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 1^1 J. J. 
 
THE HORSE; 
 
 HOW TO BUY AND SELL. 
 
 GIVING THE POINTS WHICH DISTINGTHSH A 
 
 SOUND FROM AN UNSOUND HORSE. 
 
 BY 
 
 PETER HOWDEN 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 ORANGE JUDD COMPANY, 
 
 53 & 54 LAFAYETTE PLACE. 
 1902. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Cougrcss, iu the year 1887, by the 
 
 O. JUDD CO., 
 
 In the Office ol the Librarian of Cougress, at Washington. 
 
PUBLISHEES' PREFACE. 
 
 The rapidly growing fondness among both sexes for 
 Horses in the United States, is very naturally develop- 
 ing a desire for knowledge regarding the points and 
 characteristics of this noble animal. Hitherto this 
 knowledge has been confined to few. The present 
 volume abounds in general information, stated in so 
 clear and simple a manner as to enable every one to 
 intelligently buy and sell a horse. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The object of the jiresent work is to explain, in the 
 simplest manner, what constitutes a sound and what an 
 unsound horse; to note doubtful points, and such things 
 as operate against the proper development of the animal 
 in all parts; and further, as an '' unsound horse" is often 
 less dangerous and more useful than the common ac- 
 ceptation of the word "unsound" would imply, I shall 
 take pains to distinguish real from imaginary defects. 
 
 To recapitulate the objects of this little treatise, they 
 are — 
 
 1. To ascertain what constitutes strict soundness in 
 
 the horse. 
 
 2. To note deviations from soundness unimportant 
 
 except as to their effect on the market value of the 
 animal. 
 
 3. General observations on used horses. 
 
 As, of necessity, these subjects sometimes run into 
 each other, a copious index at the end of this book will 
 save the reader any perplexity, and enable him to find 
 what he wants. 
 
 There have from time to time lieen published plenty 
 of books upon tlie real and imaginary perfections of the 
 horse; but it must ])e admitted that no horse ever came 
 up to the standard of excellence set up by the authors 
 of these works. Of course not. These writers have 
 brought together a collection of equine excellences, and 
 made it appear to the general reader that a sound and 
 good horse possesses them all. Such argument is not 
 based on common sense. As well expect to find the av- 
 7 
 
8 PREFACIl. 
 
 erage human form as divinely beautiful as the Apollo 
 Belvidere or the Venus de Medici; or, at least, to reject 
 as models for the student in sculpture or painting all 
 subjects not ^*^ thoroughly up to the mark." Nobody, 
 nothing, is perfect according to our own artificial stan- 
 dards; but with a little attention to practical detail, as 
 laid down by men of experience, and a large allowance 
 of common sense, we may find the tools for our work. 
 
 There are few horses that would stand the strict test 
 of examination for purposes of unqualified warranty, 
 even among those that have not been worked; but few 
 indeed would be those that had been worked that would 
 not fall under the denomination of unsound. 
 
 One of the most experienced men in the business, who 
 dealt for many years in horses for those who can and will 
 have the best animals in the country, said, "Not one in 
 three of fresh unused horses would pass an examination; 
 and when a horse has reached five years without work, 
 reject him. Do not trouble yourself to find out what it 
 is, there is certainly something wrong about the brute." 
 My experience bears out this counsel. In quadrupeds 
 and men destined to labor, there must be some inherent 
 deficiency in them if they go long without work. 
 
 It should be borne in mind that, even where " price is 
 no object," the purchaser cannot insure the possession of 
 a perfect animal, according to any abstract standard. 
 There are very few really bad horses, and, providing horses 
 are properly "placed," that is, put to their right use^ 
 the use to which nature fitted them — all difficulties in 
 dealing in horse-flesh will vanish. There is not a grain 
 of sense or truth in the assertion that the horses of to-day 
 are far inferior to the "well-bred horse of old." Again, 
 exceptions do not always prove the rule, and the references 
 to one or more old beauties amongst a lot of young and 
 not beautiful animals go for nothing; or prove no more 
 than that the favorites of older days were not over- 
 
PREFACE. 9 
 
 worked. Horses not over-worked improve in beauty 
 from eight to sixteen years. During that period the car- 
 tilage becomes absorbed, the head smaller and sharper m 
 outline; the prominent bones and tissues again present a 
 youthful roundness, the legs become fine, and the ten- 
 dons acquire a sharp, well-defined appearance; the horse 
 himself might be taken by a good judge to be much 
 younger than in reality he is, did not his mouth bear ev- 
 idence to the contrary. The connoisseur, however, 
 rarely needs the evidence of the mouth, the general shape 
 and contour of the horse being in most cases sufficient. 
 
 It may be some consolation to those whose knowledge 
 or rather predilection for certain horses is derived from 
 books, to learu that large '^ users" very rarely ol)tain ex- 
 actly such horses as they would choose, they therefore 
 adopt the wise course of balancing one thing with an- 
 other, and purchase the best they can get. 
 
 The present Duke of Wellmgton recently observed of 
 a horse:— ^^ A great many faults might be found with his 
 hocks; he could not pass an examination. But I do not 
 mind, I know well enough he is a good wearer, and I 
 will give you a cheque for him." The duke's observa- 
 tion proved him to be a practical horseman; in short, a 
 good judge. Horses are essentially animals for use, and 
 although the whole modern system of breeding and train- 
 ing tends to produce animals compactly built and beauti- 
 ful to look upon, still no amount of training will conceal 
 from the practised eye the features useful or useless for 
 the purpose in view. 
 
THE HORSE ; HOW TO BUY AND SELL 
 
 When the extensive and widely ramified trade in horses 
 is considered, the prevailing ignorance of the public as to 
 the laws both physical and civil, relating to then^ sound- 
 ness or unsoundness, is a matter of surprise. 
 
 Many people appear to think that such knowledge is 
 confined to the larger dealers and proprietors, so that, 
 when a private individual — though a really bad judge of 
 horse-flesh — succeeds in selling, most innocently, a horse 
 that a short time afterwards becomes lame, he immedi- 
 ately acquires the reputation of being "a knowing one" 
 — ^' a deep hand;" etc. 
 
 It is hoped this little work will aid m protecting botli 
 buyer and seller from useless litigation. It will be my 
 aim both to free the Warranty from the fallacious security 
 with which it too often invests the purchaser, and to re- 
 move the bugbear terrors that surround the seller and too 
 often prevent his obtaining a proper value for a horse. 
 From not knowing the extent of liabilities incurred by 
 the warranty, he is led from motives of prudence, to de- 
 cline warranting even horses that are sound. I shall also 
 sliow when a horse should not be rejected because he is 
 unsound, and why, frequently, a sound horse should be 
 avoided. 
 
 The late Professor Coleman used to say, ^^ any devia- 
 tion from nature is an unsoundness." The opinions of 
 most writers, since his time, embrace the same doctrine. 
 To differ from the learned professor altogether would 
 ])Q presumptuous; although, I tlimk, whilst he put his 
 11 
 
12 THE HORSE. 
 
 meaning into short and quaint language that it might 
 be easily understood, he calculated upon its receiving a 
 liberal construction. Still, however, the professor con- 
 sidered the above definition of unsoundness a neat and 
 concise explanation of a difficult subject. 
 
 The exceptions may not be very numerous with regard 
 to strict soundness, but there may, nevertheless, be many 
 deviations from nature which, instead of impeding the 
 animal functions, are of great service in adapting domes- 
 ticated animals to the artificial state in which they have 
 to live. Let us take an illustration. The hands of the 
 artisan or laborer, rendered coarse and hard by his daily 
 vocations, must be considered a deviation from nature; 
 but a man with delicate hands, who occasionally goes 
 boating, is aware, from the blisters he gets on his hands, 
 of the convenience and comfort of a more liorny texture 
 of skin. 
 
 If it were customary for people, upon being taken into 
 any kind of employment, to be "warranted," could a 
 man with these hard hands be warranted sound, ^. e., in 
 a natural state, or capable of doing his work proi)erly? 
 Nevertheless, though deviating from nature, the horny 
 hand is the best adapted to hard work. 
 
 If tlie hands of a man had never done hard manual 
 labor, but had always been employed m writing, his skin 
 would remain unaltered, thin, and tender, and he would 
 be adjudged sound, in consequence of his not deviating 
 from nature; Init his hands must undergo an alteration of 
 structure l)efore he could earn his food by plowing or 
 digging. It IS not, therefore, the training alone, but the 
 altered structure consequent thereon, that is required; 
 yet no one will deny that the adapted structure is the 
 most valuable for performing the requisite labor. Devia- 
 tions equally slight or unimportant should not vitiate a 
 warranty in horse-flesh. 8ucli vitiation is, however, often 
 attempted, leading to enormous expense, tedious litiga- 
 
HOW TO BUY AND SELL. 13 
 
 tion, and frequently the breaking-up of long-established 
 friendships, every one of which evils might be easily pre- 
 vented by a thorough understanding of the subject I 
 would elucidate. The works on the soundness and un- 
 soundness of horses that have hitherto come under my 
 notice have been, for the most part, compilations or refer- 
 ences to cases that have been litigated, which cases, in- 
 stead of being of any value or service to those unac- 
 quainted with the structure and habits of the horse, have 
 only served to mystify them. 
 
 WARRANTY. 
 
 It has been almost universally supposed that a warranty 
 extends to a definite period. Some nnagine that, if any- 
 thing happens to render a horse unsound during the first 
 month after purchase, the horse can be returned. Others 
 extend the period, and, when told that the warranty does 
 not go forward, but, on the contrary, back from the time 
 of its date, want to know the use of such a document. 
 
 USE OF WARRAIS^TY. 
 
 The folloAving are the advantages to be derived from 
 the possession of a warranty. Supj^ose a horse should Ije- 
 come ill or diseased within such a reasonable time after 
 purchase as to lead to the belief that the ailment, in all 
 probability, had been caught prior to the sale of the ani- 
 mal, then it could be returned as unsound, because it did 
 not fulfil the conditions of the warranty at the time it 
 was given. Or suppose, within a few days after the pur- 
 chase has been made, the horse becomes lame, and it is 
 possible to prove that the lameness existed prior to the 
 
14 THE HORSE. 
 
 cluinge of ownership, and that the horse had not been 
 nsed. as is generally the case with horses of his chiss, for 
 six weeks after his cure, then the animal is returnable. A 
 horse, therefore, that is turned out to gi'ass after having 
 been afflicted with lameness (unless it can be proved that 
 he has been out for a very considerable period, and that 
 he has been sound during a portion of that time), cannot 
 projierly be warranted as sound, and is returnable if he 
 becomes unsound in the part affected before. 
 
 Provided that the animal had been properly used ac- 
 cording to his class and condition, and that no lameness 
 takes place within a month after he commences work, 
 whether in the service of his new or his late owner, the 
 warranty would cease at the end of a month. The safest 
 way, therefore, is not to warrant the horse until he has 
 been at least six weeks at ordinary work after a perfect 
 cure has been effected. 
 
 As there are some physicians who assert that nobody is 
 perfectly sane, and that every one is insane upon one 
 topic or another, so there will be found enlightened vet- 
 erinarians who assert that there are no sound horses. 
 Certainly not, if they have ever done a day's work. If the 
 slightest deviation from the state in which the colt was, 
 prior to beginning work, it is to be significant of un- 
 soundness, I grant that with used horses they are right. 
 The hard condition of the working horse, which really is 
 the cause of his endurance, is, according to this dictum, 
 an unsoundness ; because the very work necessary to pro- 
 duce this desired condition will in most cases effect some 
 slight alteration of structure. 
 
 Nor is the charge of the veterinary surgeon respecting 
 unsoundness much less deserving of censure. Horses 
 were made for the use of man; and many of the devia- 
 tions from nature brought on by that use, so far from 
 causing inconvenience to the animal, assist him in the 
 work he has to do. Are we not justified, then, in at- 
 
HOW TO BUY AXD SELL. 15 
 
 tributing certain alterations in the structure of animals to 
 the goodness of nature, rather than in questioning their 
 soundness when such alteration, instead of being detri- 
 mental, is for their benefit? 
 
 Taking substantially, however. Professor Coleman's 
 comprehensive definition of warranty for my text, I will 
 proceed to give a list of the most usual causes for i-eject- 
 ing warranted horses; distinguishing those marks or pecu- 
 liarities which are really only blemishes from those which 
 do render the animal unsound; and, to make the work as 
 complete as possible, I will endeavor to make clear the 
 vices of the horse, with their attendant consequences. 
 
 EXAMINATION. 
 
 On the horse being led out of the stable, it is usual to 
 walk up to his withers to ascertain if he is of the required 
 height, as there is generally a difference between the ap- 
 parent measure in the stable and that taken out of doors, 
 arising from the want of level in the stall. 
 
 Next, you should stand before the middle of the chest, 
 to see whether there is any difference in the size of the 
 two fore-feet. 
 
 THE FEET. 
 
 COXTRACTIOI!^. 
 
 Contractions, Avhether arising from original malforma- 
 tion or from subsequent lameness, are by many pro- 
 nounced unsound. Others admit, where no inconven- 
 ience arises from a naturally small foot, that it does not 
 constitute an unsoundness. Why should feet naturally 
 
IG THE HORSE. 
 
 small or niiiTOW at the lieels, caused by being redred on 
 high, dry, or hard soil, be pronounced unsound? 
 
 Nature has made the small foot as perfect as the larger 
 one. The inside, or sensitive foot, is not too large for 
 the horny case, nor has it with difficulty been squeezed 
 into the case; but the hard, horny case fits the inside with 
 l^erfect ease. Where contraction is the cause of lameness, 
 it usually arises from changing a natural state of living to 
 one that is artificial. The heat or dryness of the stable 
 is one of the principal causes of contraction, as it aggra- 
 vates the inflammation produced by work and by the 
 stimulating nature of the food. 
 
 Reason, therefore, would suggest that the horse reared 
 in the softest and wettest ground, and having the largest- 
 sized foot, would be most likely to receive injury from 
 the change; and so it has proved in innumerable cases. 
 Great attention and care may keep such feet moderately 
 sound for a short time; but they become crippled almost 
 as soon as they are worked. Not so with the naturally 
 smaller but harder hoof, which has been accustomed to 
 something nearer to the stable dryness; it is not, there- 
 fore, from this cause, so soon inflamed. Horses with 
 small hard feet have less fatty membrane to carry, having 
 generally been reared on hard dry grounds. Food not be- 
 ing so plentiful in these situations as on the moist, soft, 
 and fertile plains, they have had to travel farther for it; 
 deriving much good from the exercise thereby mduced, 
 and especially from the dry and bracnig air of more hilly 
 regions. Horses whose hoofs are naturally small and 
 hard are, therefore, better prepared in every way for the 
 treatment they have to undergo in their apj^renticeship 
 to work. They have less useless weight of their own to 
 carry; they are already accustomed to hard dry ground, 
 and to more violent exercise. Horses witli small hoofs ai"e 
 more moderate in their action: their feet are not subject 
 to violent inflammation. AVhen inflammation does take 
 
HOW TO BUY AXD SELL. 17 
 
 place, it is usually slow, and some time elapses before it 
 produces lameness; with a little care they are generally 
 kept in health, and must be pronounced to be Soui^^D. 
 
 OPEX HOOFS. 
 
 The larger-footed horse has more useless weight of his 
 own, not only from having been accustomed to wet, low 
 situations, but also from having had, when young, a 
 greater abundance of food. From having had less exer- 
 cise, and from the heavy atmosphere having induced 
 quiet, the horn of his hoof has become thin, soft, and 
 weak. The action of this class of horse is high, which 
 is peculiarly bad for the shape of his feet. This habit 
 has been partly acquired through his having been obliged 
 in marshy situations to clear his feet from the soil; but 
 in some horses bred on plains it arises from the position 
 of the shoulder. 
 
 It must be obvious to every one, that bringing these 
 horses into dry stables, and making them work upon 
 hard and dry ground, aggravated by their high action, does 
 a greater violence to them than to the small-footed animal; 
 and, as a natural consequence, a very little work pro- 
 duces serious inflammation, pumice-sole, and sometimes 
 perpetual lameness. 
 
 These diseases are not merely the result of neglect; 
 they are induced by putting the horse to a kind of Avork 
 for which he is totally unfitted. 
 
 The large-hoofed horse, certainly in his earlier years, 
 should be put to moderate if not slow Avork, with as little 
 weight upon his back as possible. 
 
 FLAT FOOT. 
 
 Where the sole of the foot is large and flat, and slightly 
 convex, and where the heels are open, it is often mis- 
 
18 THE HORSE. 
 
 taken for u good open foot, even though the horny cover- 
 ing is too thin and soft. Such a foot will not stand 
 much work; but if its peculiarities are not the result ot 
 disease, the foot may be considered Soui^D. 
 
 PERFECT FOOT. 
 
 The intermediate foot, that is, a foot between the con- 
 tracted and open one, may be deemed perfection; but, as 
 this degree of excellence is rarely met with, we must be 
 satisfied with that which is the nearest approach to it. 
 
 PUMICE SOLE. 
 
 If the sole of the foot is in the slightest degree convex, 
 or lower at tho middle than at the sides, it may be 
 inferred that the horse has had inflammation of the foot, 
 which has divided some of the laminae that attach the 
 inner foot to the horny covering. These laminae, which 
 are one thousand in number, in the healthy foot support 
 the entire weight of the horse, as it were, on springs, 
 instead of letting it rest on the sole alone. In the early 
 stage of inflammation but few of these laminae are injured. 
 The presence of pumice-sole stamps the horse as 
 
 Uksoukd. 
 
 THE KNEES. 
 
 Upon the spotless purity of the knees too much stress 
 is often laid, but security alone is the object to be con- 
 sidered. A properly-formed horse, with his fore and 
 hind quarters proportioned to each other, and his 
 action straight and true, will not fall, except from over 
 fatigue. Here do not deceive yourself, but take care, 
 
HOW TO BUY A:N"D SELL. 19 
 
 that in proportion to the beauty or length of the hind 
 quarters be also the obliriuity or slanting of the shoulder- 
 blades. The wither has nothing to do with this — so far 
 as regards thinness, height, and other fancies — but it is 
 best when thick at the lower part next the back. A 
 horse thus chosen, with broken knees, unless the tendon 
 is injured, is safer and better, if he has decent hind 
 quarters, than one having upright shoulders, high withers, 
 and all the popular requisites, even with the most 
 immaculately-covered knees. Depend upon it he will 
 have broken knees before he is eight years old. If he 
 escapes' it till then, it is a clear proof that he has never 
 been tried; for the first time he is so, down he will be 
 sure to dro]). 
 
 AVhen your chief desire is that your horse should not 
 fall, care less about the length and beauty of the hind 
 quarters than the proper form of the fore ones, unless 
 price is no object, when you may have the nearer approx- 
 imatiou to perfection. Upright shoulders are not of 
 much consequence in harness, as the weight of draught 
 assists the balance. 
 
 The mere cutting of the skin, without further injury, 
 does not render the horse weaker on his legs than he was 
 before the accident. You may be assured that he was as 
 frightened at falling as his rider; and the only mischief 
 he has done is m having decreased, not his working, but 
 his market, price. 
 
 BROKEN KKEES. 
 
 Should the horse at any time have been wounded by 
 falling, the injury he has sustained is to be taken into 
 consideration. 
 
 If he has been down at all, even though the skin has 
 not been broken, there will always remain a scurf under 
 the hair, which, to the practised eye, is easily perceptible. 
 
'^0 THE HORSE. 
 
 Where this is all the damage he has sustained, he is 
 neither unsound nor blemished. 
 
 Where there is an obvious scar from a cut of the skin, 
 it is evidence of a broken knee, let the accident have 
 occurred when or how it may; never heed the excuses 
 offered, take it for granted that it was done against the 
 animal's will, by coming in contact with the ground. 
 This state of broken knee is sound, and the mark a 
 blemish only, provided it is healed over and the skin 
 formed. Prior to this state of perfect cure, from the 
 time of the accident the horse is Unsouxd. 
 
 Should the injury, however, have been sufficient to 
 divide the extensor tendon, or otherwise impede or alter 
 the action of the animal, although the part is healed 
 over, he is U:n^soujs^d. 
 
 SWOLLEN KNEES. 
 
 Another case of injured, though not always broken, 
 knees, may as well be mentioned; that is, where they are 
 swollen: the horse is then Unsound. 
 
 Where they are of a wenny, or capped, or callous 
 nature, neither increasing nor diminishing, nor requir- 
 ing extra care, and the action or work of the horse is not 
 interfered with, the horse is Sound. 
 
 But, if the wenny, capped, or callous feature is very 
 conspicuous, it is a blemish, and, where it interferes witli 
 the action or work, the horse is Unsound. 
 
 THE EYES. 
 
 The eyes require a very careful examination, as on 
 their proper action our safety and comfort in the use of 
 the animal mainly depend. 
 
now TO BUY A^STD SELL. 21 
 
 A horse with perfect eyes never shies, unless from 
 mismanagement and savage cruelty; and even then he 
 may be cured. He may look at various objects, and, 
 when fresh from want of exercise, he is likely enough to 
 play and frisk on observing different things, particularly 
 such things as pass him quickly; but he may, neverthe- 
 less, be perfectly free from vice. 
 
 It is absolutely necessary that good light should be 
 obtained, in order to inspect the eyes, and care should be 
 taken that the animal be kept quiet for a sufficient 
 time to enable you to observe these organs narrowly 
 and colleotedly. The light best suited for this 
 purpose is that which comes from above, and above only, 
 like that which proceeds from a lantern roof, as in picture- 
 galleries and ill some riding-schools. The next best 
 light comes from the skylight common in the latter, or in 
 a covered ride with a light above. Having placed tlie 
 horse immediately under the light, you will be able to 
 see and examine every defect as clearly as thougli you 
 were looking at a piece of crystal. The best position 
 one can generally adopt is to put his head in the stal^le- 
 door, placing yourself in the shade, inside the stable, and 
 looking through one of the eyes with great care, towards 
 the light. When satisfied with the inspection, proceed with 
 equal deliberation and pains to examine the other eye. 
 Now stand opposite the animal's face, and examine both 
 eyes well, by looking through them towards the stable or 
 shade. It does not always follow that, liecause one eye 
 is perfect, the other may not be tainted, althongh this 
 may not be obvious at the moment. 
 
 Any disease in the eye, even from the slightest cold or 
 inflammation, until it l)e completely cured, or until it 
 has terminated m total blindness, stamps the animal as 
 
 Li nsound. 
 
 All eyes predisposed to inflammation, although not 
 actually affected by this complaint at the time of the 
 
22 THE HORSE. 
 
 warranty being drawn up, must be considered to stamp 
 the horse as Uksound. 
 
 Where there is reason to suppose that all tendency to 
 inflammation in these organs has ceased, whether from 
 the animal's age or otherwise, if there are any marks of 
 injury remaining — as is mostly the case — from the small- 
 est cataract, not larger than a needle's point; or if there 
 IS the slightest dilatation of the pupil, the horse is 
 
 Uksound. 
 
 In other words, a horse with either eye not actually 
 perfect is, if not blind, unsound. 
 
 TOTAL BLINDXESS. 
 
