154 THE POST-HORSE. 



that is, with as much blood as can be o-ot, in con- 

 junction with good bone and strength. The riding 

 horse of the pair must have sound legs and feet ; 

 but if a little the worse for wear, an old hunter 

 makes an excellent hand-horse, and innkeepers ge- 

 nerally avail themselves of the saving occasioned 

 by putting horses of a less price in that place than 

 the one which carries the driver. Notwithstanding 

 this, the average purchase money of a useful pair 

 of post-horses cannot be estimated at less than 

 from ^^40 to ^60. On the subject of the pur- 

 chase of post-horses, the writer can relate an amus- 

 ing anecdote, exemplifying the truth of the old 

 saw of " Ne sutor ultra crepidamy He was pre- 

 sent when a friend sold a hunter in Leicestershire 

 for seven hundred guineas. In half an hour after- 

 wards, he, by way of a joke, offered him to an inn- 

 keeper in the same county — who prided himself on 

 his judgment in purchasing post-horses — for the 

 .sum of forty pounds, u'hich he refused to aire. 



