106 THE HORSE : ITS KEEP AND MANAGEMENT. 



If those who want to buy horses would be wise they 

 would never get them from horse dealers unless they 

 have them for a time on trial. I know it is rather hard 

 on those who deal in horses to advise this, but I have 

 seen so many poor fellows, quite ignorant as to what a 

 good animal should be, buy one for their own use, with 

 money perhaps they have been saving up for years, and 

 when they get the horse home it is fit for nothing 

 but cats' meat. I have come across many such cases 

 as this, but will only just mention one which occurred 

 as I am writing this chapter. A poor man who had 

 been saving up for years trusted a fellow who knew a 

 good deal about horses to buy him one which would do 

 him good service, and a very short time after he was 

 ordered to have the poor thing killed. The animal had 

 never earned him a sovereign, and, though at the time 

 the horse was bought it was nice enough to look at, yet 

 the poor man did not have it more than four months, 

 and it never worked more than about twice altogether. 

 The money with which this man bought his horse took 

 him eight years to save. This is what I call hard lines, 

 and just shows us how people can be taken in with 

 horses. 