 If the animal is totally blind, either with one or both 
 eyes, then there is no danger accompanying his use 
 beyond what can be easily calculated upon; and if he is 
 capable of doing the same work as other horses of his 
 class similarly afflicted, he may l)e warranted sound, 
 ranking only as Blemished. 
 
 THE MOUTH. 
 
 The age of the horse may be ascertained by examining 
 the teeth and general ajipearance of the mouth. Taking 
 it for granted that the reader will be acquainted with the 
 peculiar structural marks, as reference can easily be 
 made to plates on the su])ject, it only remains for me to 
 state, that, by careful study and proper opportunity, one 
 may learn to ascertain the age of the horse with tolerable 
 accuracy, until the animal has turned his twentieth year. 
 This is allowed by j^hose who have had the ojiportunity 
 and wish to ascertain the trutli; but it is the interest of 
 many to keep up the vulgar error that beyond the age of 
 eight the horse's age cannot be calculated Avith any car- 
 
HOW TO BUY AKD SELL. 23 
 
 tamty. It is for this reason no one lias a horse more 
 than eight years old for sale! 
 
 CONTRACTED FEET. 
 
 Having already considered the general formation of 
 the feet, we now take np the near fore one, to see 
 whether it is in any way diseased, or whether there are 
 symptoms of its having formerly been so. 
 
 To describe what slionld be the width of heel, and 
 other peculiarities which form a perfect foot for each 
 horse, would be indeed superfluous; such knowledge can 
 be acquired only by study and practice. To point out 
 the result of eacli defect when ascertained, so that the 
 initiated may judge for themselves, is all that can be at- 
 tempted. The thorough horesman is the only one who 
 will appreciate more elaborate description. This asser- 
 tion may perhaps appear over-confident; but, if blame 
 attach to it, I liope those who have urged me on will 
 lighten the burden. Thorough horsemen are compara- 
 tively few, but the incompetent are numerous. This 
 work, it is to be hoped, will be the means of adding to 
 the former by decreasing the latter. 
 
 It is a matter of dispute whether contraction of the 
 foot renders tlie horse unsound or not. All will agree, 
 where the climate is exceedingly hot and the horse goes 
 sound, that this is a much better wearing foot, and more 
 likely to keep free from lameness than the expanded soft 
 hoof, which, from being wide, and predisposed in the sole 
 to concavity, is, par excellence, pronounced sound; yet, 
 in fact, while the narrow foot will stand equally well on 
 wet, and on hard dry soil, on the latter the wide-spread 
 flat foot will quickly give way on account of its proneness 
 to injury from its softness. 
 
24 THE HORSE. 
 
 As feet of this description are adapted only for the 
 work such horses are required to perform in their native 
 country, it may j^erhaps be riglit enough to call them 
 sound, prior to receiving injury. It is for the buyer to 
 judge whether or not they are adapted to the work he 
 requires. 
 
 Still, why this weakly foot should be allowed to pass 
 as sound, to the prejudice of the other, I have always 
 been at a loss to know. The colt foaled with certain 
 sized feet — the effect of the soil on which it was bred — 
 although it has never been afflicted with lameness or dis- 
 ease of any kind, is said to have contracted feet, and is 
 condemned as unsound, because it is imagined that its 
 hoofs are narrower than Fancy's prescribed limits. '^ He 
 is unsound," says one; ^^lam doubtful," says another, 
 " whether, according to law, it is unsoundness; he seems 
 to go very well at present. He might have been better 
 had they been a little more open. " 
 
 Why should this be? In the human bemg, not only 
 in different nations, but in the same country, we see peo- 
 ple with feet of various sizes, but they are all equally 
 capable of walking and of common exertion. I never 
 knew a fast runner or a great walker amongst bipeds 
 who had an extremely large foot; on the contrary, tlie 
 feet of pedestrians, properly so called, are mostly, if 
 not of the moderate size, rather under it. '^ Yes," some 
 will say, *M3ut the human foot is not confined within a 
 box of horn, capable of yielding but slightly." Most 
 true; but nature fits the horn to the foot, and not the 
 foot to the horn. 
 
 Horses, therefore, which have naturally small feet, but 
 not so small as to cause them inconvenience, may witli- 
 out doubt be pronounced Sound. 
 
 Should the various reasons stated in this and previous 
 articles not be convincing, I may say that some of tlie 
 best veterinary surgeons are of opinion that, where 
 
now TO BUY AKD SELL. 25 
 
 contraction is not attended by inconvenience to the ani- 
 mal, it onglit not to be deemed an unsoundness, althougb 
 in England it was legally decided as such many years 
 ago. Some persons, however, pronounce it consistent 
 with soundness, in spite of that decision. Professor 
 Coleman once remarked, that he " cared not what had 
 been decided, no Jury, after such evidence as would now 
 be brought into court, could decide in favor of so absurd 
 a law." 
 
 The statutes respecting soundness have altered, and 
 must continue to be altered, with the advance of time and 
 improved veterinary knowledge. In Xenophon's time, 
 when horses were not shod, the hardest hoof was consid- 
 ered the best and soundest, because it wore the longest, 
 although it was upright and contracted. When instruct- 
 ing his soldiers how to choose horses, he describes these 
 feet; but at the same time shows that he was aware of 
 the evils of contraction brought on by disease, and he 
 gives directions how it may be avoided. I shall here 
 only add that extreme developments are as bad as mal- 
 formations produced by disease or work. 
 
 ARTIFICIAL CON-TRACTION". 
 
 Artificial contraction, which must most always be the 
 result of disease, let the disease arise from bad manage- 
 ment, bad shoeing, neglect, or whatever cause, may bring 
 on inflammation. The horny sole will not contract upon 
 its contents, until either in action, or in the stable, the 
 horse ceases to rest some of his weight upon his heels. 
 This resting contracts the internal foot; the heat con- 
 tracts the horn to it, and alters the secretion, so that the 
 horn either gets thicker and stronger, or so thin and ten- 
 der as to become what is called a shelly hoof. This shows 
 that naturally small and narrow feet are very different 
 2 
 
26 THE HOESE. 
 
 from artificial contraction, wliicli can be cured only at 
 the earliest stage of the disease. It may subsequently be 
 sometimes relieved; but rarely, after an inflammation of 
 a few weeks' standing, without a powerful remedy being 
 applied, will there be so decided a cure effected as that 
 the horse may be pronounced sound. If the contraction 
 arose from a disease that had been cured, and the horse 
 had been doing the work of horses of his class for six 
 weeks without inconvenience or extraordinary care, then 
 he IS Sound. 
 
 Lameness from contraction is preferable to the lame- 
 ness consequent upon convex or pumice sole; the latter 
 unfitting the horse for any but slow or moderate work. 
 
 In order that I may not be misunderstood in treating 
 of artificial contraction, I should mention the exception 
 to tlie rule, though I do not think tliat contraction which 
 comes on gradually, and without an injury from a second- 
 ary natural cause, should be considered artificial. For 
 instance, if from want of exercise the frog receives no 
 pressure, the inside of the foot has less work to perform, 
 and gradually shrinks or wastes, and the horn contracts. 
 When this takes place gradually, without inflammation, 
 and without causing lameness or inconvenience, the horse 
 is Sound. 
 
 CORNS. 
 
 Corns are an unsoundness. They are mostly on the 
 inside heel, lookin;^ like a bruise or extravasated blood. 
 They are more or less troublesome, according to the na- 
 ture of the foot. In the low-heeled, thin, and brittle 
 hoof, they are the worst and most troublesome; in the 
 stronger hoof they are of less consequence; provided they 
 are not soft corns or others of a serious character, and 
 if the horse is a very superior animal, with good hoofs. 
 
HOW TO BUY AN^D SELL. 27 
 
 going sound at the time^ I should not reject him for my 
 own use. Where the feet are otherwise good, with care 
 and proper shoeing corns are soon cured. I Avould give 
 the owner a short time to try and cure soft corns if the 
 horse is otherwise sufficiently good. While a corn of 
 any kind exists, the animal is ITNSOu:srD. 
 
 Corns may be produced in so sliort a period, that, 
 should you discover them immediately after purchase, 
 you cannot return the horse, unless you can prove they 
 existed prior to purchase. 
 
 If any reader of this, witli feet most tender from bad 
 corns, is wincing away in tight boots, he should be in- 
 formed that there is no analogy between human corns 
 and those of horses. The corn of the horse is a bruise 
 similar to that caused by pinching up a piece of the skin, 
 so {IS to leave the blood underueath, and which, previous 
 to going away, assumes a black appearauce. In the horse 
 it is best to cut them out, and keep off the pressure till 
 thoroughly recovered. Soft corns are the least common 
 with horses, and are nearer akin to those of the human 
 being. Animals afflicted in this way are Unsound. 
 
 SAND-CRACK. 
 
 This is a crack or fissure mostly situate in the inside 
 quarter of the forefoot, beginning just below the coronet, 
 between hair and hoof, and passing down towards the bot- 
 tom of the foot. Attention should be paid to this the 
 moment it is discovered, wlien the requisite treatment 
 and two or three days' rest will enable the horse to go 
 sound in his work. In a few days the bandages may be 
 taken off. The horse will most probably remain free 
 from sand-crack till about the same time in tlie following 
 year, when, unless strict attention is paid to it, he may 
 
28 THE HORSE. 
 
 throw another. While the sand-crack is in existence the 
 animal is Unsouxd. 
 
 When cured, he maj' be warranted as sound; but so 
 long as the hoof is unsightly from the cure, it is a tem- 
 porary Blemish. 
 
 Where any marks of the sand-crack still remain at the 
 time of the warranty being taken, in order to render the 
 seller more secure, it would be advisable to make this dis- 
 ease an exception. 
 
 The horse is not returnable if one or more of these fis- 
 sures appear immediately after he becomes the property 
 of the purchaser, because he is considered sound until 
 they are formed. Dry, brittle, thin hoofs are the most 
 subject to this disease, particularly where the action is 
 high and the weather dry and sharp. Attention, with 
 slight stimulants, will do much to strengthen these lioofs, 
 and render them less subject to cracks. Should these 
 cracks be neglected till sand and dirt find their way 
 through the fissures, they become troublesome to lieal, 
 and are frequently the cause of permanent lameness. 
 
 FALSE QUAETER. 
 
 False quarter is a horizontal fissure in the inside quarter 
 of the hoof. What has been said of sand-crack, applies 
 in a o^reat measure to this also. Till a cure is effected, the 
 horse is Unsound. 
 
 Tliin, weak hoofs are most subject to this, though 
 treading with one foot upon the other will produce it in 
 any feet. If the horse goes sound, and does not re({uire 
 particular treatment, he may be warranted as such. While 
 any mark remains, it must be regarded as a blemish; but 
 a blemish arising from a tread or accident on a good hoof 
 will probably not appear. 
 
now TO BUT AND SELL. 29 
 
 THEUSHES. 
 
 Thrushes are situated in the frogs of the feet, render- 
 ing them ragged, and causing a fetid moisture to exude. 
 Unless bad, and of old standing, they are not an un- 
 soundness, and are readily cured in twenty- four hours; yet, 
 as they constitute disease, and are deviations from the 
 general rule of health, as implied in a warranty, and 
 therefore oj^en to dispute, I Avill endeavor to make you 
 sufficiently acquainted with the subject to form an opin- 
 ion for yourself, while giving the reasons for altering the 
 rule. 
 
 The frogs are evidently intended to relieve the other 
 portions of the foot from some of the weight of the horse. 
 Besides the interior structure proving this, no stronger 
 evidence of this use of the frogs can ])e adduced than that 
 want of pressure will of itself produce thrushes, and that, 
 when the foot is not too far gone (fleshy), gentle pressure 
 greatly assists a cure. Stopping the feet imj^roperly with 
 dung, and allowing it to remain too long in tlie hoofs, 
 will also produce them. The best preventive is pressure 
 and cleanliness; for, when the frogs become a little rag- 
 ged, loose sand, dirt, or small gravel insinuating itself 
 into the place affected will ultimately cause a running and 
 tenderness; and where thrushes are already formed, the 
 greatest attention to cleanliness is required. Proj^er care 
 and attention, however, will effect a cure in a few hours. 
 Until the frogs become bad or troublesome, or the heels 
 become tender or fleshy, they should not be considered an 
 unsoundness; but when the original structure of the frog 
 has become so altered as to be perpetually tender, render- 
 ing the horse liable to drop at every step, he is then un- 
 questionably Unsoun-d. 
 
 One reason why slight thrushes should be considered as 
 not rendering the horse unsound is, that they are of lit- 
 th consequence, and easily cured; another reason is, that 
 
30 THE HORSE. 
 
 sliglit tliruslies m^iy be produced in twelve liours in the 
 most healthy feet, that is, the frog may be made to pro- 
 duce a moist secretion in that time. No one, therefore, 
 would be justified iu giving a warranty were slight 
 thrushes to be regarded as an unsoundness, as any one not 
 pleased with his bargain would only have to produce 
 them to be almost certain of success in an action against 
 the seller. This is, therefore, allowed to be one of the 
 deviations from the general rule — that any alteration of 
 structure renders the horse unsound. 
 
 In cases where thrushes, however slight, are known to 
 exist, the best and most secure way is, to warrant vvith 
 this exception; as a litigious buyer might, if he did not 
 like tlie horse m other respects, make this a plea for going 
 into court to see whether he could not return his bargain, 
 by making the existence of the disease a matter of im- 
 portance. He would not gain his point, but the vexation 
 and annoyance are better avoided. 
 
 Where thrushes are the result of severe contraction, this 
 state of contraction is an XJi^souNDi^ESS. 
 
 To stop thrushes, when to a certain extent they are an- 
 swering the purpose of setons, provokes more active in- 
 flammation. In the contracted foot, more especially, they 
 should have their course, until they have arrived at a cer- 
 tain state. Til en they should be stopped, in order to pre- 
 vent worse diseases; they must, however, be dried gradu- 
 ally and with caution, and then the horse will most prob- 
 ably be SouKD. 
 
 BAR SHOES. 
 
 Wherever bar or round shoes are required, even though 
 for a temporary purpose, the horse is unsound; for no 
 disease is cured, whether sand-cracks, corns, thrushes, or 
 whatever else it may be, s6 long as these are necessary. 
 
HOW TO BUY AXD SELL. 31 
 
 LEATHER SOLES. 
 
 What has been said of bar shoes applies equally to 
 leather soles also; for, Avhere it is necessary to use these to 
 enable the horse to perform his work safely or properly, 
 as he requires extra care, the horse is not sound, let the 
 cause be what it may. 
 
 Xo one will dispute that leather soles are of great good, 
 enabling many a horse to work soundly that otherwise 
 would be in great pain. They are much safer than bar 
 shoes, where they answer the purpose, as the horse has a 
 better hold of the ground. They are also less likely to 
 produce thrushes or waste the frogs. For some feet, 
 gutta-percha is better adapted than leather, on account of 
 its being harder, and less yielding to sharp stones, partic- 
 ularly in wet wx^ather. It is not so well, however, when 
 the sole is not to be covered, except in the case of corns. 
 
 RING BONES. 
 
 Ring bones are situate above the hoof, being an ossifi- 
 cation of the cartilages at the top of the coronet. If seen 
 only in front of the pastern, whence the disease generally 
 extends itself round the front of the hoof, in form of a 
 ring, it is frequently of little consequence; but where it 
 approaches the heels, the horse is fit for slow work only, 
 the flexibility of the cartilage by its altered structure be- 
 ing lost. The Ct^rtilage is likely to be fractured by the 
 ascent of the mternal structure of the hoof on any ex- 
 treme pressure being given to the frogs, either from ac- 
 celerated speed or from treading on a stone. At slow 
 work horses with these hoofs often last for years without 
 accident, but when they do fracture the ossified part, they 
 should be at once destroyed, or turned out till the frac- 
 ture is united, in which case, though not sound, they 
 
32 THE HORSE. 
 
 often go apparently soundly, though they are ever after- 
 wards liable to accidents. AV hen this cure occurs they 
 do not move in pain, but are still Uxsoukd. 
 
 Where the disorganization is only in front of the pas- 
 tern bone, and not in the way of any joint, or approach- 
 ing the heels, all inflammation or disease has disappeared. 
 The animal will suffer no inconvenience from quick work, 
 and IS therefore sound, but shows a Blemish. 
 
 CANKER. 
 
 Thrushes neglected will turn to canker. This disease 
 m the hoof is easily detected, and is very troublesome to 
 cure. A cankered horse is Unsound. 
 
 WINDGALLS. 
 
 Windgalls are situate at the Ijottom of the cannon 
 bone on each side of the leg, just above the j^astern joint, 
 at the union of these two bones. They yield to pressure. 
 They appear to the eye like small enlargements, and feel 
 soft to the hand when it is jiassed over them. They are 
 not an unsoundness in themselves, unless, as m rare 
 instances and very extreme cases, they occasion lameness. 
 
 They are a proof that the horse has done work, their 
 size depending upon the age at which this work was done, 
 and the neglect the horse was subjected to at the time. 
 
 Unless they are of the Avorst kind (the largest size), 
 I never would reject a superior horse for windgalls. 
 They are no inconvenience to him, and are not an unsound- 
 ness, becoming less and less as the work is decreased 
 till they disappear altogether; they are never seen in very 
 old and fairly-worked horses. With the exception of the 
 above-mentioned case, horses having windgalls are Sound. 
 
HOW TO BUY AXD SELL. 33 
 
 BANDAGES. 
 
 Where the constant use of ban(la<^es is required to 
 enable a horse to perform the ordinary work cf liorses of 
 his chiss, he is U:N^sou]srD. 
 
 Bandages are good things j^roperly applied, and there 
 is a great deal of humanity in their seasonable appropria- 
 tion and right use. You should remember, however, 
 that there may also be '' too much of a good thing," and 
 that by over doing the thing, or bandaging miproperly, 
 you defeat your own j^urpose. 
 
 Why is the hair on that horse's legs so curled? I can 
 never see it without pitying the poor brute, and thinking 
 of the purgatory he has endured, through the ignorance 
 of the groom — ignorance it must be; kindness dictated 
 the use of bandages, but kindness did not intend them tc 
 be a torture, which they became by being thus tight and 
 stopping circulation. As errors arising from good nature 
 are the easiest cured; once show that these errors cause 
 the pain which should be prevented, and they are not 
 likely to occur again. When bandages are used, they 
 should never be drawn tightly round the horse's legs, for 
 in that case they weaken instead of strengthen, and 
 cause the hair to curl. Put bandages lightly and easily 
 round the leg; a very little keeps them up, and should 
 they come down a hundred times, it is better than that 
 the horse should be tortured once. There are very few 
 who will not, in a trifling number of applications, acquire 
 the habit of fitting them so easily that they are a great 
 comfort and very serviceable to the legs under many cir- 
 cumstances, and will not curl the hair or leave unsightly 
 marks; nor will they, when thus properly put on, punish 
 the horse, or slip down. 
 
 SPLEIn'TS. 
 
 Splents are hard bony lumps at the inside of the leg, 
 towards the back of the cannon bone, anywhere below 
 
34 THE HOUSE. 
 
 tlie knee and above the pastern joints, but mostly mid- 
 way between the joints named, in which situation they 
 are of the least consequence. 
 
 They are occasioned by breaking tlie colt too young, 
 by blows from the fork to make him lift his legs olf the 
 straw when his bed is being made, kicks from the groom, 
 blows from each other, or received in leaping, from 
 strains, from being over- weigh ted, and from cutting the 
 inside heel too low, whereby too much weight is thrown 
 upon the sesamoid bone, which is the small bone at the 
 back of the leg or cannon bone, and between it and the 
 tendon. 
 
 While forming, they frequently occasion great lame- 
 ness, on account of the inflammation going on whde 
 nature is uniting the small bone (sesamoid) behind to 
 the cannon (or large bone of the leg), that they may 
 strengthen one another. Generally splents are only 
 found on the legs of young horses; for, although nature 
 does not again disunite the bones, she absorbs those 
 lumps which are conspicuous in the young horse. 
 
 After this union, it is presumed that the horse is not 
 as springy as before; I must say, however, I never dis- 
 covered any difference in elasticity. But, as they do not 
 inconvenience him after they are completely formed, and 
 all inflammation has ceased, so that he goes free from 
 pain (and as it is allowed that his legs are stronger and 
 less liable than formerly to injury) it is a blemish of the 
 least consequence only, and the animal can be Avarranted 
 as SouKD. 
 
 As the horse gets older, these excrescences disappear, 
 although the union of the bones is asfirm as ever. 
 
 SPEEDY CUT. 
 
 Speedy cut is seen on the inside, and rather on the 
 hind edge and lower corner, of the knee. Sometimes the 
 
HOW TO BUY AND SELL. 35 
 
 bone is enlarged without any bald place to assist in detect- 
 ing the habit, at others the skin only is cut; sometimes 
 both. Like other enlargements, it may increase from an 
 almost imperceptible size and little inconvenience, to a 
 size both conspicuous and unsightly, as well as dangerous. 
 
 Speedy cut is occasioned by the horse twisting his legs 
 in action, so as to strike the shoe or foot of the one leg 
 against the knee of the other. It is done when the horse 
 is going faster, or being driven more up to the bit, at the 
 same time stepping higher, than he is capable of doing 
 with propriety. 
 
 Horses given to this action are mostly good-cou raged, 
 and a thorough horseman who knows how to make them 
 step without touching, at the same time bringing out 
 their good qualities, sometimes obtains a pleasant horse 
 quite cheaply. 
 
 To others than good horsemen, such animals are very 
 dangerous — dear at a gift. Boots are a little safeguard. 
 Down hill is their worst chance, and the attempt at hold- 
 ing them up, except by the thorough horseman, too often 
 brings them down. 
 
 Reject them if you value your limbs and neck, although 
 they are allowed to be sound; and properly so, where 
 they are capable of going at the usual pace without 
 inconvenience, performing the usual work of horses of 
 their class (not speedy cutters) with ordinary usage, 
 without the necessity of boots or more than ordinary 
 care. But where, as is frequently the case, the horse 
 cannot travel usual distances at the ordinary pace, Avith 
 the common rate of horsemen, without seriously cutting 
 and otherwise endangering himself, there ought to be a 
 difference; I myself do not believe that he is sound. I 
 would recommend the seller, where there is the least 
 tendency to this defect, always to except speedy cutting 
 in his receipt; otherwise, he is likely to get into a 
 dilemma. The door is open for dispute. Where is the 
 
36 THE HORSE. 
 
 man who is not a horseman in his own estimation? 
 Who is there among our acquaintances that, if he is not 
 a whip or horseman of the first water, is not considerably 
 above the average? Do you know any one so modest as 
 to allow that he belongs to the second-class? On the 
 contrary, have you not found that, however ignorant 
 they may have been before they had a horse, witli 
 their first they liave become miraculously invested with 
 all the abilities of Phaeton? Well, then, they have only 
 to state their case to a lawyer, when he replies that it is a 
 capital plea for an action; but actions are expensive and 
 vexatious, and as all the evils above enumerated are to 
 be avoided by a little caution, will it not be better to use it? 
 
 HOCKS. 
 
 The hocks are an important part of the horse; his 
 speed, strength, and capalulity to perform certain kinds 
 of work depending almost entirely, if not altogether, 
 upon these joints. 
 
 The blood horse cannot be a racer without sufficient 
 leverage in tlie hocks to give him both speed and strength. 
 
