LOW AND HIGH ACTION. 167 



in a steeple oliase. If no one would buy greys 

 for gentlemen's use, we should ere this have been 

 taken to the Bank by Cigar and Peter Simple 

 as a pair. The present very general rejection of 

 horses with good and safe, but not high, action is 

 little less absurd : many of those who would and 

 do object to such horses, would at the same time 

 be candid enough to admit they do not object to 

 the action as beinof had. but unfashionable. This 

 does not make the matter much better for the un- 

 fortunate owner of the horse ; for as everybody 

 now lays some claim to pretension of fashion, 

 while the noble or gentleman would politely say 

 " the horse had not quite as high action as they 

 wished for," the butcher would say, " he can't 

 go no how." The only saving clause, therefore, 

 in buying an unsaleable article at a low price is 

 the loss will be lessened. 



The loss, however, in such cases does not al- 

 ways keep commensurate with the price, or, in 

 other words, goes in the same ratio ; for should we 

 buy a horse for thirty that would, but for low 

 action, be worth sixty, probably a ten pound note 

 loss gets us out of the difficulty ; for the class of 

 persons using thirty pound horses are to be tempted 

 by price : but if we give a hundred and fifty for 

 that which, but for the same failing, or rather 

 want, would be worth double the sum, the diffi- 

 culty would be, with persons using such horses, to 



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