THE ' FOOL-CATCHER.' oJ 1 



horse. Amongst these is, the " fool-catcher,'' — 

 namely, a horse with a good head and tail, possessing 

 showy action, but not intrinsically worth twelve 

 months keep. This sort of animal, from his worth- 

 lessness, is commonly purchased at a small price ; 

 but when made fat by bran-mashes, and other soft 

 food, is sure — in London particularly — to answer 

 to his name. But all this is classical. The jug- 

 gler mentioned by Xenophon, requested the gods 

 to allow him to remain only in places where there 

 was much money and abundance of fools, " o'rrou 

 av fig, didovai '/.aoirou (mv d(pdoviav, (ppsvuv ds d(po^iav." A 

 great portion of horse-buyers, however, have to 

 thank themselves for being cheated in their pur- 

 chases, because they will rely on their own judg- 

 ment, without its having had the benefit of expe- 

 rience. Almost every man, in fact, wishes to be 

 thought a good judge of a horse, which, from the 

 various points to be taken into consideration, not 

 only of form, but as relating to action, for several 

 purposes, is of all others the animal most difficult 

 to judge of correctly. But such is the case in other 

 matters than horse-dealing, and the experience 

 which often comes too late for our own use, is rare- 

 ly accepted for that of others. 



The author of these pages can produce two cir- 

 cumstances relating to his own transactions in 

 horse-buying, from which hints may be taken. The 

 first has reference to warranty, and its — in his case 

 — inutility. He purchased a five-year-old hunter 

 of a clergyman in Bedfordshire, who bred him, for 

 the sum of 1 30 guineas, warranted sound. Three 



