SOCIETY MEETINGS. 
707 
ler. I told the gentleman to take the horse and use him three 
months, and if at any time he felt like paying for him to do so; 
otherwise to return him to me at the end of the three months, 
and to pay whatever he wished for the use of him. The horse 
has been paid for and is one of the finest on the north side to¬ 
day. No veterinary surgeon will ever examine a horse for that 
man again. 
So good a buyer as Mr. John Dupee has dispensed with vet¬ 
erinary examinations entirely and now examines his own horses. 
His reason is that they kept him from buying a good horse. 
There is a class of dealers who work nothing but a skin game 
and their horses seldom if ever go before a veterinarian for in¬ 
spection. They know what will happen. There is another 
class of dealers who handle nothing but the very best, and every 
horse sold is warranted, and they will make their warranty 
good. For a veterinarian to reject one of their horses on a mere 
technicality or personal whim, is to drive a nail in his own pro¬ 
fessional coffin. The chances are the horse will be sold in spite 
of his opinion and should it prove satisfactory, the buyer loses 
confidence in the doctor. I know a doctor who has noticed all 
his life that horses with three legs that are white are of little 
practical value. The specifications for cavalry horses say, “ a 
gelding of uniform or hardy color,” when as a matter of fact a 
mouse-colored horse with a black stripe down his back, a buck¬ 
skin, or a roan, is no better or tougher than the soft bay, ginger¬ 
bread sorrel, or the despised horse with three white legs. Vet¬ 
erinarians are criticised by dealers more than by any other class 
of people, and one who does not go about a horse in a horseman¬ 
like manner, is put down as a professional fool and is so adver¬ 
tised. A short time ago a doctor holding a position with the 
U. S. Government was called to the stock yards to examine a 
draft horse. The hon^e had a pronounced curb, which could be 
plainly seen at quite a distance. There was a crowd of horse¬ 
men around and every one of them saw the curb. The horse 
was not expected to pass the doctor, and it was supposed he 
would reject him at first sight. He spent nearly a half hour 
examining every point about the horse, and finally saw the curb 
and rejected him. A smile passed over the faces of the horse¬ 
men, and the rest of the veterinary profession no doubt had to 
suffer for this man’s shortcomings. I could mention many 
other absurdities which I have observed, but these will suffice. 
The following is my method of examining a horse for sound¬ 
ness : First of all I never examine a horse in harness, as it 
