CHAPTER II 



HOW TO BUY A HORSE 



The first question which a person who wants a 

 horse should ask himself is, "What do I require 

 such an animal for ? " and having answered this to 

 his satisfaction, he should then make up his mind as 

 to what price he cares to give. These two important 

 questions are, however, very often the ones which 

 prospective buyers omit to put to themselves, and 

 the result is that they frequently find themselves in 

 the possession of an animal which neither suits their 

 work nor their stables, and for which^ moreover, 

 they have paid more money than they can afford. 



A man who desires to purchase a horse for heavy 

 draught purposes will, for instance, be scarcely likely 

 to be suited if he invests in a Suffolk, whilst he 

 who wants an active vanner would be acting most 

 unwisely if he expends his money on a Shire. So 

 the person who has to use his horse in saddle will 

 regret the purchase of a horse whose shoulders may 

 not be properly placed, or whose pasterns are short 

 and straight, whereas these defects would be passable 

 in a trapper in which smoothness of action is not so 

 indispensable a product. And so on ad ijifinitum^ 

 there is a place for every sort of horse, and it, is 

 wisdom on the part of the owner if he sees that 

 every animal in his possession is in his proper place. 

 So many difficulties, however, beset the inexperi- 

 enced horse owner that he may be excused if he 



