172 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 



had laid two healthy curbs open there so as to 

 look as if they were cuts, but she was a good slow 

 hunter. 



A friend at Adare who sold me another bay with 

 sidebones only ten years ago too, when I ought 

 to have known better, was foolish enough to 

 warrant his goods and to tell me them bumps 

 were nothin' when I noticed them. I had never 

 encountered sidebones. 



This led to litigation, the hardest of swearing, 

 and the sale of the horse in dispute for about 

 fifteen pounds. There are so many tricks in the 

 trade that almost the best one can do is to tell 

 the seller if he is at all straightforward that you 

 are going to take his word, for even the best of 

 veterinary surgeons can be hoodwinked. 



Only this year a dealer I know of gummed hair 

 on a horse's knee so cleverly that it was not 

 noticed. When the horse went home and the gum 

 wore out there was quite a conversation on the 

 subject. 



Go into a dealer's yard. They are all treasures 

 and all sound. One is galloped past you very fast. 

 . . . Listen to that one and suggest gently that it 

 should be cantered and come closer. 



Then the whish of the sharp intake of the 

 whistler is too apparent. 



" Whistler. Not at all. A touch of a cold he 

 has. Take him in, Mike ; that horse is the soundest 

 horse of his breed in Ireland, but he was coughin' 



