DEALERS' TRICKS 125 



widow (?) who is watching proceedings, says, " No, Jim, 

 don't sell him ; he was the old guv'nor's favourite horse. 

 We ought never to part with him." 



Upon hearing this Juggins insists upon buying him, 

 not knowing he has bought a cnpple who has been 

 levelled up for the occasion, viz., by striking the sound 

 foot with a hammer to render it lame, like the unsound 

 foot, thus making the animal go level and apparently 

 sound. Giles, from the country, then calls to see the 

 in-foal mares, and he is shown two old broken-winded, 

 pot-belly mares. These he is told proved in foal after 

 they came from Scotland, and Giles is tempted to buy 

 them — much to his regret, for after foaling season he can 

 see how he has been bitten. 



A great many horsemen, and veterinary surgeons too, 

 have been deceived when buying a horse with regard to 

 his age. Experience — and experience only — ^teaches how 

 to tell a horse's age. I always examine a horse's teeth 

 and afterwards ask the correct age — if I know the owner 

 has bred the animal ; and by constantly practising I 

 can sometimes tell the age of any horse up to thirty years. 

 Many buyers are deceived when they visit Barnet fair ; 

 they are shown a sturdy cob and told by the dealer that 

 he is just five years old, having a nice full mouth, when 

 really he is only two years old. The buyer, through 