 The hunter must be but a poorleaper without a certain 
 perfection here; and then, in proportion to this desirable 
 state, all other things combining, so will he vary from 
 the best to the worst horse of his description. 
 
 The parade or menage horse, in order to be good and 
 capable of continuing even for a few minutes at the 
 height of parade action, must have these parts quite as 
 strong as any other description of horse. 
 
 The military horse, again, although not having them 
 called into such violent exertion, or so frequently as the 
 three kinds above-mentioned, yet from being set a great 
 deal upon his haunches, and luivingto halt suddenly, and 
 being heavily weighted, rc({uires much strength here. 
 
now TO BUY AND SELL. 37 
 
 This is one of the principal reasons why these horses are 
 usually found such good workers. 
 
 Ladies' horses, perhaps have their hocks most tried in 
 proportion to the weight they carry, from their contin- 
 ually cantering. This pace is most calculated to try these 
 joints, from the long exertion required in the one pace. 
 If proper horses for ladies to ride, they are *^well upon 
 their haunches," and stop as well as the charger, with 
 their hind leo-s well under them. 
 
 o 
 
 In fact, no horse can be either easy, safe, or satisfactory 
 to ride, that does not take a large proportion of his burden 
 on his hind legs. 
 
 The hackney has some relief by change from one pace 
 to the other. But to be superior, he must take the 
 weight on his hind legs; this enables him to go in a corky, 
 light, and springy manner, — no shaking. You will hear 
 this perfection thus described: ''He goes as light as a 
 cork," ''would not break an cgg.'^ Horses thus trained 
 cannot shake you; neither can they fall or stumble. 
 
 The harness horse has neither to canter nor leap, neith- 
 er has he weight upon his back. Here you have to con- 
 sider the speed required, and the weight he lias to draw, 
 with the style of action you desire; whether you will be 
 satisfied with merely being moved along, or whether you 
 wish to make a dash; how mucli of a pace, of action, or 
 of grandeur, you require or are willing to sacrifice. 
 
 CURBS. 
 
 Curbs are hard bony enlargements at the back and on 
 the lower part of the hock. They may be of such little 
 consequence as to he called only enlargements on the seat 
 of curb, or large enough to be curbs. While forming, the 
 horse is sure to be lame. Either they are a proof that 
 the hocks are ill-formed (weak), or are the result of mis- 
 
38 THE HORSE. 
 
 management^ over-work, strains, or blows. Ignorant 
 breakers are the principal originators of curbs. Kicking 
 in harness, or against the stalls, or any hard substance, 
 will produce them on the best-formed hocks. When they 
 have assumed a decided form, and have become hard 
 bony substances, and all inflammation has left, if the 
 horse goes sound, do not reject him, should he suit in all 
 other respects. 
 
 Whether a curbed horse is sound or unsound is a mat- 
 ter of dispute. There are partisans on both sides, but I 
 think tbe majority agree with me in opinion that, where 
 he is capable of doing all the work required of horses of 
 his class, as well with the curbs as without them, he is 
 
 Sou:n'D. 
 
 If the curbs are large enough to be distinctly seen, or 
 are disfigured by treatment or otherwise, they are 
 
 Blemishes. 
 
 To save trouble and expense, the best way, where there 
 IS the slightest enlargement, or the least doubtful qual- 
 ity, is to make an exception in the warranty. (See copy 
 of receipt, with warranty, on a sul^scquent page.) Where 
 the hocks are naturally ill-formed and weak, the horse 
 is Unsound. 
 
 AVhile forming, the liorse being lame, it is almost use- 
 less to mention that he is indisputably Unsouxd. 
 
 It is now to be hoped that from all I have said you will 
 see that it is your fault if, from this cause, you lose a 
 good horse from fastidious fear, or take a useless one 
 screened by customary subterfuge. 
 
 SPAYIKS. 
 
 Spavins are enlargements on the mside, and rather to- 
 ward the front of the hock; they are produced in the 
 same manner as curbs. 
 
HOW TO BUY AKD SELL. 39 
 
 If completely formed and low down, quite away from 
 the joint, and rather behind, and the horse goes sound, 
 having hocks otherwise perfect, do not reject him. 
 
 These also occasion difference of opinion. You never 
 find a hunter that has done any work, without his having 
 either the seat of curb or that of spavin enlarged. He is, 
 nevertheless, sound, and capable of doing work better 
 than the younger ones. Both diseases are brought on by 
 the same causes. Perhaps, of the tw^o, the sj^avin is more 
 the result of severe work, when there is generally some lit- 
 tle stiffness. Too often the groom treats the wrong 
 places; or if he does treat the right ones, yet the evil is 
 only deferred, for if the horse is continued at severe 
 work, the spavins will form and re-form. Proj)er treat- 
 ment may prevent their being of the larger size, and may 
 lessen the evil. When they have formed, and the horse 
 does his work like the rest of the old ones who have gone 
 through the same process, the groom commends himself 
 for the result, and the owner congratulates himself upon 
 the improved constitution (strength) of the horse. 
 
 Taking all parts of the hocks into consideration, if 
 they are affected by what is termed enlargement on the 
 seat of spavin, the disease being determined, and not 
 likely to increase, I need hardly say that, if the horse goes 
 sound, he is, according to common sense, Sound. 
 
 The law, how^ever, being unsettled, cases having been 
 decided both ways, the best way is, as in the case of 
 curb and other diseases, to except spavins in the war- 
 ranty. 
 
 Here it may he as well to state the opinion of a well- 
 known sportsman and horseman, not on account of its 
 being an exclusive opinion of his own, but as the opinion 
 of most practical men of his class. He states, that there 
 are no hunters without curbs or spavins, or both, and 
 that they are Sound. 
 
 Horses with enlarged hocks, going sound, are sold al- 
 
40 THE HOESE. 
 
 most every day, with a warranty, without the least suspi- 
 cion being entertained of their being wrong. All those 
 acquainted with hunting establishments and the hocks of 
 horses must be aware that there does not seem to arise any 
 inconvenience from the practice. Why then should not 
 this custom become a law ? At all horse repositories, you 
 will see horses with these enlargements, but going sound, 
 sold with a warranty, the buyer rarely discovering that 
 there ever was the least flaw. 
 
 CAPPED HOCKS. 
 
 Capped hocks are the result of blows, not unfrequently 
 from kicking, or rubbing against sharp corners of the 
 stall-post. Stone or fluted iron pillars at the back end 
 of the stalls are the most frequent cause. They are un- 
 sightly, but they in no way inconvenience the animal, 
 unless suppuration takes place, when they heal soon, and 
 the swelling disappears. While tbis su]ipuration is go- 
 ing on, and the wound is unhealed, as there is a disease 
 in progress, the horse is Unsound. 
 
 Although in itself simple, there is no telling with cer- 
 tainty wbat will be the result: but when the horse is cured, 
 he is Sound. 
 
 Where these is no appearance of suppuration taking 
 place, he is Sound. 
 
 AYhere capped hocks, from their size, become a disfig- 
 urement to the borse, a suspicious sign on harness horses, 
 they must be recorded as a Blemish. 
 
 GROGCtY. 
 
 Horses that are what is usually termed groggy do not 
 Dod, or, rather, bow their heads, on account of being 
 
now TO BUY AXD SELL. 41 
 
 equally lame with l^otli forefeet. Their ears are placed 
 backwards when in action, and there is a peculiarity about 
 their stepping, as if from anxiety to retain their feet 
 upon the ground each time they touched it. There is 
 also a peculiarity iu the working of the shoulder-blades, 
 and, in spite of their mostly going well upon their 
 haunches to relieve their forefeet, they are very shaky 
 and unpleasant . more especially when put into the canter. 
 Some consider tlicm easy in the trot. They ought, how- 
 ever, to be used only in harness, or where there is no 
 weight on the back: they are Unsound. 
 
 LAME. 
 
 Horses when more tender in one foot than the other — 
 presuming it is the forefoot or leg — droop the head 
 when they step upon the unsound foot, and raise it when 
 stepping on the sound one; they also step " longer '^ with 
 the lame one tlian the sound one, and keep it a shorter 
 time on the ground. You may hear the lame foot touch 
 the ground lighter than the sound one with its hard, 
 firm, short step. Lameness is the language of pain, ex- 
 pressing no more than the animal really feels; it tells the 
 plain and honest truth, with the greatest simplicity. Is 
 not this the strongest api)eal to our sympathies? Ought 
 we not to attend to their dictates, and do all we can to 
 relieve their sufferings? 
 
 A little care at the proper period will often prevent a 
 lameness becoming permanent. Slight attention will re- 
 lieve the pain of the incurable. 
 
 Many horses, which go lame with weight upon their 
 biicks, will go sound in single harness, because the weight 
 is lessened; and often, where lame here, will go sound in 
 double, because there is no weight at all. 
 
 Instead of riding a lame horse, try single or double har- 
 ness. There are some who can perform slow work with- 
 
42 THE HORSE. 
 
 out 2:)ain5 even on the road, wlien tliey are no longer fit 
 for fast work; and even when the road is too hard, they 
 may work about a farm. I need hardly add that there is 
 great cruelty in keeping horses to any fast work when 
 lame in it, and that frequently at slow Avork, particularly 
 on soft ground, they will become sound if kept a suffi- 
 cient time employed upon it. From the preceding 0I3- 
 servations, you will see the propriety of having the liorse 
 ridden prior to purchase. 
 
 One fallacy I must here point out, as it is often prac- 
 tised by persons who would not be guilty of cruelty, if 
 they imagined they were perpetrating it; and many others 
 maybe deterred by the money consideration: it is the 
 mistake of keeping horses at work when they are lame, 
 thinking that they will work sound. It must be remem- 
 bered that all lameness, with rare exceptions, is curable 
 (if proper remedies are resorted to) witli perfect rest at 
 the commencement of the disease. But if lameness contin- 
 ues without remedy beyond six weeks, some disorganiza- 
 tion will take i)lace. The diseases of horses are rapid in 
 their progress and quickly come to a definite termination; 
 and though, after neglect, the disease may be mitigated, 
 the horse can never be restored to perfect soundness, 
 but will most probably l^e a cripple and in pain to the 
 end of his days. In the earliest stages of the disease, too, 
 the injured part is more easily discovered. This is more 
 than half the cure. 
 
 Nor is the veterinarian to be l)lamed for not being too 
 confident as to the immediate seat of disease. The horse 
 cannot point to an affected part and say, " There I feel 
 the pain;" but together, horse and doctor will soon un- 
 derstand enough of each other to liit upon the spot and 
 work riglit. 
 
 When lame l)elnnd, horses carry their heads high, go 
 with a catch of the hind leg, and roll the hips. Every 
 species of lameness and tenderness is an Unsoundness. 
 
HOW TO BUY AXD SELL. 43 
 
 KHEUMATISM. 
 
 Eheumatism can be discovered only when the horse is 
 lame^ and, consequently, unsound; but shoukl you be 
 able to prove that the horse was afflicted with rheuma- 
 tism within a reasonable time of purchase, and that he 
 was subject to that disease before you purchased him, — 
 even though he was going sound at the time of purchase, 
 — if he was warranted, lie is returnable. This is a dis- 
 ease generally brought on horses by carelessness and the 
 supposition that they are never afflicted by it. Horses 
 should not be exposed to draughts, particularly in the 
 stable, the flooring of which, more especially the straw, 
 should be dry for them to lie upon. As horses are ex- 
 posed to damp and cold out of doors, people imagine it 
 matters not what condition the stable may be in, think- 
 ing only that, if foul, it may spoil their coats. Out of 
 doors and at liberty horses are not exposed to draughts; 
 whenever they can they will get out of them ; and when 
 unpleasantly cold, will move about and warm themselves. 
 This they have not room to do in the stable. Do they 
 ever lie down in the wet out of doors? They choose the 
 driest spot they can find; and when cold, they will either 
 roll and get an extra layer of dirt as a covering, or other- 
 wise exercise themselves. 
 
 For this disease it is usual to treat in the vicinity of 
 the round bone. Therefore, when you see marks of blis- 
 tering, setons, or firing on this part, even though the 
 horse at the time of examination goes free from lameness, 
 you have reason to apprehend occasional inconvenience 
 from the temporary lameness occasioned by this com- 
 plaint; and, while subject to the return at intervals, or 
 where it is a determined complaint of the horse, the ani- 
 mal is Unsound. 
 
 Where the cure lias been effected some time and no re- 
 lapse had occurred, as it is clear that the malady has not 
 
44 THE HORSE. 
 
 become a constitutional com])laint of tlie horse, then it 
 may be considered that a permanent cure has been efPect- 
 ed, and the animal be warranted as Sound. 
 
 THOROUGH PINS. 
 
 There are few horses who have done any work with- 
 out acquiring thorough pins. They are a windgall in 
 the hock. Unless they cause inconvenience, which is 
 rarely the case, the horse is Sound. 
 
 BLOOD SPAVIN. 
 
 Blood spavin is the enlargement of the thigh vein, 
 where it passes over the inside of the hock. It is known 
 by giving way and disappearing in a great degree upon 
 pressure being applied below it; Init it returns as soon as 
 the pressure is removed. Blood spavins never produce 
 lameness, and are of rare occurrence. Severe strains, 
 bruises, or other local injuries are the cause. Some will 
 not admit that the disease is an unsoundness, while oth- 
 ers maintain that it is. Be it which it may, in those 
 cases where it proves of no consequence, it can only be 
 fastidiousness to refuse the horse; therefore, no reasona- 
 ble person will object to this being excepted from the 
 warranty. 
 
 Blood spavins may be produced in an instant. Oue 
 step or slip is sufficient; therefore, admitting it is an un- 
 soundness, and you discovered one, half an hour after 
 purchase, you could not return the horse, unless y(m 
 could prove he had had it prior to })urchase. 
 
 This may appear strange at first sight; but v/hen you 
 reflect that, even though you may not have moved the 
 horse one yard, a slip in the stall, a blow, or getting up 
 in a hurry, may produce them, you must see tliat it is no 
 
HOW TO BUY AND SELL. 45 
 
 more than Just tliiit the seller's responsibility should end 
 with delivery; m at least so far that it becomes your duty 
 after acceptance, should the defect appear, to prove that 
 the disease or tendency thereto existed prior to delivery 
 or date of warranty. 
 
 BOG SPAVIK. 
 
 Bog spavin is a windgall on the inside front of the hock 
 joint. After it is once formed, and all heat and iuiiam- 
 mation are gone, it is rarely of any cou sequence. 
 
 Where it does not interfere with the horse's action, and 
 he has done the ordinary work of horses of his class for 
 the required time since it formed, without extra rest, or 
 inconvenience, then is he Soui^D. 
 
 STRING HALT. 
 
 This disease may be at once detected by the awkward 
 catch of the leg affected, the action of this leg being much 
 higher than the others, and drawn up by a jerk. It is 
 seldom seen in both hind legs. The collapse of the mus- 
 cle, which is by some persons supposed to be the cause of 
 this peculiar action, is occasioned by the interior of the 
 muscle having been formed into a kind of cyst or bag by 
 an abscess Avhich, having discharged the pus, leaves the 
 interior of the muscle open. It is frequently supposed 
 to arise from inflammation of the nerve; while others 
 say it is an excess of energy without disease; if the latter 
 is the case, and the horse experiences no pain, or weak- 
 ness, or anything to prevent it from working as well as 
 ever, he is Sound. 
 
 This defect should, however, always be mentioned by 
 the vendor. 
 
 But supposing others to be right who conjecture that 
 
46 THE HORSE. 
 
 it is occasioned by an inflamed nerve^ then it must be 
 
 Unsouj^d. 
 I should, therefore, advise the warranty to have this 
 disease excei^ted. 
 
 LOW HIP. 
 
 One hip being lower than the other is occasioned by a 
 blow having knocked the lower one out of its place. It 
 is, in fact, a fracture, and the broken ])art being unre- 
 placeable, is drawn down by the muscles and unites below 
 its original place. When the horse ceases to go lame, as 
 he usually soon does, he is sound; it must, nevertheless, 
 be recorded in the warranty as a Blemish. 
 
 OTHER diseases OF JOIN^TS. 
 
 With the other joints all difficulty is soon removea, 
 as they show their diseases by lameness, and when well 
 they are 8oui^d. 
 
 If any enlargement or scar remains, it is a Blemish. 
 
 GREASE. 
 
 Grease is a disease seldom seen in well-managed 
 stables. It is a proof of neglect. If recent, it is 
 easily cured, and is, therefore, of little consequence. 
 Till cured, the horse is Unsound. 
 
 Afterwards, Sound. 
 
 CRACKED HEELS. 
 
 When of recent occurrence, cracked heels are of less 
 consequence than grease. Till cured, the animal is 
 
 Unsound. 
 Afterwards, Sound. 
 
HOW TO BUY AKD SELL. 47 
 
 SWOLLEN LEGS. 
 
 AVheii swollen legs proceed from dropsy, or farcy, or 
 are of long standing, and therefore a sign of general 
 debility, they are difficult of cure, and the horse is 
 mostly useless, except for slow work, and therefore 
 
 UXSOUK^D. 
 
 In the milder forms, where the swelling arises either 
 from too much fatigue, or from want of medicine, 
 whether tonics, depletants, or exercise, until cured the 
 horse is Ujs^sound. 
 
 When the swelling is permanently removed Soukd. 
 
 STARING COAT. 
 
 Where the horse's coat is harsh, dry, and staring, 
 you may at once make up your mind that he is 
 
 IIn^sound. 
 
 If he has not an active disease, he has a chronic one. 
 Koarers, whistlers, those with old coughs and broken 
 wind and subject to megrims, old crib biters, wind- 
 suckers, etc., etc., all have their coats more or less af- 
 fected. 
 
 WENS. 
 
 A wen situate about the upper part of the windpipe, 
 or upon any main vein or artery, where it is likely to be 
 of consequence, is an Unsoundness. 
 
 But if wens occur on other parts, as on the top of the 
 hock, termed cap hock, on the elbow, or on any other 
 place where they are of little consequence, and could be 
 removed without danger if they should become an incon- 
 venience, but at present aj^pear at a fixed and determined 
 size and form, then is the horse Sound. 
 
48 THE HORSE. 
 
 CUTTING. 
 
 Should there be any places on the inside of the pastern 
 joint which have at some period had the hair knocked 
 off by the foot of the opposite leg, which yon may know 
 to be the fact by the little bald places that remain ever 
 after, yon must examine the action and present condition 
 of the horse, so as to ascertain whether it was weakness, 
 poverty, being over-worked, or worked too young, bad 
 horsemanship, or a natural defect in the action of the 
 horse, that induced cutting. 
 
 This last ought to be an unsoundness, according to 
 the rule laid down, and is so, where the malformation is 
 so serious as to render the horse naturally incaj^able of 
 doing the work of horses of his class, unless, whatever 
 his breed, he is to be numbered with the slow-draught 
 horses; in tluit case he is inefficient, not being capable of 
 the ordinary work of horses of his class. 
 
 When a horse uses his legs so awkwardly that on the 
 least exertion he must cut them — whether the peculiar 
 gait of the animal has been acquired by bad management, 
 or from usaoje in the breakinp*, or from malformation — 
 my opinion is that he is Unsound. 
 
 The law should be governed by common sense, and a 
 jury, I feel confident, Avould be of the same opinion; for 
 in this latter case it is only by extreme care and not tiring 
 the horse that you can keep his legs from becoming raw. 
 AYhile the legs are in that state any horse is Unsound. 
 
 It requires care to keep him from falling. Cuts prevent 
 his doing the work of horses of his class with ordinary 
 care, and this renders him doubly dangerous, as horse- 
 men will not be troubled with so unsatisfactory an animal. 
 
 Where the horse has been cut through over-fatigue 
 or poverty, and has recovered from the weakness conse- 
 quent thereon, requiring no more care than other horses, 
 the wounds being healed, lie is Sound. 
 
HOW TO BUY AN^D SELL. 49 
 
 RAT TAIL. 
 
 Rat tail is indiscriminately employed to describe the 
 tail of the horse when it is either quite free from hair or 
 partially so. It does not prevent the horse in any way 
 from being Sound. 
 
 Although unsightly, it is not a blemish that will enable 
 the purchaser to return the horse, as it is impossible not 
 to notice so glarmg a disfigurement. When it is covered 
 by false hafr, or any other fraud is practised in order to 
 hide it, the offence is punishable. 
 
 This is considered by some a sign of a good 
 horse. What the loss of the hair off the tail has to do 
 with the (jualities of the animal we do not pretend to 
 fathom; perhaps tbe notion has arisen from the naked 
 stump giving an appearance of width to its quarters. 
 The itching occasioned by disease sometimes causes both 
 good and bad horses to become minus their tail-hair. 
 
 Keeping the tail well and frequently washed with soft 
 soap will always reproduce the hair in the earlier stages, 
 and not unfrequently in cases of long standing. 
 
 UKNERVI^J^Ct. 
 
 Horses having had the operation of neurotomy (popu- 
 larly called unnerving) performed upon them go free 
 from lameness, with action more or less high, their step 
 being hard and heavy; the height of action and degree of 
 hardness of tread depend on tlie way the operation is 
 performed and the place operated uj^on. To discover 
 whether the high operation has been performed, that is, 
 depriving of feeling every portion of the leg and foot 
 below the marks described, pass the hand along the back 
 sinew; if the horse catches up the leg sharply, this ought 
 to excite j^our suspicion. If you find one or two little 
 knobs or lumps, you have still stronger reason for sus- 
 3 
 
50 THE HORSE. 
 
 picion; but if it is, on these scars being pressed, that he 
 lifts his legs suddenly, depend upon it that he has been 
 unnerved there, and that therefore they will never wear 
 any great length of time, — most probably not three 
 months. Should the sym])toms just described present 
 themselves on feeling along the back of the pastern, 
 between the junction of the cannon-bone and the pas- 
 tern, and the foot, the oj^eration of neurotomy has been 
 performed at that place. In the latter case, the unnerving 
 has been performed on the back of the pastern -joint, the 
 foot being deprived of feeling at the hinder portion only. 
 The horse is capable of showmg any injury the other 
 portions of the foot receive, — as pricks from the black- 
 smith, bruises from stones, etc. He therefore stands a 
 better chance of having his ailments attended to before 
 it is too late. How long thiy will work, api)arently 
 sound, after the operation, is altogether a lottery; in some 
 instances, with the lower operation, the horse works 
 free from pain for many years; therefore, in some cases of 
 lameness, it is an act of humanity to have the horse 
 unnerved, as it may save him many years of suffering, 
 and enable him to retain his serviceableness to the last. 
 But it is seldom worth any one's while to buy under such 
 risk, particularly if recently performed; for, should the 
 navicular disease be present, although, since the opera- 
 tion, the animal has been free from lameness, a fracture 
 of the union of the navicular and coffin bones at the 
 minute joint which they form within the horny hoof will 
 be the result, and speedy death from mortification will 
 most probably follow. 
 
 COURAGE. 
 
