PURCHASE AND PRELIMINARIES 



combination, after some sickness, to afford you a 

 thick-winded horse. Buy a horse largely "on 

 his face," as you trust a man, his character is 

 there if you can read it, as you may if you will 

 try. A thick and heavy shoulder is rather " har- 

 nessy," yet excellent saddle horses and hunters 

 are that way built in fact, for saddle and jump- 

 ing purposes we have for generations been con- 

 sidering the wrong end of the horse. Well- 

 developed withers are desirable, especially for a 

 lady's hack, but never forget that your ride, your 

 ease and comfort, come from the other end, as 

 we shall see later. As to legs and feet, never 

 mind measurements below the knee and around 

 the arm, for horses work on for years on legs that 

 are all out of proportion, and the best looking 

 limbs and feet go wrong in no time. Therefore, 

 if you like the looks of him, go ahead, no matter 

 what anybody says ; buy him, if he 's reasonably 

 sound, but don't let the veterinary, as he is prone 

 to do, attempt to predict what may happen after 

 you have owned him six years. . You '11 all be in 

 luck if any of you are alive then. Walk him and 

 trot him (in hand) to and from you ; if he does n't 

 stand straight and move straight, if he " wings " 

 or " dishes," as he certainly will if he is not 



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