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necessary to all in order to acquire sufficient judgment to be relied on. 

 Experience is too often bought by loss and disappointment. 



"When you meet a horse tliat at first sight appears suitable to your 

 purpose, showing the general character and qualifications, and having 

 ascertained his price, made conditions as to soundness, and tested his 

 movements in the manner I advise, you may proceed to 



The Look all Over. 



Here I will introduce one of my most important golden rules, which 

 buyers should commit to memory : — 



A horse's power and value must be measured by his weakest points. 



A well-known writer reminds us that " tlie strength of a chain depends 

 upon its weakest link," and this is truly applicable to the horse, whose 

 worth must be estimated by his weakest point. Xo matter what a horse's 

 performances, appearances, or merits may otherwise be, you must reject 

 him for one bad fault. Horses are usually selected for their good points, 

 prominently brought forward by the seller. This is the mistake, and the 

 trap into which the best judges, being carried away by a horse's superior 

 merits, too often fall. Then, in looking at a horse with the eye of a pur- 

 chaser, you must seek first for his defects, not perfections, which, though 

 unusual, is the safest course to pursue. 



A horse takes two looks. The first or general look, by which you take 

 in at a glance his outline and character, directs the centre of vision about 

 the top of the shoulder or withers ; symmetry and good conformation, 

 economy of power, and harmony in his component parts, being what you 

 should look for. This first look should give you a fair impression of the 

 horse's height, power, bone, breeding, and quality, as also his length and 

 breadth, the first being essential to speed, the latter to endurance. A 

 horse should be well proportioned, with an equal balance of power all 

 round. If a horse has a long, powerful, or ponderous forehand, he 

 requires correspondingly powerful hind quarters, which if light, the 

 propelling engine not being equal to its work, the machine soon breaks 

 down. On the other hand, if the fore legs are weak, they will soon give 

 way under the excessiv^e propulsion of powerful hind quarters. The duty 

 of the fore quarters is simply to support the equilibrium of the machine. 

 As is often the case, a horse may have good fore and hind quarters, yet 

 have a defective or light " middle piece " or boiler which supplies the steam 

 that cann<jt be got up without a good firebox to hold the fuel, and a horse 

 with a light carcase is generally a bad feeder, and cannot stand work. The 

 utility, then, of the equus cahallus depends upon his symmetry and well- 

 balanced conformation. 



A horse should stand well, and much of the character of his movements 

 may be judged even while he is at rest. As he stands he walks, and as he 

 walks he gallops. The weight of the body should be evenly di^stributed 

 over the liml)S, and the forelegs so placed that a perpendicular line erected 

 at the point of the toe should touch the point of the shoulder. The hind 

 legs ought to be well under the body, but not too far in or over-weighted, 

 impeding their freedom of action. As it is so important to observe if a 

 horse stands well and firmly on his legs, he should be placed for this 

 purpose on level ground and allowed to stand naturally, not as they are 