 That the horse does not give way readily to pain, there 
 are nnmerous instances on record. He rushes on the 
 
HOW TO BUY AKD SELL. 51 
 
 sword when lie feels the point pierce his bosom. How- 
 ever fatioTied or ill he may be, on he plods his weary way 
 till death kindly relieves him. What other animal does 
 this? Man himself sometimes dies from over-exertion, 
 but seldom while in the act. The dog — the faithful 
 companion who never forsakes his master — when over- 
 fatigued will lie down on the wayside, leaving his friend 
 to proceed alone; no entreaty can urge him unto death. 
 Not so the poor, ill-requited, over-worked, abused horse; 
 neither pain nor privation checks his services, as the fol- 
 lowing authenticated anecdote, as well as many other 
 instances which must rush upon the memory of every 
 horseman, or of any one who reads a newspaper, serves 
 to illustrate; besides, the circumstance serves to show 
 the effect of the operation, described in the preceding 
 article on unnerving when performed upon an improper 
 subject, and the indomitable spirit just referred to. 
 Hearing the following tale related as having occurred in 
 Scotland, I took some pains, when travelling through 
 that country, to ascertain the particulars. 
 
 The mare which is the subject of this story belonged 
 to a Mr. Miens, a large coach proprietor in Glasgow. 
 After some trouble I saw him, when he told me the mare 
 I referred to was a chestnut, that she ran a stage between 
 Carlisle and Glasgow as leader, that she had been 
 unnerved — the high operation — and that the disease for 
 which she was operated upon was the navicular. One 
 dark night, about three or four months after the opera- 
 tion, the coachman felt her drop, but she recovered her- 
 self, and ran to the end of the stage. She was then dis- 
 covered to be very lame, and, upon examination in the 
 stable, it was found that the whole of the foot was off, 
 and that she must consequently have run some distance 
 on the stump of the leg bone. The next morning the 
 foot was discovered at a distance of not less than two 
 miles fl'om the inn she arrived at, and, from other marks 
 
52 THE HORSE. 
 
 upon the road, it was clear that the poor beast must have 
 come at least that distance on the raw and dislocated 
 stump. 
 
 I have entered more fully into this operation than into 
 any other, as I have often found it difficult to make people 
 understand how it is that the horse is not sound or cured 
 by that operation which takes away the lameness. 
 
 Although the lower portion of the limb is never 
 restored to its natural quick sensibility, if the horse 
 works free from pain for from two or three years, there is 
 every probability that he will continue to do so, the nerve 
 being united, the horse can perform all the work of 
 horses of his class; yet, until Ave have better data to go 
 upon as to the mischief resulting from injuries in 
 consequence of this muffled or deadened sensation, he 
 must still be pronounced Ui^^soukd. 
 
 CHIIiTKED BACK. 
 
 Chinked back, which is a slight dislocation or injury of 
 the vertebras or of the spinal cord running through them, 
 is caused by the horse being pulled up suddenly by an 
 unskillful horseman, or being over-weighted. The mis- 
 fortune occurs in a moment, where the horse is stopped 
 on the instant, unless his legs are properly placed 
 at the precise time; it is therefore dangerous for any but 
 an accomplished horseman to attempt it, and more es- 
 pecially from the circumstance that the horse is not a re- 
 turnable purchase if you discover this defect a few min- 
 utes after purchase, unless you can prove that the injury 
 existed prior to his becoming your property. When the 
 horse drops at the pastern joint of the hind legs wliile 
 being ridden, you have reason to apprehend this defect, 
 particularly where you find that the front of the hind 
 pastern joint has been cut or injured at any time, or that 
 
HOW TO BUY Ai^D SELL. 53 
 
 the horse grunts on being backed, or winces on being 
 pressed on the affected part. Unsoukd. 
 
 Where the injury is slight, chinked-back horses fre- 
 quently carry light weights very well, but are best in har- 
 ness, more particularly in double harness. How long they 
 may keep usable depends on the management of those 
 who use them, and upon their proper adaptation to their 
 work. Unsound. 
 
 BROKEN BACK. 
 
 The name sufficiently explains this injury. It is known 
 by an aggravation of all the symptoms mentioned in 
 chinked-back, added to which broken-backed horses can- 
 not kick. They may work a little as leaders in carts, or 
 do other slow work. At all events, when you are a buyer, 
 consider them useless and Unsouxd. 
 
 DHOPPING BEHIND. 
 
 Dropping behind, or knuckling with the pastern joint 
 or joints, may l)e produced by chinked or broken back. 
 (See both these articles.) In either of these cases the 
 horse is Unsound. 
 
 Where, as is frequently the case, it is merely occa- 
 sioned by a pressure upon tlie kidneys from want of med- 
 icme, until the physic, when applied, has ceased to affect 
 him, the horse is Unsound. 
 
 When the medicine has worked off, if he no longer 
 drops, he is Sound. 
 
 Sometimes an awkward-fitting saddle will occasion him 
 to drop as above described. Here you have only to re- 
 move the cause, when it is hardly necessary to add that 
 the horse is Sound. 
 
54 THE HORSE. 
 
 STUMBLIKG. 
 
 In the well-formed horse, stumbling is an impossibil- 
 ity, unless he is leg-weary, the shoes do not fit properly, or 
 the saddle hurts him; mind not what either the saddler 
 or groom says, but depend upon it that the saddle does 
 hurt him, if, upon examination, you find that the shoes 
 do not hurt. I liaA^e seen too many instances of their mis- 
 takes to care what they say, and am convinced that very 
 few really know when a saddle does fit. I have bought 
 many horses that had got into disgrace for this fault, but 
 they have never stumbled after they came into my pos- 
 session. The secret was, I took care to have a saddle that 
 fitted both the horse and my own ideas. (See article on 
 Broken Knees. ) Persevere in using a misfitting saddle, 
 and the horse will fall. 
 
 LAMEKESS. 
 
 Should your horse go lame behind when mounted, and 
 not at other times, as this most probably is caused l^y the 
 saddle pressing on the backbone, try another saddle. The 
 same remark applies to his going lame before, under sim- 
 ilar circumstances, except that in this case the saddle 
 hurts the foreparts. 
 
 If, when the saddle is changed, he goes free from lame- 
 ness, the animal may be considered Sound. 
 
 DROPPIN^G BEFORE. 
 
 Dropping before, or knuckling with the pastern joint 
 of the forefoot, if not occasioned by tender feet or weak- 
 ness, but arising solely from youth or carelessness, does 
 not affect the horse's soundness. 
 
 Tlie exceptions are treated under their respective heads; 
 in these cases horses are Unsound. 
 
HOW TO BUY A:SD SELL. 55 
 
 Dropping before may be occasioned b}' treading on a 
 stone, by a misfitting saddle, or by accidents of any 
 kind. In either of tlie last-mentioned cases, the horse is 
 
 Soujq"D. 
 
 See the preceding three articles. 
 
 If the dropping-before arises from malformation or ten- 
 der feet, the horse is Uksound. 
 
 FLESHY HEEL. 
 
 Fleshy heel is an abnormal structure of the frog, 
 wherein the sensitive part of the foot becomes too mncli 
 exposed, the horse thereby being more or less tender ac- 
 cording to the progress of the disease, and therefore 
 
 Unsound. 
 
 CUNNING LAMENESS. 
 
 In those cases in wliich horses are said to sliam lame- 
 ness, that is, appearing sound at one time and unsound 
 at another, tliere is invariably something wrong; it is not 
 a case of shamming, but of painful reality. (See tlie ar- 
 ticle on ''Unnerving.") In such cases a reason can 
 always be found, either in a slight touch of rheumatism, 
 paralysis, or non-adjustment or misfit of the saddle. 
 
 To illustrate tliese facts, I will mention one out of the 
 many cases that have come under my notice. 
 
 A friend of mine had a delightful little mare, remark- 
 able for her height in the withers, named ''Brunette." 
 This mare I Avas rerpiested to examine with a view to- 
 wards discovering the rationale of her continually stum- 
 bling in a very serious manner, and at uncertain iind un- 
 expected times. 
 
 She was certain, if she made one initiatory stumble, to 
 continue stumbling all day; contrariwise, if she did not 
 
56 THE HORSE. 
 
 stumble soon after starting, she might be trusted to do 
 her day's work throughout, without stumbling. 
 
 Upon examining her as to form, etc., I concluded that 
 the cause of this misbehaA-ior must be in some fault in her 
 tackle, and I therefore inquired whether she always wore 
 the same saddle. I was told that she wore various sad- 
 dles, which were shown to me; I therefore selected and 
 marked one for her use, and very shortly afterwards she 
 ceased stumbling. 
 
 Her groom had always considered this habit to be a 
 mischievous trick on her part, induced by her recollect- 
 ing having been ])rouglit home by her master in conse- 
 quence of the stumbling; and he told me that if she had 
 been well punished in the first instance, she would have 
 had the trick flogged out of her, and would have given no 
 subsequent troul^le. I myself believe that had such a 
 course been adopted, the mare would have had her kuees 
 broken, and that fistula would soon have been developed 
 upon ber withers. 
 
 As it now appeared that, though she had ceased to 
 stumble or go lame when ridden with an ordinary saddle, 
 she invariably went lame when ridden by a lady. I was 
 asked Avhether I could account for this peculiarity other- 
 wise than by cunning. Again I referred the evil to the 
 saddle; and, upon inquiry, I found that the owner had 
 hitherto been unable to procure a side-saddle of such a 
 make as not to raw the back of the mare when used by a 
 lady for an hour or two at a time, making it necessary, 
 therefore, that the next day should be, so to speak, wasted 
 in paying attention to the abrasion thus produced. I also 
 ascertained that the stuffing of the side-saddle had been 
 altered and shifted every time slie went out — about three 
 times a week. I sent for tlie saddler and showed him 
 what was wanting; but he either could not, or Avould not 
 understand me; and altliougli he had liad the saddle several 
 times under his hands, lie had not been able to alter it. 
 
HOW TO BUY AND SELL. 07 
 
 SO as to make it fit for more than one or two day's work. 
 Ilappening to be present on the last occasion on which he 
 brought back the saddle, and knowing how repeatedly he 
 had failed to make it fit, I made some remarks which ex- 
 cited his anger, and he declared that no one could succeed 
 better than he had done, and defied any one to make a 
 lady's saddle that would not hurt the mare. I therefore 
 altered the saddle myself, anl successfully; for, during 
 several subsequent years in which my friend kept and 
 used the mare, she never went lame, never had a sore 
 back, and never made one single stumble. 
 
 How often has it fallen to my lot to see good horses 
 sacrificed needlessly, through the use of insuflacient or 
 inappropriate tackle, and apparently becommg lame and 
 weakened! 
 
 BEARING-REIN. 
 
 Among the many advantages of dispensing witli tho 
 bearing-rein, not the least is that of doing away with the 
 nut which fastens the hook m the saddle, as this not un- 
 commonly hurts the horse's back, producing, if not 
 broken knees and fistula, at least a troublesome sore on 
 the withers. 
 
 Whether such a result be the smallest pimple or the 
 larsfcst wen, the merest abrasion or tlie foulest ulcer, the 
 horse is, in any case Unsound. 
 
 When the sore is healed, and the horse is restored to 
 perfect usefulness, he is again Sound. 
 
 When tiie saddle hurts the horse so much as to cause 
 him to go lame, or to fall upon his knees, and no sore 
 is visible on the removal of the saddle, he is Sound. 
 
 But, should there be any wound caused by the saddle, 
 the animal is, until cured. Unsound. 
 
 Under no circumstances should the bearing-rein l)e 
 tight. When it is too tight it prevents the animal from 
 
58 THE nORSE. 
 
 throwing the necessary weight upon the collar, disturbs 
 the circulation to the head, and causes apoplexy, me- 
 grims, and other evils. But in double harness the bear- 
 ing-rein should be sufficiently tight to prevent the horses 
 from catching their bits in the pole-piece, though this 
 prevention is sometimes attempted by removing the lower 
 bar from the bit. What is thereby avoided, however, at 
 the bottom of the bit, frequently occurs to an equal ex- 
 tent by the catching of the cheek of the bit in the other 
 horse's head-gear. 
 
 I have dwelt thus far upon the injuries arising from a 
 misfitting saddle, as they cause great annoyance and pain 
 to the horse, as well as inconvenience to the owner, and 
 are easily rectified by any one who will take the trouble 
 to look in the right direction for the cause; especially as 
 the same remarks apply to all parts of misfitting trapping, 
 such as saddles, bridles, harness, rollers, head-stalls, etc. 
 For in this case, what is true of one part applies to all 
 the horse's furniture, when even the slightest injury is 
 caused to him. 
 
 A misfitting bridle or winker may, and often does, pro- 
 duce blindness or severe shying; yet this, like many other 
 simple things, has been often overlooked or misappre- 
 hended, from a natural proneness to forget that "great 
 events from little causes spring." 
 
 Thus, in '-'Brunette's" case, before named, I proved 
 that the fault lay in the saddle. Some persons attributed 
 her habit of stumbling to cunning; others, of a more 
 scientific turn of mind, stated it, variously, to be partial 
 paralysis; the remains of an old strain only felt by the 
 mare Avhen carrying a one-sided weight; or the result of 
 an old strain, which, owing to the almost imperceptible 
 changes in the atmosphere, affecting, as such changes do, 
 the constitutions of all animals, affected her more at one 
 time than at another. 
 
 True it is that the weather and atmos])here exercise 
 
now TO BUY AKD SELL. 59 
 
 considerable influence on tlie health and spirits of horses; 
 it is, nevertheless, unnecessary to seek out remote and 
 unaccountable causes, until we have examined the more 
 matter-of-fact ones which are within our reach. 
 
 SII^EWS. 
 
 When the sinews at the back of the fore legs become 
 thickened, ])etween the knee and the pastern joint, as 
 there is always more or less weakness or irritability re- 
 sulting from old strains, the horse is U:n^soui^'D. 
 
 When the sinews of the hind leg, between the hock and 
 the pastern, become thickened, even if this thickening 
 vanishes when the horse takes exercise, he must be held 
 to be UisrsouKD. 
 
 If, on the contrary, such thickening be the result of a 
 blow, appears callous, does not occasion inconvenience, 
 and does not decrease when the horse is at exercise, the 
 horse must, in that respect, be esteemed Sound. 
 
 Great care must, in such cases, be taken that he do not 
 kick wlien in harness. 
 
 BEOKEN WIJTD. 
 
 The disease, broken wind, is easily recognized by the 
 horse's peculiar suppressed cough when at exercise, after 
 a hearty meal, or upon being changed from one kind of 
 atmosphere to another, — as, for instance, from the stable 
 air to a cold and foggy atmosphere, or vice versa. 
 
 If you observe a horse thus afflicted, when he is quiet, 
 you may notice that the flank appears to distend and con- 
 tract tv/ice while the ribs rise once. 
 
 Immediately after brisk exercise this labored breath is 
 still more apparent; the nostrils being more or less dis- 
 
60 THE IIOESE. 
 
 tended, and t\ 2>ecnliiir seam or wrinkle between them be- 
 ing perceptible, whereas in horses of "good wind" no 
 such mark can be found. 
 
 Broken-winded horses are Unsound. 
 
 ROARING. 
 
 Horses afflicted with the disease named roaring make, 
 when galloping or trotting, a peculiar noise, the nature 
 of wdiich is sufficiently indicated by its name. Such 
 horses, upon being suddenly agitated, checked, or pulled 
 up short, make more or less of this noise, according to 
 the i^rogress the disease has made. Roaring is a chronic 
 disease of the windpipe, or perhaps, more correctly, the 
 remains of such a disease; but when it is not acute or se- 
 rious, the horse does not appear to suffer much incon- 
 venience from it in its earlier stages, although the noise 
 caused by it is very unpleasant; if the horse is put to fast 
 work, tlie noise will increase, till it at last becomes most 
 distressing to both horse and user. 
 
 The roarer's coat usually indicates a departure from 
 robust health, however fat the horse may be. 
 
 Such a horse is adapted to slow work only, and is 
 
 Unsound. 
 
 GRUNTING. 
 
 Although grunting, which is produced in the horse by 
 his being suddenly agitated by the use of spur or whip, 
 or by his being pulled up hastily, is not unlike roaring, 
 yet as he does not make the former sound on any other 
 occasion, I believe the two affections, roaring and grunt- 
 ing, to be quite distinct. 
 
 The coat of the grunter does not imidy disease. 
 
HOW TO BUY AND SELL. 61 
 
 I myself luive never known, nor have I ever met any 
 one who has known, this complaint to change into roar- 
 mg; yet, as many persons think it probahle that it might 
 do so, and that it may be the remains of some disease, 
 the horse is considered to be Unsouxd. 
 
 My opinion is that the noise proceeds from nervous- 
 ness, and not from any disease; and that as it does not 
 hinder the animal from performing the laljor due from 
 one of his class, the horse is Souxd. 
 
 However, as opinions differ upon this subject, tlie safest 
 course is to bar even grunting in a warranty for sound- 
 ness. 
 
 WHISTLING. 
 
 Tlie presence of whistling is easily ascertained by a 
 sharp gallop, which will quickly cause, if it be jDresent, 
 the w^heezing or whistling noise. This malady may or 
 may not be curable. When it is only attendant upon 
 another disease, the whistling will vanish with the dis- 
 ease: thus, for instance, it frequently accompanies a cold, 
 but, on the cold being cured, vanishes and is not heard 
 again. AVliere it assumes a chronic form, as it fre- 
 quently does when produced by water on the chest, by 
 inflammation of the lungs, or by injury to the windpipe, 
 it IS incurable. 
 
 As the cold is, per se, an unsoundness, whistling is, of 
 course, in this, its least aggravated form, an 
 
 Unsoundness. 
 
 When a good and serviceable horse has become affected 
 with whistling only m his gallop, and not m his trot, 
 he does not suffer inconvenience from this pace, and he 
 may advantageously, if suited to that kind of work, be 
 put into harness; and although there may exist some lit- 
 tle wheezing, a fair pace does not distress the animal; he 
 
62 THE HORSE. 
 
 may be usefully employed in harness-work, while his 
 whistling will be drowned by the noise of the wlieels: he 
 is, however, Uis^souKD. 
 
 WHEEZING. 
 
 See the article on ''Whistling." 
 
 COUGH. 
 
 However simple or however recent in origin a cough 
 may be, while it lasts the hone is Unsound. 
 
 It is of great importance that immediate attention be 
 paid to the horse on the first symptoms of cough being 
 noticed, while the cure is easy. The diseases to which 
 horses are liable are, for the most part, rapid in progi-ess; 
 every hour of delay increases the difficulty, and in a short 
 time the disease becomes developed in an acute or chronic 
 form, condemning the horse to a life of base drudgery, 
 and making him miserable to the end of his days. 
 
 CHRONIC cough. 
 
 While some horses, when laboring under chronic 
 cough, are almost useless, others are but little inconven- 
 ienced and are as useful as ever: they are all, however. 
 
 Unsound. 
 
 See the article on " Cough. 
 
 COLDS. 
 
 A horse suffering from cold in the head, which often 
 produces whistling, is, for the nonce, Unsound. 
 
 See articles on " Cough " and ''Whistling." 
 
HOW TO BUY AND SELL. 6o 
 
 ASTHMA. 
 
 Asthma may be recognized by the short, soft cough 
 that it produces. In some cases the inconvenience caused 
 by this complaint IS but shght, the horse giving merely a 
 scarcely perceptible cough on coming out of or going 
 into the stable, and the more in the winter than in sum- 
 mer: the extent of such cough depends upon the atmos- 
 phere and cleanliness of his box. Very commonly, horses 
 touched with asthma do not cough when working, nor 
 seem distressed like broken-winded horses. 
 
 Such horses often last many years, fulfilling the func- 
 tions of their particular class, without inconvenience; 
 yet, as there is chronic disease present, be ides an as- 
 sumed predisposition to injury of the lungs, they are 
 
 IlKSOU^q^D. 
 
 CRIB-BITIKG. 
 
 Orib-biting is a habit that some horses nave, of taking 
 hold of the manger with the teeth, or of resting the jaws 
 upon it, accompanied by a disagreeable noise caused by 
 sucking in and ejecting wind. It is a trick which horses 
 sometimes learn of one another, but it is generally caused 
 by neglect in providing work for these naturally active 
 animals; by omitting, when young, to keep them, when 
 unexercised, on a mouthing bit; and by allowing them to 
 stand idle in the stable with no food before them, es- 
 pecially when their heads are tied up, so that they can- 
 not amuse themselves by picking about in their beds. 
 
 The stomach of the horse has a natural tendency to 
 keep distended, and therefore, if it be not replenished 
 with food, it will become filled with air, and, if distended 
 by too profuse a supply of the latter, will cause uncom- 
 fortable sensations to him : in which case, as he is, by na- 
 ture, incapable of eructating; reason or instinct, which- 
 
64 THE HOUSE. 
 
 ever expression you prefer, induces him to iidopt this 
 method as the most eli'ectual means of relieving himself 
 from this inconvenience. 
 
 In its earlier stages, a little well-timed attention will 
 cure a horse of this practice; and if he be in good con- 
 dition, and his coat smooth, soft, and pliable, he is, in 
 spite of this halnt, Souxd. 
 
 As crib-biting will, in all probability, if not quickly 
 checked, lead to serious results, specified in the following 
 article, it miiy be deemed to be a Vice. 
 
 In the more advanced stages of crib-biting, neglect 
 will have allowed the stomach and digestive organs to 
 become aUected, and the horse, being therefore diseased, 
 will be Uksolkd. 
 
 In this latter stage of the disease the horse is thin, his 
 coat stares or looks unthrifty, and his hide becomes tight; 
 his cure is then difficult to effect, and is generally 
 troublesome, if not impossible, to bring about. 
 
 prevention of crib-bitixg (in the early stages.) 
 
 Moderating the work will frequently cure horses of 
 crib-biting, and will, where they appear vv^eakly and out 
 of order, and their coats '^ stare," (even though they be 
 not crib-biters,) reinstate them in health. In the latter 
 cases an earlier release for the night from work should be 
 oranted when circumstances allow. 
 
 eating beds. 
 
 Many persons feel alarmed at their horses eating their 
 beds; and very frequently m such cases grooms physic 
 their horses with a view -towards preventing this habit; 
 
HOW TO BUY AXD SELL. 65 
 
 certainly, while the nausea resulting from the medicine 
 lasts, the desired effect is produced; but, when the nausea 
 is gone, the horse returns more ravenously than ever to the 
 practice, and so, eventually, by repeated physickmgs, the 
 healthy tone of the stomach is destroyed, and the refu- 
 sal to eat sufficiently is met with extra medicine, in a 
 vain attempt to restore the appetite which has been wan- 
 tonly and foolishly damaged. 
 
 To such alarmists a few observations concerning this 
 craving of the horse may be useful. I myself have been 
 asked to pro\T[de some preventive for this habit, and 
 my invariable answer has been, — '' Keep better food be- 
 fore the horse; never let him stand too long without ex- 
 ercise or sufficient to eat, and you may depend upon 
 finding that he will never eat his dirty bed." 
 
 If you follow this advice, you may be sure that he will 
 not eat dirty straw, and that, if he does eat a little clean 
 straw from his new bed, he does so only either when he 
 finds an unthreshed ear, or when, having been too highly 
 fed, he picks up a little to distend his stomach with some- 
 thing rather less nutritious than his accustomed fare. 
 
 Bed-eating is not a disease, and a horse with this habit 
 can be warranted as Sound. 
 
 And, as it is not attended by any real inconvenience, 
 but is often a proof of good constitution, it is not even 
 regarded as a Vice. 
 
