PURCHASE AND PRELIMINARIES 



them so far as utility goes. The last-named figure 

 will secure as good a horse as any one needs for 

 family purposes, sound, rugged, free, powerful 

 and clever. The family horse may be called the 

 staple of the carriage-horse trade, and from him up- 

 ward prices increase by leaps and bounds in propor- 

 tion to the possession of the " Seven Royal S's," 

 Symmetry, Speed, Style, Size, Shape, Substance and 

 Safety. Such figures as $500 to $2,500, for single 

 horses, $1,000 to $5,000 for pairs, etc., are prices 

 paid every day, and exciting no special comment. 

 Never buy a horse in the spring, for the reason 

 that the active market puts prices up 40% : nor 

 sell in the fall, since opposite conditions cause the 

 same ratio of depreciation. The winter or the 

 summer are also appropriate times to invest, but 

 you are apt to find then only the leavings of the 

 active seasons. As every one else sells in the 

 fall, do you buy then, even if you have to board 

 out your purchase until wanted. It is the cheap- 

 est plan, and there are hundreds of excellent 

 animals on sale which, fresh from the country in 

 the previous spring, have been used just enough 

 to thoroughly season, city-break, and way-wise 

 them. These are your choicest bargains. 



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