42 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



trick that scarcely a night passes without their getting loose. 

 It is a habit which may lead to dangerous results, and should be 

 cured at once by some extra means of securing the halter in its 

 place, or by a strap attached to it and buckled securely (but 

 not tight enough to be a serious inconvenience), around the 

 neck. 



11. Tripping. He must be a skillful practitioner or a mere 

 pretender who promises to remedy this habit. If it arises from 

 a heavy fore-hand and the fore-legs being too much under the 

 horse, no one can alter the natural frame of the animal ; if it 

 proceeds from tenderness of the foot, grogginess, or old lameness, 

 these ailments are seldom cured. Also, if it is to be traced to 

 habitual carelessness and idleness, no whipping will rouse the 

 drone. A known stumbler should never be ridden or driven 

 by any one who values his safety or his life. 



If the stumbler has the foot kept as short and the toe pared 

 as close as safety will permit, and the shoe is rounded at the 

 toe, or has that shape given to it which it naturally acquires in 

 a fortnight from the peculiar action of such a horse, the animal 

 may not stumble quite so much ; or if the disease which pro- 

 duced the habit can be alleviated, some trifling good may be 

 done, but in almost every case a stumbler should be got rid of, 

 or put to slow and heavy work. If the latter alternative is 

 adopted, he may trip as much as he pleases, for the weight of 

 the load and the motion of the other horses will keep him upon 

 his legs. 



IX. HINTS TO BUYERS. 



1. Warranty. A man should have a more perfect knowledge 

 of horses than falls to the lot of most men, and a perfect knowl- 

 edge of the seller also, who ventures to buy a horse without a 

 warranty. This warranty is usually embodied in the receipt, 

 which may be expressed as follows : 



Received at Louisville, August 10th, 1858, from C. D., one hundred dollars 

 for a gray horse warranted only five years old, sound, free from vice, and quiet 

 to ride or drive. A. V. 



"A receipt, including merely the word 'warranted,' ex- 