 Arabs are delighted when they see a horse eat his own 
 dung, saying that that is a proof that he will not starve. 
 
 More harm is done by letting horses stand too long 
 without food than by putting too much before them; and 
 although it is true that a ravenous horse does occasion- 
 ally burst his stomach by excess in eating, as for instance, 
 when he gets loose and finds out the corn-bin, yet such 
 cases occur only when he has been much restricted in his 
 diet, or has been worked for many hours, at a spell, with- 
 out food. These cases are of very rare occurrence, and 
 
66 THE HORSE. 
 
 would be still more uncommon were proper and sufficient 
 food regularly supplied. 
 
 Who has ever heard of a stage-coach horse, unstinted 
 in his food, eating to this excess; or a horse at grass 
 bursting himself in this manner? 
 
 Craving horses are the horses that should be selected 
 for real work, but they are liable to become crib-biters if 
 too strinoent a rule be observed in the matter of food or 
 
 o 
 
 exercise. 
 
 On the other hand, it is the horse having a delicate 
 stomach, and not the hard-worker, that requires pamper- 
 ing and nursing, care being taken that he be not fed ad 
 nauseam. Such a horse, on account of his indisposition 
 to feed or work, does not show much evidence of i)ast 
 labor. 
 
 Except where under medical treatment, he is Soujstd. 
 
 THE sou:n^d horse. 
 
 The sound horse is often too delicate to undergo an 
 amount of work which distresses the legs, but he is nev- 
 ertheless much coveted; while the useful horse, possessing 
 good stamina, the power to work without causing pain to 
 himself, and every evidence that he will long retain that 
 power, is too often rejected, because he shows a few signs 
 of past work. 
 
 Horse-buyers are too apt to be frightened at trifles 
 through their ignorance of real and imaginary defects. 
 When horses are being tried, it is no uncommon occur- 
 rence to see an animal brought out with a little enlarge- 
 ment upon some part of him. He is instantly rejected, 
 with, — ''I can never think of having that!" Another 
 is brought forward that has some other trifling ailment, 
 and he is sent back with the remark, ^' Put him m; that's 
 quite enough! " A useless one may, probably, be brought 
 
HOW TO BUY AND SELL. 67 
 
 forward next. He is sound, because there is not even a 
 bump, speck, spot, or blemish upon him! He is accepted 
 with — ^^That will do." The secret why such an one is so 
 purchasable has to be learned. It is, however, most fre- 
 quently the case that the horse has no pluck, or is too 
 weak to hurt his limbs. He can never do a day's work, 
 and costs more for nursing, petting, and physicking, 
 than it would take to keep tAvo useful ones; yet the latter 
 are always "ready." For this reason, we must have a 
 distinct class of horses: the second-hand horses, or the 
 " used ones," as they are generally called, — and these 
 should be warranted as " used horses," — that is, as show- 
 ing some signs of having done work. They will, how- 
 ever, be treated upon, and more particularly described, 
 in another part of this work. 
 
 WIND-SUCKIISTG. 
 
 This habiu is somewliat similar to crib-biting, except 
 that the horse does not take hold of anything, and that 
 the noise frequently differs slightly. It is a species of 
 crib-biting, and is more difficult to cure, as the horse is 
 out of condition when it is addicted to wind-suckmg. 
 The muzzle is of no use in this case, and to effect a cure 
 the same discipline must be observed as that recommend- 
 ed for crib-biting. Sometimes crib-biting degenerates into 
 wmd-sucking, which latter disease is caused by rubbing 
 over the manger filthy and greasy messes, in oi'der to pre- 
 vent the horse from biting the wood. The disease of 
 wind-sucking renders the horse Uksound. 
 
 WEAVING. 
 
 Weaving is a habit of moving from side to side in the 
 stall, something in the manner of a weaver's shuttle, but 
 
68 THE HORSE. 
 
 really more like the restless habits of confined animals in 
 a menagerie. AVeaving is generally contracted tliiough 
 idleness^ and is frequently learnt on board ship. Weav- 
 ers are mostly nervous horses, full of energy, good work- 
 ers, and Sound. 
 
 TO CURE WEAVING. 
 
 The same steps may be taken to cure weaving, as are 
 mentioned in the preceding article: m addition, it is well 
 to fasten the horse with tv/o pillar reins attach.ed respec- 
 tively to each side of the halter, and tight enough to j^re- 
 vent him from swinging or swaying. 
 
 DULLNESS. 
 
 Having examined the more general reasons for reject- 
 ing horses at sale, we have now to consider causes of sec- 
 ondary importance, yet such as must receive attention. 
 
 The nostril is one of the most important parts of the 
 horse to be attended to: it is much overlooked. There 
 are many horses that are called dull, sorry jades, who 
 will be found to go for a short distance good-humoredly 
 and at a good pace, and then draw in, bearing a severe pun- 
 ishment rather than improve their pace. '' AYhat a dull, 
 lazy brute it is!" cries its owner, but in reality he is 
 neither dull nor lazy. The cause of his difficulty lies m 
 the smallness of his nostril, which is not sufficiently 
 large to permit enough air to pass up for purifying the 
 blood as it passes through the animal's lungs. The con- 
 sequence is, that with every increase of speed the animal 
 siiffors acute pam. This too small nostril is the cause of 
 slowness or dullness in all inferiorly-bred horses. 
 
HOW TO BUY AKD SELL. 69 
 
 Where horses are well-bred, dullness is more likely to 
 arise from a contraction of the bones than from a diminu- 
 tive nostril. 
 
 Where speed and continuous labor, therefore, are re- 
 quired, the above two provocations to dullness should be 
 well looked into: even in thorough-bred horses we find 
 some imperfection or other; and it should be borne in 
 mind that a horse falling short of qualities sufficient for 
 making hmi a first-rate racer, may make a good country 
 hunter, or hackney. For the hundredth time I say — 
 Adapt a horse to the work best suited to his condition, 
 and all will be well. Of course this plan will sometimes 
 alter a horse's class, but, being equal to the work of the 
 class into wdiicli he is drafted, he is Soukd. 
 
 Where disease creates dullness, he is Un^sound. 
 
 MALFORMATIONS. 
 
 Malformations arc not an unsoundness unless the horse 
 is diseased or lame, or is prevented from doing the w^ork 
 of the class to w^hich he belongs. 
 
 Where there is any doubt of the horse's ability to stand 
 the work of his class upon the supposition that the af- 
 fected part has not been permanently healed, the buyer is 
 naturally anxious to try the horse before he purchases 
 it. Now, as there seems to be very absurd ideas enter- 
 tained by many persons as to what may be done with 
 horses on trial, and as the subject is of much importance 
 to both buyer and seller, perhaps I cannot do better than 
 devote some space to it. 
 
 THE TRIAL. 
 
 Having satisfied yourself upon the general merits of the 
 horse, try him, and, whilst trying him, use him fairly, 
 
70 THE HORSE. 
 
 according to the treatment to which horses of his class 
 and condition are subjected. Thus, suppose you are in 
 Avant of a horse able to trot twelve miles an hour, and 
 upon trial of one you put him to that pace without the 
 consent of the owner, in such case, should any accident 
 or subsequent ilhiess occur or be presumed to occur to the 
 horse as the result of the trial, you may be made to take 
 him at the price agreed upon before starting (and a price 
 should be always agreed upon), or you may be made to 
 pay the damage done to him, should the owner feel dis- 
 posed to compel you so to do. It may seem inconsistent 
 that you should not be permitted to risk accidents, with 
 penalty for their occurrence, by trying a horse at the full 
 speed he should go as one of his class; but as there may 
 be so many interpretations put upon what is a just and 
 what an unjust trial, it is best to have with you at the 
 time the owner or his agent; for if you took the horse 
 further than you were authorized to do by the owner, if 
 you drove it faster, or took it over a different road than 
 the one stipulated, and did this in the absence of the 
 owner or his representative, you would have to pay the 
 cost of any damage done to the animal; but not so if the 
 owner were with you, and he made no objection to your 
 methods of operation. 
 
 Again, if you state that you want a saddle-horse, and 
 receive such an one, but instead of using him for the sad- 
 dle, you try him in harness; for any accidents accruing 
 therefrom you will be liable; so that if you only mark him 
 with the collar, or m any other trifling way, nay, should 
 you rub off a few hairs so as to interfere with the imme- 
 diate sale of the horse, or depreciate his price, the owner 
 can insist upon your taking him off his hands or paying 
 for the injury done. 
 
 If you want a saddle horse, and try liim as you would a 
 hunter, then are you liable for accidents, although they 
 may occur at another part of the trial, because it may be 
 
HOW TO BUY AND SELL. 71 
 
 that the improper exertion to wliich he has been sub- 
 jected may have conduced to the accident. 
 
 A particuLar condition, to be acquired only by a cer- 
 tain treatment or training, will enable the horse to ac- 
 complish any extraordinary work, as m the case of the 
 racer, the hunter, and the trotter. But the further re- 
 moved he is from his legitimate work, so much greater 
 is the chance of the animal's being rumed, even when ex- 
 ercised for a short time only. You should also bear in 
 mind that horses for sale are generally in the very worst 
 possible condition to bear fatigue: they are got up to 
 catch the eye and are made as soft and sleek as possible. 
 In the ''selling state" they are, so to speak, all fat; in 
 their ''trained state," all muscle. It is the opinion of 
 many horse-buyers that horses should always be in a 
 "trained condition;" but the simple and ordinary re- 
 quirements of commercial transactions render this, gener- 
 ally, impossible. The trotter is the horse kept nearest 
 this state of training, being mostly in the hands of those 
 who possess only one horse, and who are consequently 
 always putting their animal to the trial. A really sound 
 trotter is, therefore, a most uncommon thing: the excep- 
 tions must be sought in those studs where trotters are 
 kept only as match horses and for short distances. Trot- 
 ters are of all horses the most tried — the most overtried. 
 Many indifferent horsemen would have no hesitation at 
 driving the trotter, but they would as soon attempt to fly 
 as to mount the racer. 
 
 Neither extreme is good. Horses should not be too 
 much worn when sold, and they certainly should not be 
 got up to such a pitch of sleekness and delicacy that 
 attacks of inflammation or other diseases would be at- 
 tended by more than ordinary danger to the animal. 
 Dealers of course would prefer keeping their horses in a 
 more rugged and vigorous condition, but hitherto buy- 
 ers have looked at horses as butchers do at oxen, and val- 
 
72 THE HORSE. 
 
 ued them in proportion to the amount of fat they carry. 
 Of course this is an error; but improvement is beginning, 
 for the dealers m live meat do certainly look for many 
 things now besides fat, and they are right. 
 
 Perhaps this place is as good as any other to remark 
 upon the absurdity of buying an animal that had once 
 in his life performed a particular feat, instead of seeking 
 to possess horses of capacity for general usefulness. As 
 well accept for man-servant a decrepid old man who once 
 in his life was most active and had done the state some 
 service. Choose a horse, as you would a man, for his 
 ability and willingness; then husband his resources, and 
 you may have a good and faithful servant for many years. 
 
 SURFEIT. 
 
 Should surfeit amount to more than a few spots upon 
 the outside of the quarters, particularly the hind quar- 
 ters, it is of little :^onsequence. If you are desirous of hav- 
 ing the horse, but from the number of spots upon him 
 you apprehend farcy, it will be advisable in making the 
 bargain to stipulate for a cure of the disease within a 
 fortnight. AVith proper treatment, the mere surfeit 
 may be cured in that time. Until cured, however, the 
 horse is Unsound. 
 
 BLEEDIKG. 
 
 Accepting the definition of soundness that it is perfect 
 health, whilst every deviation is indicative of unsound- 
 ness, then the simple necessity for drawing blood renders 
 the horse unsound, and consequently, until the orifice 
 made by the lancet is liealed, he is Unsound. 
 
HOW TO BUT AND SELL. 73 
 
 MEDICINE. 
 
 To require a dose of medicine is an unsoundness; 
 therefore, as in the case last mentioned, until the effect? 
 of the medicine are removed, the horse is Unsound, 
 
 diet and exercise. 
 
 Requiring a particular treatment of either diet or ex- 
 ercise — a treatment widely different from that which is 
 ordinarily adopted — is a deviation from soundness. 
 
 dealers' horses. 
 
 After studying* the preceding part of this book, more 
 particularly the contents of the three last paragraphs, 
 the question may naturally arise — '''How is it possible 
 that dealers' horses pass at all; for, certainly in tlie case 
 of high-priced horses, attention must be paid to every 
 little nicety with a view towards securing sound animals? " 
 It is just this, that as the buyer compels the vendor to 
 keep his horses m a state so highly '' finished," the buyer 
 must make allowances or he will never effect a purchase. 
 
 If a horse is capable of undergoing the trial as well as 
 other horses in the same adipose state, being, in all other 
 respects, just as he should be according to the rules laid 
 down in this work, then he is Sound. 
 
 Nobody but the purchaser is to blame for a horse, 
 with no one perceptible defect, having around it as 
 it were an atmosphere of doubt and uncertainty; but 
 where he does not mean to put the horse immediately to 
 work, but intends to bring him to it properly by degrees, 
 the animal will not suffer. But if horses newly pur- 
 4 
 
74 THE HORSE. 
 
 chased from the dealer's hands are at once put to work 
 without due consideration, some severe disease often ac- 
 crues, which, if it does not kill them off, may render 
 them cri^^ples for life. When this really occurs — and it 
 is by no means unfrequent, the purchaser blames the 
 vendor, who does not deserve it. because, were he not to 
 keep his horses in the finest possible condition, he could 
 not command a high price for them. This accounts for 
 the general complaint of the difficulty in obtaining good 
 saddle horses. 
 
 SADDLE HORSES. 
 
 To make a good saddle horse is a work of time, and 
 during the process of training he must be ridden by good 
 horsemen who know what they are about. To break him 
 in well, you will subject him to many little accidents; 
 and certain little things, the result of the exercise, will 
 be sure to make their appearance, which will be construed 
 to be the result of work. Over-fastidious buj^ers will often 
 be thus deceived, and reject a well-trained saddle horse 
 for a sleeker animtd whose action is not set. Therefore 
 let it be noted as a fact that until certain crotchets and 
 fancied imperfections are overlooked, and are no longer 
 bugbears, we shall want good saddle horses. Those 
 who are fortunate enough to possess such a treasure 
 will not part with it until it is fairly worn out; nor 
 would a dealer be at the trouble of producing another, 
 unless he could insure for it a price commensurate with 
 the pains required for the operation. 
 
 It is a common complaint that the horses of the pres- 
 ent day do not lift their feet sufficiently high, in tlie 
 same way that they did when saddle horses were more per- 
 fect, this fault in them being erroneously attributed to 
 
HOAV TO BUT AKD SELL. 75 
 
 their breed. The thorough-bred horse may oe taught to 
 lift his leg as high and bend his knee as well as any 
 other, even after he has been trained for racing; and he 
 then is better than the old-fashioned saddle horse, be- 
 cause safer and easier, and his breed renders him capable 
 of doins: more work. 
 
 HUNTERS. 
 
 After reading the above remarks upon saddle horses, 
 you may naturally ask. How is it, then, that we have good 
 hunters now in some portions of the country? It is 
 because known hunters are seldom offered for sale in a 
 pursy state; or, if they are in such a condition at any 
 time, they undergo a thorough training before they are 
 set to work. The remark also applies to young horses 
 that are bought for the purpose of making hunters: it 
 would indeed be a raw hand that would take a fat hunter 
 into the field. 
 
 Again, hunters are known, and exchange hands upon 
 their merits. Who ever refused the best horse in the hunt 
 because he had windgalls, enlarged hocks, or any of the 
 thousand and one objections made to other and unknown 
 horses? If the hunter is capable of performing cleverly 
 the various standard feats of the hunting-field, many an 
 imperfect piece of his symmetry is overlooked. 
 
 *' Besides," remarks some one, '^broken knees in the 
 hunter are not of any consequence." From this I beg to 
 dissent. Of all the horses I should least like the hunter 
 to be a tumble-down, and for this good reason: — the 
 shoulders of the tumble-down are upright, so that at par- 
 ticular leaps he can not extend his fore-legs sufficiently 
 to come down on his fore-feet, and most likely when he 
 thus over-jumps himself, he comes down head first. I 
 am confident there never was an instance of the 
 
76 THE HORSE. 
 
 rider being killed by his horse rolling heels over head 
 upon him unless that horse were upright in his shoulders. 
 Although I hate any horse approaching to a tumble- 
 down for any purpose whatever, I should prefer that a 
 saddle horse should fall with me on the road, though he 
 should cut himself to pieces, rather than I v;ould risk 
 leaping with an upright-shouldered liunter. In severe 
 leaps there is more force required than in ordinary riding, 
 and therefore the obliquity is more needed. But I 
 would rather avoid both. I hate the action of these 
 horses. 
 
 VICES. 
 
 In speaking of the vices of horses, we must first observe 
 that a Avarranty of soundness does not infer that the 
 horse is free from vice, unless such be particularly 
 expressed. Next, you must bear in mind that a very 
 vicious horse may be a very sound one, and that, too, 
 because perhaps on account of his bad habits his OAvners 
 may have been afraid of using him. 
 
 Vice may be either that which is dangerous to those 
 who have to do with the animal, being confined to either 
 the stable, to the work generally, or to only one partic- 
 ular kind of work; or it may be of a nature to effect only 
 the horse himself, or his master in a pecuniary point of 
 view, by lessening the value. Of such last may be men- 
 tioned wind-suckers, crib-biters, ^veavers, horses having 
 a determined trick of getting loose in the stable, (although 
 there may be a certain degree of innocence in their mis- 
 cliief,) for they may be the caiis3 of injury to themselves 
 or others. 
 
 Kicking one another, or at people, either in their work 
 or at any otlior time, if with ill nature, is a Vice. 
 
 Biting one another, or tlioso al)out tliem, unless in 
 
now TO BUY AND SELL. 77 
 
 play, or Avliatevcr trick tends to the injury of themselves 
 or others, is a Vice. 
 
 In the first or most serious class of vices may be 
 enumerated — kicking and biting in or out of the stable; 
 kicking at the leg of the rider or driver, either when 
 mounting into the saddle or at any other time; or rearing, 
 or running away, or rubbing the rider's leg against 
 anything, or lying down when Avanted to proceed, 
 or falling on the side, or stopping suddenly when in a 
 fast pace, or violently insisting upon going to any i)lace 
 that the horse hap^iens to have been at before. Jibbing, 
 or refusing to proceed, is a vice: so is backing 
 against the owner's will, or turning round with violence 
 when not re(|uired so to do, unless this results from mis- 
 management of the user. A refusal to stand still in order 
 to be mounted, if from ill nature, may be classed under 
 this head. Bucking or raising the back when mounted, 
 and then putting the head between the fore-legs and jump- 
 ing, is a disagreeable and dangerous vice; so is the trick 
 of swelling out the body till either the girths or straps to 
 which they are buckled give way. If horses are guilty of 
 any of the vices here enumerated and have been sold as 
 well-broken horses, warranted free from vice, they are 
 returnable. The half-broken colt may be guilty of some 
 of these habits without being vicious; but thenceforth 
 it depends upon the way of procedure. 
 
 This being merely a catalogue of vices, some of them 
 will be more particularly described under their respective 
 headings, together with their causes, effects, and reme- 
 dies, in order that buyers may know where certain vices 
 are barred, or whether they amount to a reason for the 
 total rejection of the horse or not. 
 
 Should you, however, put a horse into harness without 
 having a guarantee that he is quiet to drive, and he then 
 proves guilty of one or more of the active vices, you 
 cannot return him. 
 
78 THE HOUSE. 
 
 * Warranted quiet in harness" bars all injurions vices 
 affecting tliat particular work. There is one vice, how- 
 ever, said to be questionable, although I doubt it; that 
 is '^ jibbing," or refusing to move when required to do so. 
 But where the horse runs back, there can be no doubt 
 about the vice proving dangerous and a bar to a perfect 
 warranty. Lying down, another trick of a Jibber, is also 
 a dangerous vice, if only on account of the shafts, inde- 
 pendently of other and personal risks. Also, where the 
 horse, after standing awhile, goes oS with a violent rush, 
 rear, or plunge, there can be no doubt of the danger 
 (except in skillful hands), or of the vice. This also 
 requires some qualification, as a mere jump, lift, or start 
 at a canter may be magnified by the timid. Again, it is 
 a query whether it is not the coachman, rather than the 
 horse, that is in fault; and in the former case the horse 
 is not do be held to be vicious. 
 
 A horse may be quiet in harness, yet very vicious and 
 dangerous out of it, either in the stable or to ride. 
 These are not included in a warranty of "quiet in har- 
 ness," because in the last two cases he is out of the har- 
 ness. " Free from vice," added to " quiet in harness," 
 signifies that the animal is also quiet in the stable. He 
 may, however, be vicious to ride, so that where he is 
 wanted for this purpose also, " to ride " must be added 
 in the warranty, as the seller may contend that he sold 
 him for harness only. 
 
 The receipts hereafter given will show how all these 
 difficulties may be overcome. 
 
 A simple warranty of soundness does not necessarily 
 imply quietness. A horse may be as vicious as possible, 
 so much so as to become almost useless, and at the same 
 time not render himself returnable. *' Free from vice or 
 any general inclination to do mischief," alludes to the 
 stable as well as to the work of the horse. Still he may 
 not be well broken, as thig does not imply that he is so or 
 
HOW TO BUY AND SELL. 79 
 
 otherwise; therefore, the being thus untutored woukl not 
 make him returnable. But, if, though unbroken, he has 
 acqaired bad tricks or vices, he is returnable. Add 
 "quiet to ride," and he must perform this. He may, 
 nevertheless, not be broken further than just to 'M)ack," 
 as it is termed — that is, to allow any one to be upon his 
 back with the saddle while he carries him about. The 
 phrase, a "good back," "good hunter," "ladicc' horse," 
 "menage," or "quiet in harness," or for whatever other 
 purpose he may be required, should be sjiecified. As an 
 assistance, I give a few forms of receipt, which may be 
 easily adapted to suit any purpose required. 
 
 RECEIPTS 0:Nr WARRANTIES. 
 
 May, 18—. 
 
 Received of , for a gelding, 
 
 warranted sound, free from vice, and quiet to ride or 
 drive, five hundred dollars. — A. B. 
 
 N. B.^Tliis includes the commonest purpose, with 
 quietness both within and without doors; also souudness. 
 Any qualification may be left out or added; as for 
 example : — 
 
 June, 18 — . 
 
 Received of , two hundred 
 
 dollars, for a chestnut mare, warranted sound, with the 
 exception of a slightly enlarged hock — (juiet to ride. — B. 0. 
 
 The hock being the only exception, should there be any 
 other unsoundness, the purchaser can return the horse; 
 but not for vice, as that is not mentioned; neither is 
 harness- work. Both of these, therefore, are at the 
 buyer's risk. 
 
 July, 18—. 
 
 Received of , three hundred 
 
 dollars, for a brown horse, warranted sound, with the 
 
80 THE HOEiSE. 
 
 exception of an enkirgemeiit at the back of the near hock, 
 OQ which he goes at present free from kmeness. A good 
 hunter. C. D. 
 
