THE HORSE. 185 



not quite so good. It would obviously be unwise to mention 

 names, but at least there need be no difficulty even for the 

 veriest tyro in assuring himself where not to go, and it has been 

 justly said that 'to know what to avoid, to know where at 

 least not to go, is perhaps the first step to an advance in the 

 right direction.' It would be only, we trust, an insult to our 

 readers' common sense to impress on them that the advertise- 

 ment columns of the newspapers are not the quarters in which 

 to look for good horses. Finally, let the buyer remember these 

 simple facts : that he must not expect to buy a swan at the 

 price of a goose : that a horse who is a notoriously brilliant 

 animal in one man's hands is not necessarily the same in 

 another's : that when he finds he has got a really good animal, 

 even if it be not gifted with the exceptional properties of Lord 

 Barry m ore's facetious ideal, he will do well to let no offer 

 tempt him, and no caprice move him, to part with it. 



