54 PRECEPT AND PEACTICE. 



tent to get as good a hunter as a man can ride, with 

 a very trifling failing, for a hundred, or do you choose 

 to pay a couple of hundred extra where such faiUng 

 does not exist ? 



You may fancy that you can cure him of any bad 

 propensity he may have. If you are a very fine 

 horseman, with fine hands, great nerve, patience, 

 and command of temper, you certainly can cure, or 

 at least greatly lessen, any fault a horse under ordi- 

 nary circumstances may possess ; but do not flatter 

 yourself there is anything like a certainty of your 

 doing so in this case. A horse of such pretensions 

 as we state the supposed one to possess — a horse that 

 but for a something, would be worth as much as any 

 hunter living — depend upon it, has had the best of 

 horsemen on his back, and the utmost they could do 

 with him has been done. If you buy him, you must 

 be content with him as he is ; and, after all, his 

 failings may only call for a little trouble and patience 

 on the part of the rider. 



But among men of large fortunes there are many 

 who will say, ** I will be carried in the front rank, 