 Any other unsoundness vitiates this warranty; or if it 
 can be proved that he went Uxme on the excepted hock at 
 the time of trial, he is returnable. Here he is only for one 
 purpose, and may not be worth anything for any otlier 
 work. But if he fulfills the warranty by being a good 
 hunter, he does all that can be naturally ex2)ected of him. 
 Good hunters are often useless for hackney- work. 
 
 August, 18 — . 
 
 Eeceived of , two hundred dollars, for 
 
 a gray gelding, warranted sound, with the exception of 
 
 , and upon which I warrant he 
 has gone sound from to 
 
 and np to the time of my giving this receipt. He is ({uiet 
 m harness and a good hackney. D. E. 
 
 Here the warranty, as far as the doubtful part, runs 
 back to given time — upon the length of time that the 
 horse has gene free from mcor-venience, and you place 
 your reliance upon his continuing to do so. If, therefore, 
 you iJiid that he has been lame on the excepted part with- 
 in the period named, he is returnable, but not otherwise 
 — this defect of lameness having been particularly speci- 
 fied in the warranty. 
 
 It will be readily perceived that any particular vice, 
 vices, or defects, whether of eyes, limbs, wind, etc., etc., 
 may be thus excepted; therefore, one more example will 
 suffice. 
 
 September, 18 — . 
 
 Received of , the sum of 
 
 dollars, for a black horse, sixteen hands 
 high, warranted sound, with the exception of an enlarge- 
 ment on the off forefoot, but upon Avhicli he has gone 
 sound during the whole of the last three months, since its 
 formation. He is six years old. 
 
HOW TO BUY AND SELL. 81 
 
 HEIGHT AXD AGE. 
 
 The last form is also a warranty of age — that he is past 
 his fifth and not yet m his seventh year; for horses never 
 alter less than one year at a time. If you can prove he 
 has not arrived at his sixth year, or that he has entered 
 his seventh, you can, if you are so disposed, return the 
 horse. 
 
 You will perceive that this last receipt is for a horse — 
 meaning thereby an entire one — neither gelding nor 
 mare. His height is also mentioned; but if you have any 
 particular reason for stating his exact height, it must be 
 on the special warranty placed after the word "height," 
 and not Ijefore it, or it will be presumed that you might 
 have had him measured at the time of purchase. In 
 order to avoid quibbling, it is the best way, where a given 
 height is required, to put the horse under the standard. 
 Even then there is much sleight of hand going on. Strict 
 attention must, therefore, be paid if you are in any way 
 particular to an inch. From the foregoing observations 
 it will be seen that a simple warranty — '' free from vice," 
 applies to the stable only; to be quiet in his work, and 
 each particular kind of work, must be specified, as in the 
 first receipt. 
 
 QUIET IN^ HARN"ESS. 
 
 "Warranted quiet in harness" does not imply the long 
 usage of a horse to that particular kind of work, or that 
 he has become particularly handy. All that it engages is 
 that the horse has been used sufiiciently to prove that 
 any coachman of tolerable ability may drive him without 
 accident. Therefore, after buying a horse thus warrant- 
 ed, before you put yourself to any expense in returning 
 him on account of an accident, be sure the accident was 
 not caused through your own negligence. A little iiegli- 
 
82 THE HORSE. 
 
 gence or mismanagement mtiy do a great deal of mis- 
 chief. Too rough a liand upon a sensitive mouth, or a 
 little nervousness or improper treatment in the driving, 
 or inattention to the harness, may be all the fault, and, 
 after being put to great expense and inconvenience, you 
 may still be obliged to retain the horse, as all those things 
 that seemed the effect of vice have been occasioned by 
 want of skill. 
 
 A chance kick or rear, if merely in play, as is gener- 
 ally the case when the animal is too fresh or in the habit 
 of looking or playing on seeing certain objects (which 
 some would term shying), is not a vice, and does not 
 render the horse returnable, where it can be proved that 
 he was in a good humor or wanted work. Any mischief 
 that might result would be at the risk of the buyer. But 
 where the seller allows any one to try a horse in harness, 
 whilst thus too fresh, without giving a caution, all mis- 
 chief that ensues falls upon the vendor's shoulders. 
 Where this caution is given, he must either be a very 
 good or a very foolhardy coachman to be his own driver 
 until the seller has driven a little of this play out of 
 him. 
 
 SHYING. 
 
 When horses shy, it is either from unsoundness, play, 
 or vice. It is generally occasioned by disease in the eye: 
 cataract is the most common. Should the horse start at a 
 little water or froth lying in the roacl, you may almost 
 depend upon this disease being present, even though it 
 exists in the shape of a speck no bigger than a pin's 
 point. After cataracts are formed in the eye, that part 
 of the pupil which is affected becomes opaque. Cataracts 
 vary from the smallest specks to the obliteration or total 
 opacity of the pupil, the shying increasing up to the last 
 stage of blindness. Inflammation or cold in the eye 
 
HOAV TO BUY AND SELL. 83 
 
 will also produce shying. Every one of these stages, 
 from the slightest inflammation to complete blindness 
 of the affected eye or eyes, makes the horse 
 
 Unsound. 
 
 When there is no inflammation present, the various 
 diseases of this orgxm are easily detected, as well as the 
 injury which the eyes have received from the imflamma- 
 tions they have already undergone; but as this is only to 
 be acquired by practice, it will be unnecessary for me to 
 occupy further space in attempting to explain that which 
 would not assist those who are not already acquainted 
 with the eye under all circumstances. I would merely ob- 
 serve, as a general rule, that the eyes of those horses most 
 sul)]ect to disorder appear small, and the upper lid 
 wrinkled: they are termed '^ buck-eyed." Every stage 
 of shying proceeding from disease is an 
 
 Unsoundness. 
 
 Not so where it is a matured habit produced by either 
 a nervous or brutal user; in that case it is a Vice. 
 
 It is not, however, a vice till it becomes a confirmed 
 luibit, because if, during the early stages the horse changes 
 into judicious hands, he ceases to do wrong. 
 
 Patience, and care in riding and drivnig will soon cure 
 this. 
 
 When the horse starts or plays from want of exercise, 
 or from a sudden noise, of an unusual kind, or where it 
 arises from standing in a dark stable, provided that the 
 eyes are not seriously injured, and that the pupils soon 
 contract from the dilatation the dark has occasioned to 
 their natural size, he is free from vice and Sound. 
 
 To keep him sound the purchaser must put him into a 
 lighter stable, when his eyes will keep right, and he will 
 not shy; but if he be kept in the dark, disease will soon 
 follow, and the animal Avill be, consequently, rendered 
 
 Unsound. 
 
 In the two last cases the horse is free from vice. 
 
84 THE llORSE. 
 
 Young liorses occasioiuiUy sliy from Imviiig chronic di- 
 latation of the pupils, and are then Unsound. 
 
 But where such dilatation is not chronic, as shown 
 above, the defect is soon removed. 
 
 Where the dilatation is the natural effect of age alone, if 
 the horse merely looks or glances at objects without 
 jumping or turning so as to occasion inconvenience, he 
 is Sound. 
 
 But if he stops suddenly, jumps to one side, or turns 
 round quickly, whether resulting from defective sight, 
 disease, old age, or any combination of these causes, the 
 horse is Unsound. 
 
 STARTING. 
 
 starting is a Vice. 
 
 See articles on *' Shying" and ''Bolting." 
 
 BOLTING — running AWAY. 
 
 Bolting, or running away, is a serious Vice. 
 
 This does not, however, apply to the young horse when 
 he jumps suddenly at any object that ai)pcars m a quiet 
 by-road, or when he looks curiously at anything strange 
 to him; he may even, under such circumstances, move 
 over askew to the other side of the road, but this must 
 not be considered to be a vice. Good riding is all that 
 such a horse requires. 
 
 If his eyes are perfect, he is Sound. 
 
 PLAY — playfulness. 
 
 Gamboling and good-humored play, resulting from 
 plenty of ease, are not detrimental to the horse's value. 
 
HOW TO BUT AND SELL. 85 
 
 and they are easily got rid of, or, at the least, lessened by 
 a little exercise. 
 
 They may be considered to be, generally, a proof of a 
 strong and \igorous state of health. 
 
 A true horseman does not think any the Avorse of a 
 horse for his playfulness; but as a nervons person might 
 be alarmed at this habit, and put himself to some ex- 
 pense in trying to effect a return of the horse to the 
 vendor, it is well to add that, as playfulness is not a vice, 
 the horse is not, on that account, returnable. 
 
 But such a temper in a horse as is decidedly capricious 
 or mischievous constitutes a Vice. 
 
 The act of a horse looking slily or askance at any ob- 
 jects that happen to catch his eye, while he is passing, 
 must not be mistaken for shying; for the indecision of 
 the rider's hand will convey a feeling of fear to the horse's 
 mind through the effect of the bridle upon the mouth, 
 while the horse will frequently anticipate the approach of 
 a danger which is, in fact, imaginary, by feeling an un- 
 due pressure, or a sudden and undecided loosening or 
 tremulous motion of the rider's legs or knees. He is, 
 consequently, suddenly alarmed, fancies that the very 
 first object which he meets is the cause of the supposed 
 danger, and tries, as instinct prompts him, to avoid it. 
 
 If a horse that has 1)een ridden by a nervous rider for 
 a few times only be taken in hand by a thorough and 
 clever-handed horseman, it will be found that he will re- 
 cover his self-confidence in a very few days' work. It is 
 a fault of greater or less magnitude, according to the time 
 that may be required for its eradication, and therefore, 
 until the cure be effected, and it be certain that no injury 
 will accrue from past mismanagement, such a fault is a 
 
 Vice. 
 
 The horse that will not even step over a straw, when 
 ridden by an undecided and hesitating rider, will fre- 
 quently take any le;ip with him who rides with a cool de- 
 
86 THE HORSE. 
 
 termination and a steady hand: so tliat, when the horse 
 has contracted no permanent habit, but shies only while 
 he is ridden m a nervous manner, as the fault is not in 
 the horse, but in the master, the act of so shying does 
 not constitute a Vice. 
 
 Vice does not always render the animal returnable to 
 the vendor. If, through nervousness or any fault in 
 management, you induce the horse to shy, you must not, 
 on that account, attribute any blame to him; and, m 
 order to enable you to succeed in effecting a return of 
 the animal, you must be in a position to prove that he 
 was, under proper management, addicted to shying pre- 
 vious to your purchasing him. Facilis decensus averni ! 
 Bad habits are far easier to inculcate or to acquire than 
 good ones. 
 
 It is easy to sell or to buy a horse, be he good or bad, 
 but impossible to furnish, or acquire suddenly, the art 
 of managing liim properly. 
 
 The above remarks as to the ease with which a horse 
 contracts a habit of shying apply with equal force to all 
 other habits which may be induced m him, either 
 inside or outside the stable; such as biting, kicking, 
 plunging, jil)bing, savaging, etc. 
 
 SKITTISHNESS. 
 
 Horses that are highly fed, and at the same time un- 
 derworked, frequently acquire a way of spasmodic start- 
 ing and playfulness, and are then called skittish; such 
 horses being, by the uninitiated, not uncommonly called 
 shiers. A.s the skittishness goes off on the horse being put 
 to serious and hard work, it is not to be deemed a Vice. 
 
 MEDICINE. 
 
 A dose of medicine given to a horse, even though he 
 require it, may make him unsound, until the pbysic has 
 
HOW TO BUY AND SELL. 87 
 
 ceased to affect him. Under the same category of spe- 
 cifics, I must mclude training, and sweating to get down 
 some of the sui3erflnons fat; all trainers, however, know 
 that these processes may be overdone. Any deviation 
 from health is an Unsoui^dness. 
 
 Until the effect of the medicine has passed off, there 
 is such a deviation from health, as is proved by the 
 altered pulse, the derangement of appetite, and general 
 dullness. Besides, owing to the great susceptibility of 
 the stomach of the horse, until the effect has ceased, the 
 ultimate result is uncertain; a dose, innocuous to one 
 horse, being often almost, if not quite, fatal to another. 
 
 It is better understood now than it was formerly, that, 
 if the medicine, in proper quantities and at right times, 
 has been administered to the horse, either to qualify him 
 for work different from that to which he has beeu accus- 
 tomed, or to restore him to his usual condition; as, for 
 instance, on his return from grass, or on the commence- 
 ment of his preparation for racing or hunting, and, if 
 you can be satisfied that the dose was moderate, not in- 
 jurious in its properties, and administered to the horse 
 at the time when he was in a proper state of perj^ara- 
 tion to receive it, there is no great risk in purchasing 
 him. I should not have gone so lengthily into the sub- 
 ject of caution requisite in these cases, were it not that 
 many still adhere to the system of giving a ball consist- 
 ing of calomel (a medicine rarely necessary), and other 
 drugs sufficient to rum all the horses in a whole troop 
 of cavalry. 
 
 We cannot wonder, when we recollect the preposterous 
 doses that were habitually given to horses a few years ago, 
 that they often either destroyed the poor creatures, or 
 rendered them permanently decrepit. 
 
 It does not occur every day that there is any necessity 
 to buy a horse wiien still under the effects of physic; yet 
 there are cases w^hen, from rivalry among those who know 
 
88 THE HORSE. 
 
 him, anxiety is manifested to i)urcliase a horse who would 
 not, under other circumstances, be or be likely to be sold; 
 and m such instances the successful competitor runs con- 
 siderable risk. 
 
 In spite of the unimportance in many cases, I think 
 it right to show what dangers and chances may occa- 
 sionally hapiien, as I have often been questioned on the 
 subject. 
 
 A short time since, two gentlemen were, at the same 
 time, considering about buying a horse that was just then 
 in physic, with a view to the preparation for a match m 
 which he was engaged. One of the gentlemen had of- 
 fered to purchase the horse as soon as the medicine had 
 worked off: the other, in the meantime, consulted me as 
 to what consequences might be apprehended, and, after 
 I had examined the horse, and iiad satisfied myself as to 
 his appearance, bought the horse, much to the chagrin 
 of his more cautious rival. 
 
 STR A INGLES. 
 
 It is frequently a matter for deliberation whether it 
 would be advisable to buy a horse laboring under stran- 
 gles (in whatever stage the disease may happen to be), or, 
 in some cases, whether it would be prudent to purchase a 
 horse which, though not actually afflicted with this dis- 
 ease at the time, yet shows symptoms of its approach. 
 
 In aged horses the appearance of strangles must be 
 noted with some suspicion, as the horse generally has the 
 disease while young, and very rarely more than once, 
 while the older horse Is more subject to glanders, which 
 is sometimes mistaken for strangles. Strangles may so 
 debilitate an old horse as to degenerate mto glanders . 
 
 Strangles is a disease which, if i)ropcrly attended to on 
 its first api)oarance, rarely terminates fatally m tlie result 
 
HOW TO BUY A:N^D SELL. 89 
 
 denoted by the name: such a result is a very scarce ex- 
 ception to the geneml rule — recovery. 
 
 While the horse is under the influence of strangles, he 
 is Ui^souxD. 
 
 In order to prevent mistakes, it would be an improve- 
 ment, where there is tlie least sus^iicion of strangles, 
 to have the warranty qualified by the addition of the 
 words, '^ Except the strangles." 
 
 This disease is curable within a few days; it rarely 
 attacks old horses. 
 
 COLDS. 
 
 Cold in the head, of long standing, may be mistaken 
 by those n^t conversant with the disease, for strangles, 
 while it is, in fact, the worse of the two, and is of a far 
 more serious nature than most people imagine. While 
 the comparatively innocuous disease, strangles, is much 
 dreaded, cold, until it shows its seriousness by extreme 
 'running, is thought lightly of. 
 
 Cold, if long neglected, frequently degenerates into 
 glanders; in any case, while the horse is suffering from 
 it, he is Unsound. 
 
 GLANDERS. 
 
 Glanders, which bears a very similar appearance to 
 that of strangles, is a complaint of the very worst 
 character. 
 
 Glanders runs for years, if it does not, in the interim, 
 terminate in death. 
 
 It is easily communicated either by inoculation or 
 imbibition; its contagiousness, however, is very doubtful, 
 as sound horses have been known to stand for years in 
 the same stables with glandered ones without contracting 
 
90 THE HOESE. 
 
 the disease; indeed, sound and glandered horses have 
 been known to work together without the disease being 
 communicated. 
 
 Common causes of the disease are — overwork, an 
 insufficient quantity of nutritious food, debility, and 
 foul, close stables. 
 
 Where the precaution laid down at the end of the article 
 on " Strangles " has been observed, and there is no longer 
 a doubt that the disease is of a more serious nature than 
 that of strangles, the horse should be returned to the 
 vendor, the chance of effecting a care being very small; 
 besides, there is danger of the attendant becoming inoc- 
 ulated, the expense of promoting the cure is heavy, and 
 the time that will elapse before the horse is sound and fit 
 for work is considerable. 
 
 Glanders is seldom accompanied by any cough, but one 
 nostril is generally, in the early stages, affected, there 
 being a running from the nose of a glandered horse of a 
 more glue-like or colloid nature than that in strangles; 
 and it is useful to know that while the matter that runs 
 from the nose in the former disease sinks in water, that 
 which flows in strangles and cold, floats. 
 
 Until the disease has made some progress, the horse 
 appears to be in good health, and his eyes bright and 
 clear; but it is prudent not to place too much reliance 
 upon this absence of symptoms. The moment that you 
 have any grounds for suspicion, procure a donkey or 
 some other animal of little value — even a rabl)it — and let 
 him l)c inoculated with the matter; a few liours will 
 decide whether the disease is or is not present. Should 
 glanders be unmistakably discovered, the sooner both 
 animals are destroyed the better. 
 
 The inoculation of the donkey with the suspicious 
 matter is not an inhuman act; for it is only the possible 
 sacrifice of one life, to insure tlie ])rescrvation of we know 
 not how many. Even tlie lives of the attendants are at 
 
HOW TO BUY AND SELL. 91 
 
 stake, as it is well known that the reception of giandered 
 matter in the slightest scratch or ahrasion of the skin is 
 almost certain to terminate fatally. 
 
 Although the difference between cold, strangles, and 
 glanders is sufficiently marked to be generally distin- 
 guished, yet no description of them will render it safe for 
 the uninitiated to decide with certainty which disease it is. 
 
 The best plan is to put alone by themselves all horses 
 afflicted with strangles or severe cold in the head, par- 
 ticularly if they have been recently purchased; this will, 
 at all events, prevent any chance of glanders, if present, 
 being communicated to the other horses. 
 . It is hardly necessa^*^' to add that a giandered horse is 
 
 Unsound. 
 
 BASTARD-STRANGLES, OR VIVES. 
 
 AVhen a horse has not had the strangles at the usual 
 time, that is, generally, between the second and fourth 
 year, he is fre([uently attacked by this disease, being in 
 fact the strangles delayed till a later period of life than 
 usual: Vives really meaning a revival of the attack, 
 which is frequently called by old farriers, bastard- 
 strangles, or vives, and wliich is a more obstinate com- 
 plaint than true strangles. 
 
 Vives is not often, in itself, fatal, nor difficult to cure, 
 if attended to without delay; but, if neglected, it is often 
 followed by very serious results, such as broken-wind, or 
 even glanders; it is originated by a severe cold too long 
 neglected. 
 
 The accompanying cough is more violent than that in 
 strangles. 
 
 A horse laboring under vives or bastard-strangles is 
 
 Unsound. 
 
 Should you have bought the horse with an expressed 
 
02 THE HORSE. 
 
 understanding that the disease under which he is labor- 
 ing was the strangles only, and that he was, in other 
 respects, sound, you may return him if the complaint is 
 found to be the vives, on the score of his not fulfilling 
 the conditions of the warranty. 
 
 BENT BEFORE. 
 
 When the fore-legs of the horse are bent forward at 
 the knee, he is said to be bent before: this may proceed 
 from overwork, or from j)ain in the feet resulting from 
 contraction, inflammation, etc., but it more frequently 
 proceeds from flat feet. In these cases, the animal is 
 
 Unsoukd. 
 
 When the cause does not consist in pain, and when the 
 deviation from the natural line is but slight, and the 
 horse can do his proper work without inconvenience, 
 even then, as in the case of total blindness, the defect 
 may be visible, but he is Soukd. 
 
 When the profile of the fore-legs has a deviation of 
 anytliing more than the very slightest, it is a Blemish. 
 
 You must not be talked over into the belief that the 
 horse wasdef<u*med to this extent when he was foaled, and 
 that it is not, therefore, the result of hard work or mis- 
 management, for though all colts are foaled crooked, or 
 bent before, they remain so for a short time only. 
 
 Bent-legged horses have a reputation for good courage; 
 if they are bent but slightly, they are frequently safe and 
 good saddle-horses. They are, however, best adnpfed 
 to harness- work; and, when much l)ent, should be 
 Avorked in double harness, so that they may be free 
 from any weight on the back. 
 
 UPRIGHT SHOULDERS. 
 
 Horses may l)e sound and yet unsafe to ride. 
 Amongst these are such as have upright shoulders, 
 which result in some instances from bent leers. 
 
HOW TO BUY AND SELL. 93 
 
 Horses of this kind are in this respect perfectly sound; 
 as much as the blind horse is; for in the former, as well 
 as the latter case, the defect is plainly visible. Tliough 
 a very upright-shouldered horse is considered unsound 
 in so far as regards his capabilities as a hunter, he is, 
 nevertheless, able to do harness-work, without inconven- 
 ience or danger, and, as long as he is kept for that kind 
 of work only, is Sound. 
 
 ManyAvriters contend that upright shoulders are neces- 
 sarv to even first-class draught. I differ from them. But 
 the horse being misplaced does not render liin. unsound. 
 
 In thus alluding to his unfitness for hunting purposes, 
 I take an extreme of upright shoulders: though there is 
 danger m every degree of this make, that is, in every 
 gradation, from the oblique or perfect contour, down to 
 extreme and most faulty deformity. 
 
 Therefore, horses with upright shoulders are, properly 
 speaking, suitable for harner^s-work only; the nearer the 
 shoulders approach to uprightness, the greater is the 
 decrease m the horse's speed, until at length he is quali- 
 fied for slow Avork only; so long as he has speed enough 
 left m him for his required labor, he is well adajited for 
 double harness or for four-wheel work, as there is then 
 no vertical pressure of his back. 
 
 When such horses fall down, which they are almost 
 certain to do before the ninth year, if working fast, and 
 they hurt themselves in a trifling degree only, they are, 
 untd cured. Unsound. 
 
 Soundness and unsoundness, subsequent to such a fall, 
 depends entirely upon the extent of the injury received. 
 See the article on '^ 
 
 UPRIGHT JOINTS — KNUCKLING. 
 
 When the pastern-joint of one or both of the fore-legs 
 is perpendicular to the rest of the leg, instead of sloping 
 
94 THE HORSE. 
 
 backwark, if this defect arise from work, the animal is 
 
 Unsoukd. 
 
 Such a deformity, in itself a serious defect, is bad also 
 on account of its being such a deviation from nature as 
 will soon render the horse useless from the lameness re- ' 
 suiting from the concussion that the altered struc- 
 ture of the joints permits. Sometimes this knuckling 
 IS produced by overwork or strains; sometimes by 
 pumice soles; and very often it arises from navicular 
 disease. 
 
 Where cither of the latter two exists, the disease is, of 
 itself, an Uksouistdness. 
 
