282 BUYING AND SELLING HORSES. 



don't require a college education to run a grocery store or meat 

 market, or to successfully deal in other commodities, from 

 brick and lime to watches and jewelry. It does not require an 

 unusually smart man to be a lawyer, as lawyers run, especially 

 if he is a natural liar and void of conscience. 



To be a successful politician, chicanery and a free gift of 

 gab seems to fill the bill. To be a minister of the gospel does 

 not require an abundance of learning or of really business 

 qualifications to be successful, as for instance, an illiterate man 

 like Sam Jones can make a temporary success of this business 

 almost equal to the better and more highly educated. As I 

 have said, it don't require great talent to become a successful 

 lawyer, politician, merchant, or minister; neither does it re- 

 quire great talent to become an ordinary or even a good 

 mechanic ; but when we come to the business of buying and 

 selling horses we find that it tries a man for all he is worth ; a 

 business that cannot be successfully carried on by the ordinary 

 business man, and a man to succeed must have a peculiar talent 

 for this very business. 



To be a successful dealer in horses as a permanent business, 

 the first requirement is to fully understand the horse in all his 

 moods and variations. Next, one must be a business man and 

 attend strictly to his business and cater to the wants and de- 

 mands of his customers. He should be a good buyer and a 

 good salesman. 



As regards location for this business, my observation and 

 experience teaches me that it is better to locate at the selling 

 instead of the buying end of the route. I know that each end 

 has its advantages, but give me the money end in preference 

 to the breeding, as a rule. 



Dealing in live stock, other than horses, absorbs much 

 vitality from a successful salesman, with close competition; 

 also calls for more or less exposure and fatigue ; but it requires 

 far less skill, good judgment, and shrewdness to handle sheep, 

 cattle, or swine than it does horses. When a man has the 

 ability to handle horses there is no doubt more pleasure and 



