THE CARRIAGE-HORSE. 63 



Formerly it was the general practice for dealers and private 

 persons to be asked to sell a horse with a warranty, a custom 

 which led to innumerable disputes between the parties, much 

 litigation, and yet left many loopholes by which a dishonest 

 dealer could cheat the purchaser. It is usual now to sell a 

 horse subject to examination by the buyer's veterinary surgeon. 

 Perhaps one of the cheapest investments for an owner of horses 

 who lives in London, or buys principally of London dealers, is 

 to become a member of the Royal Veterinary College in Camden 

 Town. For a life payment of twenty guineas, or an annual pay- 

 ment of two guineas, subscribers to the College have the right 

 to send their horses, when ill or whenever it is found necessary 

 to perform any operation, to the institution, upon payment of 

 the cost of medicine, and 35-. 6d. a day for the expense of keep, 

 to have post-mortem examinations and analyses of food stuffs 

 made for a small fee, and have the further privilege of sending 

 any horses (not exceeding five in each year), which they may 

 intend to purchase, to be examined as to soundness by the 

 professors of the College. Such examinations have the addi- 

 tional advantage over that by some veterinary surgeons of 

 being perfectly free from the suspicion of any partiality in 

 favour of the dealers. A purchaser should be on his guard the 

 moment a dealer says to him, ' I never send my horses to 

 the College, they knock them about so there.' It may be 

 taken to mean that there is a screw loose somewhere. Some 

 dealers, and most jobmasters, will allow a customer to hire the 

 horse that he selects for a week or longer, with the option of 

 purchasing at a stated price at the end of the time agreed 

 upon. Here are the terms of one of the leading dealers for 

 the purchase of a horse upon this principle : 



The price of a selected horse or horses shall be fixed previous to 

 the beginning of the hire, but no horse can be let for a less period 

 than three months, the hirer having the privilege of paying for 

 it by instalments and having it examined should he see fit. Should 

 the hirer desire a change, the purchase money to be altered either 

 higher or lower according to the quality of the animal. The term 



