HARD, BUT JUDICIOUS FOR SOME PEOPLE. 207 



sonable price, he cannot afford to come up to the fee 

 given by the dealer ; and, being probably quite un- 

 aware of what the servant does consider he is en- 

 titled to, he gives him a sovereign. This horse will to 

 a dead certainty be made to turn out badly : " Master 

 must not be allowed to get into this way of buying 

 horses ! " The only way therefore of giving this 

 horse a chance of success, is for the friend to take 

 care that between the seller and the master the man 

 is satisfied. It will be said, it is hard that a master 

 should pay his own servant because he chooses to 

 purchase a horse of a particular person. It is hard ; 

 but with the generality of servants it must be done : 

 he must be satisfied somehow, or by somebody, or he 

 will be sure to beat you, unless you have resolution 

 to adopt Lord A.'s Prussian system. Then this 

 plan will do well enough, and the horse will do well 

 enough. 



The next mode is breeding. This is in all cases 

 the most uncertain, and in the generality the most 

 expensive of all. I will take it as it will probably 

 be done by a private gentleman, and give a rough 

 sketch of its probable expense on the most moderate 

 scale ; we shall then judge a little at what we may 

 expect to get a good five-year-old colt ready for use. 

 We will suppose a good sort of mare selected for this 

 purpose, if a superior sort of colt is looked for and 

 none other has a chance of paying expenses. The 

 mare must be put to a good sort of horse : this we 

 will say will cost 51. 5s.: the mare has then to 

 be kept eleven months, and well kept ; this cannot 

 be done under 18. The colt, after being weaned, 

 must be kept on grass, oats, and hay till he is five 