 With the hind-legs, these observations do not hold good ; 
 for a horse may be quite upright in the joints of the hind- 
 legs, and yet be perfectly Sound. 
 
 A horse in this case is almost invariably as well able 
 as any other to do his work: for it must be observed that 
 nature often makes these joints much more upright than 
 those of the fore-legs, because in the latter a greater de- 
 gree of elasticity is required to break concussion, as there 
 is greater weight borne by them than by the hmd ones. 
 The rest of the fore-leg is, of necessity, of a pillar-like 
 form, to enable it to support the weight of the fore- 
 quarters 111 action, as well as the additional weight and 
 concussion produced by the propeller-like motion of the 
 hind-legs, and, therefore, the foreleg is possessed of few or 
 no spring appliances beyond what are contained in the 
 pastern and foot. 
 
 The loss of even the slightest spring which is condu- 
 cive to the prevention of concussion is, evidently, a 
 serious matter; how much more serious must be the 
 deprivation of this, the largest and most important 
 spring of all. 
 
 As the hind-legs have not the weight of the head and 
 neck to support, they are not reipiired to be upright or 
 column-like. For their function is the propelling of the 
 
IlOVf TO BUY AND SELL. 95 
 
 boJy; and, with a view to effecting this with speed, they 
 are of necessity longer than the fore ones. 
 
 I tlimk it is needless for me to enter into reasons fur- 
 ther than to say tiiat, for the convenience of the animal, 
 and with a view to his adaptability to his work, his hind- 
 legs are bent, and therefore full of springs, which render 
 the hind-feet much less liable to the many diseases to 
 which the fore ones are prone; indeed, so rarely are the 
 hind-feet affected by navicular disease, i:)umice sole, or the 
 various evils resulting from concussion, tha% when such 
 maladies do appear, they may be considered as extraor- 
 dinary exceptions to the rule. 
 
 We may then be justified in saying that horses do not 
 have these diseases in their hind-feet, and that, conse- 
 quently, there is less use made of the pastern Joints here, 
 than in the fore-feet. 
 
 If the knuckling does not interfere with the action of 
 the horse (however unsightly the defect may be), he is 
 
 Sound. 
 
 But such unsightliness is considered to be a 
 
 Blemish. 
 
 When the ui)riglitness impedes the action of the horse, 
 or renders him incapable of performing the work due from 
 one of his class, he is Unsound. 
 
 KNUCKLING. 
 
 Though uprightness and knuckling are frequently used 
 indiscriminately for the same fault, some persons make 
 the distinction, that the former consists in perpendicu- 
 larity, while the latter implies ''bending over" at the 
 pastern-Joint. If there is any difference between the 
 two, knuckling may be considered to be the more ag- 
 gravated form. A horse that knuckles over is 
 
 Unsound. 
 
96 THE HORSE. 
 
 ENLARGED JOINTS. 
 
 Enlarged joints, resulting from blows, sprains, and 
 wounds on the pastern-joints of the hmd-legs, are gener- 
 ally contracted in the field, and are, therefore, most com- 
 mon in hunters, and mostly on the hind-legs, the proxi- 
 mate cause being that the rider, by holding on by the 
 bridle during the leap, prevents him thereby from throw- 
 ing up his legs sufficiently to clear the fence. 
 
 Those horses which have much timber or wall-jumping 
 to do are the most subject to these defects. 
 
 If there is no raw place, but a scar only; if the skin has 
 completely grown over the injured part; and if the en- 
 largement has arrived at its full size, and become hard 
 and bony, so as not to interfere with the horse's action 
 and capacity to perform his usual work, he may he held 
 to be Sound. 
 
 The enlargement is a Blemish. 
 
 See the article on "Spavins," "Curbs," etc. 
 
 SOFT enlargements. 
 
 During the formation of soft enlargements, and until 
 their result is ascertained, the horse is Unsound. 
 
 If, upon their being fully developed, they do not im- 
 pede the horse in the execution of his work, he is 
 
 Sound. 
 
 But, when they are so large as to be unsightly, they 
 are Blemishes. 
 
 See articles on " Windgalls," " Thorough-pins," "Bog- 
 spavin," "Curbs," and "Spavins." 
 
 long pasterns. 
 
 When long pasterns do not impair the horse's action, by 
 causing weakness, as described in the articles " Cutting" 
 and " Speedy-cut," he is Sound. 
 
HOW TO BUY AND SELL. 97 
 
 Long pasterns, except when they are extreme for the 
 weight or work required, may be considered an advan- 
 tage, as they are easy to the rider and prevent concussion 
 to the horse. 
 
 If the length of the pasterns arises from the rupture 
 or unnatural elongation of the tendon, the horse is then 
 termed ^'broken down," and is Unsound. 
 
 When, from the great length of the pastern, the horse 
 is incapable of doing the work due from one of his class, 
 even though he was so foaled, he must be considered 
 
 Unsound. 
 
 Very long-paster ned horses, when they turn out their 
 toes considerably, are sometimes called " Dancing- 
 masters." 
 
 boots. 
 
 Many a horse is unable to do his proi)er work Avithout 
 striking one leg against another; this fault arises either 
 from weakness and malformation, or from the horse hav- 
 ing, during breaking, been allowed to acquire a crooked, 
 slovenly gait. 
 
 Such a horse, on account of his requiring the constant 
 use of Ijoots to prevent injury and cutting by striking his 
 legs together, and on account of his demanding extra 
 care, is Unsound. 
 
 If from temporary weakness, or from leg- weariness 
 caused by over-work or j^overty of condition, the horse has 
 acquired the habit of cutting, on his recovery from these 
 ailments he may be deemed to be Sound. 
 
 REAEING. 
 
 Rearing is a habit which horses acquire from their being 
 used by nervous people, and by those who through ignor- 
 6 
 
98 THE HORSE. 
 
 aiice of their ro:il duiiger are deceived into believing them- 
 selves good horsemen. Eearing is taught by violence and 
 by the imj^roper or too violent use of sharp bits. The use 
 of bits of this character often destroys the original cour- 
 age of the horse, and renders him dangerous and good for 
 nothing. Unlike most other vices of the horse, that of 
 rearing is more dangerous to deal with m its earlier 
 stages than when it has become confirmed; for, in the 
 former case, the horse occasionally overbalances hmiself 
 and falls upon his rider, while, in the latter, past experi- 
 ence teaches the horse to retain his equilibrium, although 
 in such cases he does sometimes make mistakes. 
 
 No nervous person should attempt to use a rearing 
 horse, as a very little mismanagement of the mouth will 
 produce serious consequences, — that is to say, an inex- 
 perienced or careless rider may, by pulling a tight rein 
 when he should give a loose one, throw the horse over on 
 his back. 
 
 Eearing is not easily cured: it is a Vice. 
 
 JIBBING. 
 
 Horses acquire the habit of jibljing, by being misman- 
 aged on their first essay in harness. They should then 
 be treated with the greatest patience, however much time 
 may be apparently wasted in getting them to start. Jilj- 
 bing is curaljle. 
 
 The single jibber is not, on that account, dangerous, 
 if he is not hurried, but is allowed to make his own start 
 according to his humor. 
 
 Jibbing is dangerous, when the horse runs backward 
 instead of forward; when he lies down; and when, at 
 starting, he plunges forward: these latter three cases be- 
 ing aggravated forms of jibbing. Every form of jibbing 
 is, however, a Vice. 
 
HOW TO BUY AND SELL. 99 
 
 RUNNING AWAY OR BOLTING. 
 
 Horses addicted to running cuvay are decidedly danger- 
 ous, both for the user and for all that they encounter. 
 This habit is the result of mismanagement, because no 
 horse with a good mouth when well handled can run 
 away. 
 
 The cure is not difficult to effect; but until that is 
 effected, and the mouth restored to its proper condition, 
 the horse is decidedly Vicious. 
 
 When bolting or running away is caused by defective 
 vision, the vice is, properly so called, shymg; although 
 this is often, by misnomer, called bolting, on account of 
 the difficulty experienced in pulling up, owing to the 
 bad mouth. 
 
 A tendency of blood to the head, or any defect in the 
 organs of vision, renders a horse Unsound. 
 
 BITING. 
 
 Biting to any serious extent is induced in the horse by 
 the nervousness or thoughtlessness of its attendants; it 
 is, however, a proof of ill-nature on the part of the horse, 
 and a Vice. 
 
 But that pretty, half vengeful, half playful kind of 
 snapping with the mouth, while the ears are whimsically 
 laid back, and the laughing eyes shine with harmless 
 mischievousness — the peculiarities of horses possessing a 
 strain of Eastern blood — is no more a vice than is the 
 gentle bite of a gambolling puppy. Neither is the habit 
 of throwing out one of the hind legs in a careful manner 
 — a habit peculiar to those horses — to be considered a 
 vice. But ill-treatment and mismanagement will not 
 fail to make such habits at length dangerous. 
 
lUO THE HORSE. 
 
 Ill tliose Ctises m wliicli a horse is driven into doing 
 wrong, sucli misconduct, until it lias become a regular 
 habit, is Not Vice. 
 
 For if you flog, spur, or otherwise punish a horse till 
 he acts w^rongly, the fault is yours. All horses that are 
 good for anything, will resent improper usage; and if 
 you raise their mettle beyond your power of control, the 
 blame lies with you, and not with the horse. 
 
 For the accomplishment of certain purposes with man, 
 the excitement of his passions and feelings is sometimes 
 successfully adopted; but an excess in this course frustrates 
 the object, and the result is the reverse of what is desired. 
 
 The same is the case with the horse: by raising his 
 passions to a certain pitch, you bring out the evidences 
 of his high spirit in the most graceful action; but, if you 
 venture a little too far, you raise in him a dangerous 
 spirit of opposition — the more dangerous as such cases 
 occur only to bad horsemen, who unfortunately depend 
 entirely upon sheer strength for getting out of the diffi- 
 culty; the natural consecpience being that the horse is 
 victorious, and from that and subsequent victories ac- 
 quires a vice most difficult to cure. 
 
 Considering this subject of great importance, not only 
 to the owner, but to the noble animal wdiose welfare 
 uvery one acquainted with horses, cannot fail to have at 
 heart, I dwell upon this subject in the hope of making 
 proper treatment, and the consequences of ill-treatment, 
 well understood by all — but especially by those who ignore 
 the fact that it is possible to rouse a horse's temper be- 
 yond their own notion of what is right, even if that horse 
 is not by nature vicious — and of proving to the most ob- 
 tuse the absurdity, danger, and barbarity of excessive 
 and improper punishment. 
 
 For it is but seldom that the horse requires correction, 
 and even then mildness will, in most instances, accom- 
 plish your purpose. 
 
HOW TO BUT AN^D SELL. 101 
 
 Let, then, mercy go hand in hand with firmness and 
 justice, always remembering that horses are not innately 
 vicious: they derive whatever vice they ever have from the 
 impolicy or cruelty of their users and attendants; but 
 when any one bad trick thus acquired lias become a con- 
 firmed bad habit, it is a Vice. 
 
 PRICE. 
 
 It is frequently believed, that when a certain price, 
 varying in amount according to the different notions of 
 different people, is paid for a horse, and that price is 
 accepted by the vendor, a warranty is implied. The ab- 
 surdity of such a conclusion is evident from what may be 
 deduced from the preceding pages, inasmuch, as we have 
 therein seen that most useful horses may fail to come up 
 to the strict standard of soundness, while some of the 
 most worthless and useless are strictly entitled to such 
 a warranty. 
 
 This view is strengthened by the fact tliat, while no 
 used or second-hand horse exists which has not a bar to 
 a warranty for soundness, yet, not unfrequently, several 
 tliousand dollars are given for a horse on account of its 
 well-known superior qualities and usefulness. A dis- 
 tinct kind of warranty for horses of this class is, there- 
 fore, a great desideratum. 
 
 A horse which, contrary to his natural normal con- 
 dition, can seldom do one day's very hard work without 
 for ever after bearing evidence thereof, can yet do 
 an immense amount of work continuously for several 
 years, in a satisfactory way, and free from lameness and 
 other inconveniences. A horse, however, that has never 
 done any work, but shows similar " structure " or symp- 
 toms, must be looked upon with suspicion, and ought to 
 be called, as in most instances he is, Unsoukd. 
 
102 THE HORSE. 
 
 The difference between the horse that has never been 
 worked, and a used or worked one, is easily detected. 
 
 Horses that show signs of past work, yet perform the 
 amount of labor due from one of their class, ought to be 
 warranted as " worked horses." 
 
 Thus, when a worked horse is no longer qualified for 
 the same kind of work as that which he has been accus- 
 tomed to, or where he has such of the above-mentioned 
 trifling drawbacks, as are not detrimental to his fulfill- 
 ing his vocation, he should bear a warranty, at the very 
 least, as a ^'used horse;" and where a worked horse be- 
 comes degraded to a lower class (as in the case of a horse 
 which, no longer suitable for a hunter or saddle-horse, 
 yet makes a very good harness-horse), he should be de- 
 scribed in the warranty as a '^ used horse, for harness 
 only." 
 
 By the largest users of this class of horse, this want is 
 well known and much felt; and although legislation has 
 not provided such a form of conditional warranty, yet it 
 is frequently given and taken by stage-coach owners and 
 others. The warranties, liowever, accepted by such per- 
 sons, often allow too great laxity in the case of horses in- 
 tended for ordinary 2:)ur2ioses. 
 
 This is mentioned to show how easy it would be to 
 frame such a warranty for used horses, as would benefit 
 and satisfy both purchasers and vendors. 
 
 Tliree-fourths, at the least, of our hunters, though not, 
 in strictness, entitled to it, do bear a warranty; and, in 
 fact, as they do their work well, and may never have been 
 lame, or if lame — lame for only a very short j^eriod — no 
 one discovers in them any deviation from that standard 
 of excellence which is implied in the magic word — ^'War- 
 ranted. " 
 
 Where then is the harm of those supposed defects which 
 causes no inconvenience to our saddle and other horses? 
 Change of structure is not so much looked for or com- 
 
HOW TO BUT AND SELL. 103 
 
 mented upon in tlie slower-going drauglit-horse, m whom 
 such change of structure is produced more gradually, 
 owing to the gentle pace at which he is generally worked. 
 All that is expected of him being that he shall do his al- 
 lotted work properly. 
 
 AGED HORSES. 
 
 Another plea in favor of a definite form of warranty 
 for used horses is to be found in the facts — 
 
 1. That aged horses very rarely fulfill the conditions of 
 warranty of unworked horses. 
 
 2. That, notwithstanding such defects, they are gen- 
 erally well qualified to do work required by the nervous, 
 the timid, the elderly, and the indifferent horseman, as 
 well as by those who, constantly requiring a great amount 
 of work done at once, have yet no time to spare in care- 
 fully handling, or in regularly exercising their horses. 
 
 There certainly exists a senseless prejudice against buy- 
 ing such old horses; yet, every real horseman well knows 
 the luxury of using a fine, active old horse, which cannot 
 even be forced into doing wrong — the case with every 
 horse tliat has, for a considerable time, been ridden by a 
 true horseman. You must let him, for the most part, 
 judge for himself; and you will find that his judgment is 
 right. 
 
 Not less valuable is the old saddle horse, while the old 
 harness horse knowingly measures the width of his 
 wheels, and, on all occasions, takes his proper side of the 
 road. 
 
 Well-seasoned old horses are less liable to disease than 
 young ones, and do not tire so soon. 
 
 It is a mistake to suppose that young horses will last 
 longer in work than old ones (provided that the latter 
 have not been hard-worked while young), working against 
 
104 THE HORSE. 
 
 each other. The old one will work the young one off his 
 legs; while with similar work the latter will succumb in 
 a much shorter time, and unless great care, attention, 
 and nursing are granted to him, and he is very regu- 
 larly exercised, he will become troublesome and lose his 
 health. 
 
 The old horse, on the contrary, comes out of his stable, 
 after his rest, as staid and sober as ever. 
 
 I am aware that in advocating for particular purposes 
 such superiority, I encounter the prejudice of all but true 
 horsemen, Avho well know the valuable qualities of old 
 horses. On the other hand, wliere you have time, and 
 want your horses for ornament, you will find great pleas- 
 ure in teaching young horses, in improving their mouths, 
 and in promoting in them graceful action. But this 
 should be attempted by those only who keep more than 
 two horses, witliout which it is very difficult to do the 
 young horses justice. 
 
 A further reason why the old horse suits many persons 
 is, that wlien he is eight years old or more, and has never 
 "been down," great reliance may be placed upon his being 
 foot sure: he will never fall, until either the senile weak- 
 ness of extreme old age comes upon him, or he becomes, 
 from continuous hard v/ork, leg- weary. In fact, such 
 work as tliis will bring " down " any horse, whatever be 
 his age or make. 
 
 By the time, too, that he has arrived at this age, great- 
 er dependence can be placed upon his eyesight; for all 
 ravages made upon his eyes by disease n.re, at the comple- 
 tion of his eighth year, pretty well defined, so that they 
 will thenceforth remain in their then condition, till work 
 and time causes the pupils to dilate. Old horses, finally, 
 are little apt to notice objects, even in the most trifling 
 way, as there are few things tliat they have not pre- 
 viously reen and become accustomed to: and when they 
 do me?" anything strango and out of tlie common, tlicy 
 
HOW TO BUY AXD SELL. 105 
 
 rarely sliy, remembering liow often they have been need- 
 lessly alarn 
 
 CLICKING — SHOVEL AND TONGS — POKER AND TONGS. 
 
 These terms are nsed to express the sound produced by, 
 and show the existence of, over-reaching 
 
 OVER-REACHING. 
 
 Clicking, or striking the hind shoe against the fore one, 
 while the horse is in action, often proceeds from his hav- 
 ing been improperly ridden. As a warranty of soundness 
 has nothing to do with what a horse has or has not been 
 taught, so long as he is capable, with proper education, 
 of doing the work due from one of his class, and, there- 
 fore, is not physically disqualified, he is Sound, 
 
 But when over-reaching or clicking is caused by his 
 body being too short for his legs, or, as some express it, 
 by his legs being too long for his body, the danger is 
 much greater than in the former case; for, in this latter, 
 he IS mucli more lialde to tread on the heel of the fore- 
 foot, and thus throw himself down, or tear off the fore- 
 foot shoe, in this instance, also running a great risk of 
 falling. Such clicking stamps a horse as Unsound. 
 
 He is sound so long as there is no abrasion or injury; 
 but he requires careful shoeing and adapting to right 
 work. 
 
 As long as any abrasion of the skin, or soreness of 
 heel, arising from over-reaching, exists, the horse is 
 
 Unsound. 
 
 I will here say, that whatever may be the opinion, in 
 such cases, as to soundness, short-bodiedness itself is a 
 defect ol so glaring a character, that a horse of the kind 
 
106 THE HORSE. 
 
 will be rarely palmed off for any but the meanest pur- 
 poses. 
 
 Short-bodied ness, however, must not be confounded 
 with '' short back;" in fact, the back can hardly be too 
 short. 
 
 YOUNG HORSES. 
 
 When young horses are, on the one hand, to be broken 
 in, in the short space of time not uncommonly allotted 
 by indifferent horsemen, so as to be fit to be ridden, such 
 time not allowing the paces to become "^set"; or when, 
 on the other hand, they are worked at so early an age, 
 that no notion can be formed of their capabihties, we 
 cannot but foresee that they will come to some mischief 
 or other. 
 
 As a somewhat analogous case, take that of a man 
 brought from the farm, to be drilled in military exercises 
 for a month or six weeks, and then to be allowed to go as 
 he pleases, yet tied down to work totally different from 
 that to which he has hitherto been accustomed ; and then 
 say how long it would be before he would return to his 
 original gait and habits? Considering then tlie superior- 
 ity of reason in man to that of the animal, can we fairly 
 expect more of a horse than of a man ? 
 
 The old soldier, long and well trained, and not subse- 
 quently overworked, forever afterwards retains somewhat 
 of an erect, military air. The old horse, ridden for some 
 years by a good horseman, must be seriously overworked 
 if he do not show, by his well-trained gait and by the use 
 of his haunches- evidences of oood drill and education. 
 
 USED HORSES. 
 
 The used horse, as has been before remarked, may be 
 sound — so he may show signs of having been well broken_, 
 
HOW TO BUY AN'D SELL. 107 
 
 and well trained, and yet not move in his old wonted 
 easy and graceful style. 
 
 In such case, nothing but long-continued rest and good 
 feeding will bring back the jaunty step and manner 
 which he certainly once possessed. Recollecting great 
 fatigues that he has undergone, and speculating on the 
 probability of his haWng to exert all his powers, he care- 
 fully husbands his resources. He retains that manner of 
 stepping with the least fatigue to himself, which experi- 
 ence has taught him. 
 
 LOW-ACTION", OR DAISY-CUTTIITG, OR GOING NEAR THE 
 GROUND. 
 
 Fever in the feet produces in horses low and ungrace- 
 ful action; until that is cured, the horse is Unsound. 
 
 When such low action is produced by the muscles 
 being over-strained, until, by perfect rest, or by proper 
 physicking, the horse is restored, he is Unsound. 
 
 But the manner of skimming over the ground peculiar 
 to blooded horses, is sometimes a habit only, and not 
 dangerous: so that, if this is not the result of disease, 
 the horse is Sound. 
 
 The above remarks refer only to extremely low action. 
 
 Action, on the contrary, may be too high for practical 
 purposes; it is then frequently called " clambering." 
 
 STUMBLING. 
 
 Stumbling is often occasioned by inflammation of the 
 feet arising from tightness of shoes, or from unequal 
 pressure. A horse liable, from these causes, to stumble 
 is Unsound. 
 
108 THE HORSE. 
 
 In most instances, stumbling will vanish when the 
 promoting cause is removed; and even when that cause 
 is chronic inflammation of the feet, the disease may be 
 greatly relieved, and the stumbling propensity much 
 diminished. 
 
 It is here important to state that when a horse is cured, 
 he is sound; for many persons allege that a horse, once 
 unsound, is unsound for ever. 
 
 Certainly, there are some diseases that leave lasting 
 traces; and, in such cases, although the disease be so far 
 cured, that it no longer endangers the animal's life, or 
 that, if it progress at all, it progresses only slowly, those 
 traces of disease are sufficient to stamp the horse as 
 
 Unsoukd. 
 
 And where there has formerly been active disease in 
 the feet, or where there is such a change of structure 
 in any part as to interfere with his usefulness, he is 
 
 UXSOUND. 
 
 Acute fever frecpiently terminates in chronic disease, 
 or the chronic form may have been produced gradually, 
 lameness appearing and disappearing at short intervals; 
 thus, while the horse is accused of shamming, the disease 
 becomes confirmed before the real cause is suspected. 
 
 FEVER 11^ THE FEET. 
 
 Fever in the feet will produce in a horse 'Mow action," 
 or " going near the ground," and the horse thus afflicted 
 is Unsound. 
 
 If fever in the feet be of so recent a character as not 
 to have caused an alteration in the structure of the feet, 
 it is curable; but this disease is so rapid in its progress, 
 and so quickly assumes a chronic form and produces per- 
 manent lameness, that it is rarely worth while buyinii: a 
 horse thus affected, unless you arc tlioroughly conversant 
 with the treatment proper for sucli cases. 
 
