CHAPTER VII. 



HOW TO BUY A HORSE. 



OF WHOM TO BUY— EXTRAORDINARY CHEAPNESS AND EXTRAORDINARY EX- 

 CELLENCE NOT TO BE EXPECTED — POINTS TO BE REGARDED— HOW TO EXAM- 

 INE THE EYES— BROKEN WIND — ROARING— WHISTLING — BROKEN KNEES — 

 TO EXAMINE THE LEGS — SPLENTS— DAMAGED BACK SINEWS— SPAVINS- 

 RINGBONES— CURBS— THOROUGH-PIN— HOW TO TELL THE AGE OF A HORSE. 



It is not, of course, to be imagined, that any person entirely 

 unacquainted witli horses, the points of their anatomical 

 structure, their constitution and their qualities, can be by 

 the mere perusal of any one or more books on the subject, 

 at once created into a good judge of the anim.al, and a com- 

 petent purchaser beyond the risk of being deceived or of 

 deceiving himself. To become a perfect judge of a horse 

 requires the observation and attention of half a life -time ; 

 nor with every man will these be sufficient ; for a certain 

 degree of natural tact and talent, or adaptability to the 

 study, is clearly indispensable ; and there are some men 

 who, if they were born in a manger and brought up in a 

 stable, would never become horsemen or judges of a horse. 

 Still, there is no doubt that a person desiring to purchase, 

 and desiring to exercise in some degree his own choice in 

 the matter rather than submit wholly to the guidance of a 

 friend, may, by carefully studying what has been written 

 on the subject, qualify himself so far as in a great measure, 

 using proper precautions and profiting by some advice, to 

 secure himself against the probability of being very grossly 



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