52 PEECEPT AND PEACTICE. 



useless ; the clerk in the office knows nothing of the 

 horses, unless it be to whom they belong, and not 

 always that — he knows only the name they are 

 booked in. 



Applying to the men hired for the day as strappers, 

 is only paying for information of a very doubtful 

 character. It is all very well to give a man a 

 shilling if you have seen a horse or two out : it is 

 expected ; and you will be a marked man among 

 those gentry if you do not. We will suppose a horse 

 has been out, and found to be lame, or a roarer ; if 

 you, not knowing this, are struck with his appearance 

 in the stable, and are known and respected by these 

 men, they will give you a hint of the failings he has 

 shown ; if, on the contrary, you are known as a 

 mean man, depend on it they will help you to a 

 bargain (if they can). I here allude to horses left 

 for sale, without a private servant to attend them. 



When a stud is sent for sale, if fortunately you 

 happen to have a friend who has hunted in the 

 country the horses came from, he will give you a 

 correct account of the qualifications of each horse. 



