BUYING PRIVATELY. 69 



are generally to be found in dealers' stables only, 

 whereas the odd horse Avhich is on sale by some private 

 indi^ddual is very often pretty well known in his own 

 district. The novice should beware of the man who 

 is not a regular dealer, but who is always chopping 

 and changing ; he may, of course, secure a bargain 

 from such a man, but he is also very likely to be taken 

 in, for he may be offered a horse which the owner 

 has had only a week or two and really knows nothing 

 about. On the other hand, there are many reliable 

 amateur dealers in various parts of the country, men 

 who are good horsemen, and who profit by their knov/- 

 ledge and skill, selling horses at a fair advance over 

 their cost to them. When the novice knows of such 

 a man and finds in that man's stables something which 

 is likely to suit him, he may easily secure just what he 

 wants, provided he intends to hunt in the same country 

 in which the amateur dealer lives. The last named, 

 if he has anything of a business, is not likely to jeopardise 

 it by " planting a wrong 'un " on to a new beginner, 

 and he is also more likely to tell the truth about a 

 horse which he wants to sell than is the chopper and 

 changer, who is always bupng and selling, and who is 

 probably taken in as often as he takes in others. What 

 the beginner should bear in mind is that when buying 

 or trying to buy a hunter from a private individual 

 he should only purchase a horse which has been fairly 

 hunted, which he himself has seen going with hounds, 

 or about which he has absolutely reliable information. 

 If he asks whether a horse he is looking at has done 

 much hunting, he should never be put off with such a 

 doubtful answer as, " No, not much, he's quite a young 



