THE HORSE. 149 



have the same recourse, fully persuaded, that he 

 must go to London, in order to obtain the top price. 

 London, moreover, is the great recourse of those 

 whose object lies with worked and low priced horses, 

 whether for labour, farm labour particularly, or turn- 

 ing to grass for improvement, and a market. This 

 speculation, in course, requires no ordinary share of 

 skill and experience, and it is probable, many of the 

 London dealers turn it to good account. These dealers 

 class very conveniently with the horses themselves, 

 the superiors, selling chiefly first-hand horses fresh 

 from the country, at prices high in proportion ; the 

 inferiors, divided into a variety of grades, dealing in 

 an inferior commodity, which they both purchase and 

 sell at the repositories, at the fairs in the vicinity of 

 the metropolis, and by advertisement at their own 

 stables. Advertisement of a horse is a common mode, 

 by which the proprietor seeks to get clear of an in- 

 cumbrance ; yet there are, doubtless, good bargains 

 to be picked up in London, that vast menagerie of 

 horses, answering every possible description, granting 

 two necessary qualifications in the aspirant, skill and 

 leisure. It should be noted by those who are ambi- 

 tious of possessing horses of high qualifications, that 

 there are generally to be found in London, dealers 

 who make it their business to look out for such. 



Repositories are most useful and accommodating 

 places of meeting to buyers and sellers. It was per- 

 haps about the year 1740, or somewhat later, that 

 Beavor, supposed to have first introduced the plan of 

 sale in this mode, opened the horse repository in 



