284 BUYING AND SELLING HORSES. 



" expert on horses," I will give my readers my rules for judg- 

 ing horses in buying. First, after a general casual look-over of 

 the animal under consideration, I commence as does a good 

 builder — builder of wells excepted — at the bottom ; first of 

 all I examine the feet, especially the front feet. The old say- 

 ing is — and there never was a truer — " No foot, no horse." 

 I insist on a sound foot, or at least one closely approximating 

 that of soundness. An otherwise good horse need not be dis- 

 carded for a temporary ailment, however, such as thrush, for 

 instance, that can readily be cured. 



"When I have passed on the foot I then proceed upwards on 

 the legs, examining each one separately, running my hand the 

 entire length and feeling for splints, puffs, or anything liable 

 to terminate in lameness or to be detrimental when selling on 

 a competitive market. "When examining the legs and joints I 

 look sharply for curbs, spavins, and t.horoughpins on the hind 

 legs and for splints, weak or sprung knees on the front, or a 

 tendency to either of the above on all places where liable to 

 occur. When examining a horse for spavin the best position 

 for it is a " squatting " one in front, where you can see alike 

 the inside of both hock joints at the same time. 



After thoroughly convincing myself that the underpinning 

 is all right, my next move is to critically examine the eyes ; 

 these have been, in the human family, termed the windows of 

 the soul ; if horses have no souls, still these eyes are the means 

 by which they connect themselves with the outer world, and it 

 is a matter of great importance that such windows be not 

 darkened. 



I like a good, bright, hazel eye, but, as this is not very com- 

 mon among horses, then give me a lively, pleasant eye of an- 

 other shade, with not too much white around the edges. I 

 would much rather find white than red, however, as I never 

 was partial to red-eyed horses or green-eyed dogs. 



To a natural horseman, well up in his business, very much 

 of the character and disposition of a horse may be determined 

 from his eyes ; yet it would be a difficult matter for any in- 



