FIRST-HAND BITS 

 OF STABLE LORE 



Chapter I 



PURCHASE AND PRELIMINARIES 



SOONER or later there awakens in the 

 breast of every wholesome and normal 

 man the desire to own a horse, and, that 

 flame once kindled, there is nothing which 

 will assuage It, should Fortune prove ordinarily 

 urbane, but the delights and the disasters of 

 ownership. To " witch the world with noble 

 horsemanship" has been the ambition of many an 

 unsung hero, even as in the days of Jehu, the son 

 of Nimshi, and of Alexander; and the agility, the 

 decision of character, the patience, and the courage 

 such pursuits develop are invariably the strongest 

 arguments in their favor. As we teach our chil- 

 dren to read and to write, so should we thoroughly 

 instruct them in the best methods of equestrianism, 

 watermanship, marksmanship, etc. ; and better far 



