. 



But to this rule there is a well-known exception in the 

 case of "trotters," which are expected to run away in 

 trotting, and which, from their make, as before described, 

 must bear heavily on the bit, so as to be kept upon their 

 legs. With this class of horses, a hard mouth is consid- 

 ered rather a virtue. 



