156 THE STUD. 



"Where scars healed np are seen, the common 

 thing said to a purchaser is, " You see, he has 

 not cut lately;'"' giving as an excuse for his having 

 at some time done so, " That he was badly 

 shod," did it, " when he was weak ; " or on some 

 unheard of long journey. How far I should credit 

 such assertions, would wholly depend on how the 

 horse went, and how his legs and feet stood, or 

 were put on ; and, as to his not having " cut 

 lately^'' I must remind my reader, it is quite pro- 

 bable the horse has not worked lately either. 



Of the propriety of purchasing or rejecting a 

 horse showincr marks of cuttinir, circumstances or 

 advice must direct the reader's judgment ; but if 

 he cuts speedy, be it a little higher or lower than 

 the usual mark, I strongly advise his being at 

 once rejected for any jDurpose but a cart or 

 hearse. 



BROKEN KXEES. 



I place these on the list of habits of the horse, 

 not because they have, in a general way, any 

 thing to do with them, but because numbers of 

 persons conceive that they have, and consider that 

 a horse who has broken his knees is ipso facto ren- 

 dered liable to do the same again, and that he is 

 consequently unsafe. This idea, under ordinary 

 circumstances, is quite erroneous, and has no more 



