CHAPTER XL 



BUYING PRIVATELY. 



There are some men who have a prejudice against 

 buying horses at auction, on account of the bustle and 

 quickness of the transaction. Such men are not in 

 the habit of making up their minds in a hurry, and 

 cannot bring themselves to decide in a moment whether 

 they like a horse or not. Possibly they have only 

 looked it over amongst a lot of others prior to the com- 

 mencement of the sale, and possibly, too, they have 

 been unable to procure any reliable details as to its past 

 history. Whether a man can and will buy at auction 

 depends greatly upon his temperament, and a man 

 in quest of his first hunter must necessarily be some- 

 what at sea if he attempts to secure what he hopes 

 will be a satisfactory mount in this way, unless, indeed, 

 he relies entirely upon the judgment of someone more 

 experienced than himself. Besides, it is not always that 

 a trial of any particular horse or horses can be arranged 

 for previous to a sale by auction, and most men of no 

 great experience dearly love a trial. It is plain, then, 

 that such individuals should buy privately, either 

 from anyone who happens to have a horse to sell, 

 or from a dealer. And to the novice there is, perhaps, 



