105 



A dealer knows every horse in the country, and, being a good and 

 practised judge, will not buy anything but a " useful ons," which he can 

 do 20 per cent, cheaper than the tyro, or even the gentleman who knows 

 a horse. This leaves the dealer a profit sufficient to enable him to sell 

 to his customer at or under the price the latter would have had to pay 

 the original owner. Then, again the buyer has only to go to the dealer's 

 yard to suit himself, instead of going about the country or to a lot of fairs ; 

 and if he does not like his purchase the dealer will, as a rule, exchange 

 it until he is suited. A man buying his horse in this way obtains the 

 benefit of the matured judgment of the professional, plus whatever 

 gumption he himself may possess. 



At the same time, a man who is a good judge and knows w^hat he 

 wants should, as a return for the sport he allows so many to enjoy, buy 

 his horses direct from the farmer whenever he can, and, as I said in a 

 former chapter, pay liberally. ^loreover, he will have a better chance 

 of ascertaining correctly the breeding, for the chances are the farmer 

 has bred the horse. 



When a regular hunting man, with good means, sees a horse that suit& 

 him he should buy him, even though he may not actually want him. 

 He may not be able to get one when he does, and it takes a long time^ 

 sometimes, to get off selling condition and get on that required for 

 hunting. 



Horses go well in nearly all shapes. The best I ever had was 

 apparently very deficient in some points. He had beautiful shoulders, 

 and trotted /rom them with grand even knee action, but he was a trifle 

 calf-kneed. He had great depth of heart, but ran slack behind the girth, 

 which gave him a " tucked-up " appearance when in hunting condition ; 

 and his back was only fairly good. His quarters were not equal to his 

 shoulders, but they were well let down, and he had grand ragged hips. 

 His hind action was decidedly not good in trotting, but like many 

 another good one his hocks nearly touched each other in that gait, but 

 when he galloped the hindlegs came well to the front, giving powerful 

 impetus, and when changing on our big Irish doubles he kept them 

 wide apart, which gave a fulcrum equally powerful. He was wonderfully 

 game, with a grand constitution, and he loved his work. No matter 

 how hard was the day before, he would come out of his stable the next 

 morning prancing and neighing. He was got by Full-cry, a thorough- 

 bred horse by old Harkaway, and out of a mare by Priam, winner of 

 either the Derby or St. Leger, a pedigree which, perhaps, made up for 

 his deficiency of shape. He carried me for seventeen seasons, I paid only 

 £45 for him, and he was called The Squire. 



We have all had in our time our " favourite hunter," but, like other 

 favourites, he to a great many does harm. If a man through pre- 

 ferential riding gets unduly accustomed to one horse, he often finds it 

 difficult to go as well upon others, and in many instances loses 

 his nerve altogether when put on a strange mount, although he 

 may go like a bird on the horse he is accustomed to. I would therefore 



