62 DRIVING. 



as a good hunter, i.e. sound in wind and eyes. The horse had 

 taken several hunters' prizes and had been frequently examined 

 and passed sound, and to the best of the seller's belief was so. 

 A friend of the seller wishing to purchase him, had him 

 examined by a veterinary surgeon in Tattersall's yard, who 

 declared that he was not sound in his eyes, and consequently 

 declined to bid. The horse was subsequently bought by a 

 dealer, and as he was never returned for a wrong description, it 

 may be assumed that the examination to which he was subjected 

 afterwards did not confirm the opinion of the examination con- 

 ducted in the yard. On the other hand, a gentleman of my 

 acquaintance, wishing to buy a pony and not satisfied with his 

 own judgment, took the advice both of his London coachman 

 and of the coachman he employed in the country, and to 

 make quite certain submitted the animal to a veterinary surgeon, 

 who passed him as sound. The pony was sent down to the 

 country by rail, and on the return of the owner he was dis- 

 gusted to hear from the stable boy that the pony was quite 

 blind, which turned out to be the case. History does not say 

 whether that veterinary surgeon's bill has ever been paid. 



Many purchasers are led away from the sum which they had 

 determined to give by the excitement of competition at an 

 auction, and think that, after all, for a horse that has taken 

 their fancy, five, ten, and so on up to fifty guineas, more than 

 they intended to give, will not hurt them. This is a most 

 mistaken course to pursue, for the price which a purchaser 

 ultimately gives he might probably have all the advantages of 

 a trial and more complete veterinary examination of a dealer's 

 horse, while his fancied competitor, whom he thinks must, from 

 his evident determination to have the animal, know that he is 

 going to get good value for his money, will probably turn out 

 to be a friend of the owner, and is only bidding as a means of 

 placing a high reserved price upon the animal. To buy at auc- 

 tion requires time and patience ; and to buy cheap a man needs 

 strength of mind when he sees horses he has taken a fancy to 

 going for prices higher than he has previously decided to pay. 



