118 THE HORSE. 



knowledged trade in felony. This is, however, not 

 the place for a discussion of the why and the where- 

 fore that such a profession should hold so distin- 

 guished a rank in our national system. Many years 

 previous to the above date, a near connection of mine 

 lost a cart stallion, of which no tidings could ever be 

 heard, notwithstanding the most immediate, perse- 

 vering, and extensive inquiries and researches. The 

 loss was rendered particularly grating on considera- 

 tion that the horse was reckoned the best and truest 

 puller in the vicinity, remarkably handsome for a 

 true Suffolk punch, and valued at a high price. I 

 lost a mare from off a common ; I well remember, at 

 this distance of time, seeino- her looking; over the gate 

 desirous of being taken in; that was procrastinated, 

 and I saw her no more. I thenceforth turned my 

 attention to the discovery of some plan of security in 

 this case, but with little satisfaction to myself as to 

 any prospect of success. Among other schemes it 

 occurred to me that it would, at least, put some diffi- 

 culty in the horse stealer's way, if a casehardened, 

 and file proof ring, lined with some soft material to 

 prevent chafing, bearing the owner's name and place 

 of abode, were locked upon the shank or pastern of 

 the animal when turned abroad. In or about the 

 year 1825, a certain smith, or manufacturer of Farn- 

 ham, exhibited a ring of this description, and adver- 

 tised it, in course, as his own plan. Nobody, how- 

 ever, within my knowledge, incurred the trouble of 

 the experiment, though several London smiths as- 

 sured me that it would not be very practicable to get 

 through a file proof ring. At any rate, a wooden 

 label upon the manes of horses, or the horns of cows, 