HOW TO BUY AND SELL. 109 
 
 WATER. 
 
 Of the many promoting causes of fever in tlie feet, I 
 will here mention one, and only one — the easiest of all to 
 prevent. It is stinting the horse of water. Let the 
 horse have all the water that he chooses to drink; do not 
 stint him in the least; the water will do him no injury 
 whatever, if he is not worked immediately after his first 
 satisfying drink and he is watered sufficiently of ten after- 
 wards. The number of times a day that he may want water 
 depends on many and varying causes; but he should be 
 watered so often that he will not care to driuk more than 
 four quarts at onetime. Proportionately, that amount 
 of water will not occuj^y so much space in his stomach 
 as does half a pint of liquid in the stomach of a man. 
 Some hardy horses will take the full allowance five times 
 a day, while frequently weakly ones will not take the 
 specified quantity, though watered only twice. Four 
 times daily is little enough for any of them. 
 
 Cold water acts as a tonic to sick and Aveuk horses, 
 enabling them to eat more food, and, as they gain 
 strength, to do more work. 
 
 The horse, when brought into the stable, is taken 
 from soft, succulent, and cooling food, and dej^rived of 
 the double privilege of driuking as much water as he 
 chooses, and of taking his exercise when and how he 
 likes on soft and cool ground, to be put upon dry, hard, 
 stimulating food, regulated in amount; to be in, unfor- 
 tunately, most cases, stinted in his sujiply of water; to 
 be forced to work on hard dry roads, shod as he is, with 
 iron shoes that become heated by the continuous friction 
 they undergo; and, as a climax, to be placed, at the end 
 of his involuntary labor, on a warm, dry floor, made 
 still warmer by an overspread layer of straw. Need we. 
 then, wonder that this extreme change of diet does pro- 
 duce such heat of body as, apart from the forced labor, 
 is sufficient to produce decided disease. 
 
110 THE HOUSE. 
 
 Disease thus produced must necessarily settle in the 
 weakest part; and whether such part be the battered 
 feet, kept warm or dry, or any other part, such as the 
 lungs, the liver, the eyes, etc., thither flies the malady. 
 
 WORK. 
 
 The straining produced by long-continued work causes 
 horses to step m a low and ungraceful manner; but if 
 they are not thereby prevented from doing their proper 
 work conveniently, they are, nevertheless, Sound. 
 
 But should they be disabled by past fatigue from work- 
 ing properly, they are Unsolnd. 
 
 In this case, if there is no chronic disease in them, 
 good rest or a ^' run at grass " will effect a cure, and they 
 are then, again, Souxd. 
 
 When horses, from long-continued fast work, go near 
 the ground, so long as they can conveniently fulfill their 
 proper tasks, they are Sound. 
 
 But if unable, therefrom, to work properly, they are 
 
 Unsound. 
 
 Where, however, no chronic disease exists, good rest, 
 or turning out for awhile, may restore them and make 
 them again Sound. 
 
 It is well known that stage-coach horses capable of 
 going at the rate of ten miles, and compelled to work at 
 the rate of eight miles an hour, will, in a couple of 
 years, be unable to do more than six; and yet a common 
 observer would not detect in such horses any signs of 
 their being "beat " or distressed; in fact, they may still 
 be in good condition. This decrease in their powers, 
 when caused by contraction of the fibre of the muscles 
 (if there is no otlier injury or nnilady existing), can by 
 proper rest be overcome, and such horses be restored to 
 their original turn of speed. 
 
HOW TO 13LY AND SELL. Ill 
 
 In here naming the case of the stage-coach horse I cer- 
 tainly take an extreme case; besides, this class of horse is 
 degraded from faster to slower work, according to his 
 capabilities at the time, so long as he suits his proprietor's 
 purpose. Many private horses also become greatly 
 reduced in their powers of speed by careless and reckless 
 driving; these latter can, by sufficient rest, coupled with 
 slower driving and more careful usage, be gradually 
 restored. 
 
 Thus, such horses as may, by rapid, careless, or unu- 
 sually hard work, have been reduced in speed, but still 
 be capable of restoration by care and rest proportionate 
 to their particular class, should be entitled to be war- 
 ranted as ^ sound as used horses." 
 
 To many persons such horses would prove serviceable 
 and profitable, and the horses be themselves saved a great 
 deal of future misery; since, were the above facts better 
 known, no inconsiderable number of such horses, requir- 
 ing nothing but a little gentle usage and quiet rest, would 
 be bought for work for which they were adapted, would 
 eventually, and as a general thing, quickly recover, and 
 would thereby escape the drudgery which only too often 
 renders the rest of their lives burdensome and miserable. 
 
 KECK VEIN. 
 
 The irritation, which is sometimes occasioned in the 
 neck vein by the punctures of the fleam or lancet in 
 bleeding, not unfrequently extends to inflammation, 
 which, beginning at the orifice of tlie puncture, progresses 
 towards t :e head, and, if not subdued, obliterates the 
 neck vein on that side. While this disease is in progress, 
 from the time of the incision to its thorough determi- 
 nation, the horse is Unsound. 
 
112 THE nousK 
 
 When the vein is at length destroyed, and the sur- 
 rounding parts' completely healed, the horse will not be 
 impeded in doing his proper work, and will not require 
 to have extra attention bestowed upon him. Any incon- 
 venience that he may experience may arise from the low- 
 ering of his head m feeding off the ground when he is 
 '^ at grass," as on such occasions an enlargement may be 
 perceived at the junction of the head and neck, on the 
 alfected side. But as he does not show any signs of the 
 swelling being unpleasant, as he does not demand extra 
 care, as he continues to perform the proper work of his 
 class, and, as the swelling vanishes soon after the head is 
 raised, he is Sound. 
 
 However, the loss of the vein, to prevent dispute, had 
 better be mentioned. 
 
 The deprivation of this vein in a horse is a Blemish. 
 
 When the neck veins on both sides are destroyed, the 
 horse may still be able to do his assigned work properly. 
 Nature oftentimes finds beautiful substitutes for per- 
 forming work that was intended to be done by apparatus 
 which has been destroyed. But if he is turned out "at 
 grass," and therefore forced to feed off the ground, he is 
 likely to be choked; on that account, therefore, he re- 
 quires more than the ordniary care re(|uired by horses of 
 his class, and is consequently Un^sound. 
 
 Where there is a liability to irritation in the neck vein, 
 arising either from constitutional peculiarities, or from 
 the horse's condition at the time, it is advisable to bleed 
 from the leg vein; this latter vein should be the one se- 
 lected to bleed from in those cases, also, m which the 
 horse to be bled has already lost one of the neck veins. 
 
 LARGE BARREL. 
 
 A good, large, barrel-shaped body is evidence of a 
 horse's possession of good health and powers of en- 
 durance; it is, therefore, a sign that he is Sound, 
 
HOW TO BUY AXD SELL. 113 
 
 But a distended, bulky stomach is, on the contrary, 
 too often an indication of dropsy, in which case the horse 
 is UxsouisD. 
 
 HERRING-GUTTED. 
 
 Hernng-guttedness is the converse of hirge barrel, 
 the horse being, in this case, small and straight in the 
 body, and, generally, of a nervous and irritable dispo- 
 sition; he may, however, be Soui^D. 
 
 But if this fretfulness of disposition renders the horse, 
 as is very commonly the case, incapable of undergoing the 
 amount of labor due from one of his class, he is then 
 
 UXSOUND. 
 
 Medicine administered to the horse, either too fre- 
 quently or in too severe doses, will, by j)roducing chronic 
 irritation of the bowels, induce herring-guttedness. This 
 irritation accounts for the hot, nervous, fidgety temper 
 generally evinced by small-barrelled horses. A horse 
 thus suffering is Unsound. 
 
 When, mversely, the small barrel is th3 result of fret- 
 fullness and fidgety temper produced by cruel treatment, 
 continued kindness, such as the horse has a natural right 
 to expect, will soon restore him to good temper, and his 
 barrel will resume its proper proportions; in tiiis case the 
 horse is Sound. 
 
 When a horse is so hot-tempered as to be dangerous to 
 ordinary users, if he has been warranted quiet for that 
 particular kind of work in which he shows irritability, 
 he maybe returned on the score of breach of warranty, as 
 his fault is a decided Vice. 
 
 HOT WATER. 
 
 The too frequent use of hot water, administered as a 
 drmk, produces a small barrel and general debility, and 
 the horse becomes XTnsound. 
 
114 THE HOUSE. 
 
 But, as hot or warm water is often of the highest ser- 
 vice, it is the excessive use only of it that is to be con- 
 demned; we must, therefore, observe that it is not the 
 proper use, but the abuse of this drink that is to be 
 avoided. 
 
 WASHEY. 
 
 Washey is a term applied to a horse when the least ex- 
 ercise produces m him purging, the cause being irrita- 
 tion of the intestines: such a horse is small in the barrel. 
 For the promoting causes of irritation of the intestines, 
 see the article, " Herring-gutted." 
 
 A horse laboring under this malady is incapable of 
 performing his work like others of his class, a very little 
 exertion causing him great inconvenience, and he is, 
 therefore, Ui^soukd. 
 
 For the difference between washey and rumbling, see 
 the article ^^Eumbling." 
 
 TUCKED UP. 
 
 Tucked up is another term applied to small-barrelled 
 horses, and is a condition produced by various causes: it 
 is generally applied to a small-barrelled horse while be 
 shows that he is suffering from actual pain, either that 
 which is incidental to the early stages of his recovery, or 
 that which is caused by a spavin, a prick in the hind foot, 
 acute disease, etc. Such a horse is Unsou:n'd. 
 
 See also the articles '' Herring-gutted," ** Washey," etc. 
 
 BUMBLING. 
 
 Rumbling — which is fre(|uently but erroneously con- 
 founded with washey, upon the supposition that the 
 
HOW TO BUY AND SELL. 115 
 
 noise proceeds from air or water being lodged in the in- 
 testines — is, in fact, a sound that proceeds from the 
 sheath. Horses liable to rumbling are not thereby incon- 
 venienced, and are, for the most part, good, round-bar- 
 relled horses, and Sound. 
 The fact that mares never make this noise is a sufficient 
 explanation of its origin. 
 
 (( 
 
 TRIALS OF USED HORSES. 
 
 Whenever any doubt exists as to the soundness of 
 
 used horses," or as to their capacity for doing the 
 requsite work without pain or inconvenience, a trial, in 
 some cases extending over several days, should not be 
 grudged. Sure a trial must of course be in strict ac- 
 cordance with the then condition of the horse to be tried ; 
 that is, the horse must be tried in that work only which 
 can be expected from horses of that class in which his 
 condition at the time showed him to be. 
 
 Paradoxical as it might at first sight appear, many an 
 unused horse would, by being subjected to a used horse 
 trial, be degraded by that very trial to this second class. 
 See '-'Aged Horses." 
 
 I mention this to show what attention and care are re- 
 quired in the trial of a horse, and especially to prove that, 
 while the slightest marks of having been submitted to 
 even one day's work vitiate his title to a warranty of the 
 first class, he is yet entitled to one of the second class: 
 for all deviations from a natural state, whether such be 
 the results of work, or of any other cause, debar him 
 from a first-class warranty, but yet do not disqualify him 
 for the performance of work. Then, if a doubt arise as to 
 the power of such a horse, possessing as he does certain 
 defects and blemishes, to do his proper work convenient- 
 ly, the right course is to submit him to trial m hu S23ecific 
 
116 THE HORSE. 
 
 vocation, certain regulations and stipulations being be- 
 forehand agreed upon. 
 
 Thus, if the proposed purchase is warranted to be in 
 hunting condition, a fair and moderate trial with 
 hounds, or in other words, an ordinary day's hunt, is 
 justifiable; and, if you cannot insure the company of tlie 
 owner for this purpose, it is important to obtain his pre- 
 vious consent to the extreme test to which you propose to 
 subject the horse. 
 
 For a real and experienced horseman, a short trial suf- 
 fices; for he knows well the state of condition tliat the 
 horse under trial requires to qualify him for his work, 
 and the necessity for making ample allowance for any ap- 
 parent defect. 
 
 STOPPING. 
 
 Some horses have a trick of suddenly stopping, or pull- 
 ing up short, when going at a fast pace. A horse of this 
 kind is dangerous, from the likelihood of his throwing 
 moderate riders over his head: such a trick is a 
 
 Vice. 
 
 This trick is additionally dangerous, because a horse 
 that has this habit, will, probably, if hastily urged on to 
 start afresh, begin some other trick. If this habit is not 
 of very recent growth, it is very difficult to cure, requiring 
 a true horseman's \igilance and patience: the horse is, 
 however, Sound. 
 
 But where disease of the eyes is the cause of this habit, 
 no cure can be effected until the disease is removed, and, 
 in the interim, the horse is Unsound. 
 
 TURNING. 
 
 Turning, that is, sudden and improper turning or 
 twisting round, is a dangerous and troublesome habit; 
 when it is not caused by disease, it is a Vice. 
 
HOW TO BUY AND SELL. 117 
 
 But if, upon examination of tlie eyes of the horse, you 
 find them to be diseased or injured, you must then treat 
 him, not as vicious, but as Unsoui^d. 
 
 STIFF hocks. 
 
 Some liorses are naturally stiffer and less elastic than 
 others in the movements of the hocks. It is only by 
 the stiffness of these propellers — ccBteris imribiis — that 
 a horse is prevented from being the fastest of his kind. 
 
 There are, therefore, relative degrees of perfection of 
 horses in this respect; so that, where the degree of elas- 
 ticity is insufficient for one species of work, it may yet 
 be suited to work of another kind, so long as such com- 
 parative stiffness does not inconvenience the horse; and 
 the buyer has every opportunity for ascertaining whether 
 the ''paces " of his proposed purchase are suitable for the 
 labor required. 
 
 Stiff or naturally slow hocks do not prevent the horse 
 from being declared Sound. 
 
 AVhere, however, as in the articles ''Spavin" and 
 "Curb," such stiffness is caused by disease, the horse is 
 
 Unsound. 
 
 HARD mouth. 
 
 The mouth being so hard as to render the horse un- 
 manageable by ordinary users is a Vice. 
 
 But to this rule there is a well-known exception in the 
 case of "trotters," which are expected to run away in 
 trotting, and which, from their make, as before described, 
 must bear heavily on the bit, so as to be kept upon their 
 legs. AVith this class of horses, a hard mouth is consid- 
 ered rather a virtue. 
 
118 THE HORSE. 
 
 This expression — hard mouth — often misleads users 
 into treating a horse as if he had altogether lost all sen- 
 sation in his mouth, thereby aggravating instead of 
 remedying the evil; the fact being, that mismanagement 
 has drilled the horse into bearing unnecessary punish- 
 ment of the bit — while a good horseman will quickly 
 make the horse answer his hand, and in a short 
 time permanently restore the tone and liveliness of its 
 mouth. 
 
 WOUiq^DS. 
 
 Wounds of every description, however slight they may 
 be, since there is no certainty as to how they may termi- 
 nate, stamp a horse as Unsoukd. 
 
 ABRASIONS. 
 
 Very slight abrasions, though scarcely attracting notice, 
 and requiring little if any special care, yet, for the time 
 being, stamp the horse as Unsound. 
 
 Should abrasions, however, occur on any joint, such as 
 the knee, etc., or any other important part, as gravel 
 may have worked in, and the bruise be, consequentl}^, 
 serious, additional attention is called for. In this case the 
 horse is decidedly Unsound. 
 
 But when the abrasion is perfectly healed, he is 
 
 Sound. 
 
 BALD places. 
 
 Bare or bald places, which occur on many parts of 
 horses' bodies, are not deserving of mucli notice, not 
 being indications of any fault, nor of any liability to ac- 
 cidents. 
 
HOW TO BUT AXD SELL. 119 
 
 However, when they are accounted unsightly, they are 
 considered to be Blemishes. 
 
 With a saddle-horse such a blemish, occurring on the 
 shoulders, is decidedly unsightly, while, in a harness- 
 horse otherwise suitable for the purpose, it would be 
 ridiculous to object to that which is covered by the col- 
 lar. The same reasoning applies to the marks beneath 
 the roller or saddle, as well as to all such as are covered 
 by the horse's trapping when at work. 
 
 blemishes. 
 
 All scars left from wounds or sores, as well as all un- 
 sightly enlargements, whether such be the effects of 
 blows, work, or sprains, are blemishes. 
 
 Some blemishes do and some do not impair the horse's 
 value: thus, while collar-marks are considered a disgrace 
 to a saddle-horse, and lessen his value, in a very 
 superior harness-horse they would be altogether over- 
 looked. 
 
 Broken knees lessen the market price of all horses. So, 
 also, does the loss of one or both eyes. 
 
 Marks on the fetlock show that the horse has, at some 
 time or other, cut, and therefore require to be noticed 
 with a view to seeing what probability there is that he 
 will do so again. But if such marks are not the result of 
 any peculiarity in his make, they may be, perchance, of 
 no consequence, as it is possible they may have been pro- 
 duced in him when, as a colt, he was being broken, or 
 when subsequently, he was laboring under severe ill- 
 ness, fatigue, or want of condition. 
 
 The observations here made are intended merely to as- 
 sist in deciding the relative bearing and importance of 
 blemishes in general, each particular one being treated of 
 in its proper place in this work. 
 
120 THE HORSE. 
 
 GALLS. 
 
 Galls are injuries arising from some part of the horse's 
 furniture, such as the collar, saddle, etc. 
 
 SADDLE-BACK — CRADLE-BACK — HOLLOW-BACK — LOW- 
 BACK. 
 
 Saddle-back, cradle-back, hollow-back, and low-back, 
 are terms used to denote the form of a horse who has his 
 back lower than in ordinary cases. 
 
 Such a horse, when not so low in the bend of the back 
 as to be disqualified for carrying a fair amount of weight, 
 is generally easy and pleasant to ride, and Sound. 
 
 But, when the back is so low that the horse cannot 
 carry proper weight, though he may be a good harness- 
 horse, he is, as a saddle-horse, Un'SOUND. 
 
 For harness such a horse maybe considered sound, and 
 he is by some preferred for his showing an elevated fore- 
 hand. 
 
 ROACH-BACK — HIGH-BACK. 
 
 Eoach or high-back is the inverse of low-back, and is 
 frequently produced in a horse by his being set to draw 
 heavy weights while he is young. When it occurs to a 
 moderate extent only, it does not impede him in his 
 work, and he is, therefore, Sound. 
 
 Even though it does not interfere with his title to a 
 warranty of soundness, yet, when it is a positive disfig- 
 urement to the horse, it is lield to ])e a Blemish. 
 
 When tlie back is we;ikened, or the horse is therel)y 
 impeded in liis work, lie is Unsound. 
 
HOW TO BUY AXD SELL. 121 
 
 COLLAR-WRUXG. 
 
 So long as the collar-wrung horse is sore, and until 
 the raw part is completely healed, and covered with skin, 
 he is Unsound. 
 
 When the sore is thoroughly covered with new skin, he 
 is Sound. 
 
 But the bald place or mark showing the site of the 
 former injury is a Blemish. 
 
 Should the horse be intended for harness-work, and 
 the mark be neither too high nor too low to be covered 
 by a well-fitting collar, it is hardly worth while to take 
 jiarticular notice of so trivial a blemish concealed as it 
 is, especially if the horse be quite free from incon- 
 veuience, and be, in all otlicr respects, suited to your 
 purpose. 
 
 From the size of the blemish it is conspicuous and un- 
 sightly in a saddle horse; besides, you must remember 
 that the same mark which is hidden by the winter's coat, 
 often reapi)ears in all its ugliness when the horse is 
 clipped, and when he changes his coarser coat for the 
 finer gloss of summer. 
 
 BLEEDING. 
 
 Bleeding, simple as the operation seems, and in spite 
 of the careless and slovenly manner in which many horse 
 owners allow it to be performed, is not unattended with 
 danger. 
 
 As mischievous and unexpected results follow from 
 even the most carefully-executed operation, until the 
 orifice made by the lancet or fleam is completely healed, 
 the horse is Unsound. 
 
 When he is healed, and no evil effects or symptoms re- 
 main, he is Sound. 
 
 See article on '' Neck- vein." 
 6 
 
122 THE HORSE. 
 
 Any large unsightly knot or lump about the neck- 
 vein will generally be found to be the effect of bleeding, 
 and must be considered a Blemish. 
 
 SCARS. 
 
 See " Wounds " and "■ Blemishes. 
 
 FIRING. 
 
 It is not advisable here to discuss the merits or de- 
 merits of firing, as deep or severe firing is seldom re- 
 sorted to. 
 
 When the horse has been subjected to such an ordeal, 
 however neatly the operation may have been performed, 
 the mark, which will remain as long as he lives, must ])e 
 held to be a Blemish. 
 
 Such is not the case, however, with superficial firing, 
 as then, in most cases, the traces are scarcely perceptible; 
 therefore, except in rare instances, these slight traces do 
 not constitute a Blemish. 
 
 If, after firing, the horse goes free from lameness and 
 inconvenience, the disease being completely removed and 
 with the exception of the scars resulting from the oper- 
 ation no alteration of structure having taken place, he is 
 
 Sound. 
 
 nervousness. 
 
 Nervousness or fidgetiness in the horse's disposition to 
 such an extent as to render him difficult to clean, har- 
 ness, saddle, bridle, or put into the stable, or as to make 
 him jump or start at any unaccustomed noise or sight in 
 or out of the stable, is a Vice. 
 
 Although this fidgetiness and restlessness are generally 
 caused by the mismanagement or thoughtlessness of the 
 
HOW TO BUY AXD SELL. 123 
 
 attendants, proper treatment will restore the horse to 
 tranquility and usefulness. But none but an accom- 
 plished horseman should venture to possess such a horse 
 until it is cured of such habits, as the nervousness or ig- 
 norance of the rider will only render the horse worse, 
 and drive him into a dangerous state of desjoeration. 
 
 LAMPAS. 
 
 Lampas is a fullness in the mouth of young horses and 
 is so generally confined to them as to be almost an incon- 
 trovertible proof of youth. 
 
 If lampas interferes with their eating, a little blood 
 should be taken away by scarifying tlie roof of the mouth, 
 or a dose of physic sliould be administered. Until one 
 of these two courses is adopted, the horse is Uis^sgund. 
 
 As soon as the bleeding in the mouth is finished, aud 
 the wound healed, or the medicine has worked off, the 
 horse will feed as well as ever, and is vSound. 
 
 This complaint would hardly be worth so much notice 
 if it were not for the barbarous and cruel practice, too 
 commonly resorted to, of burning out or cauterizing, and 
 so putting the animal to much unnecessary pain, pre- 
 venting him during several days from eating, and mag- 
 nifying a scarcely noticeable triviality into a matter of 
 consequence. 
 
 Another ])ad effect of cautery is the premature shrink- 
 ing or withering of the gums, therein* giving the norse 
 an appearance of age greater than is really the case; for 
 the teeth do not, either in man or quadrupeds, grow 
 longer as age advances, but the gums, as they recede, 
 leave exposed a larger portion of the teeth, which thereby 
 apparently increase in length. In addition to this, the 
 teeth, when no longer maintained firmly in their places 
 by the gums, liegin to fall out, and so give an apparent 
 but false confirmation of the supposition of old age. 
 
124 THE HORSE. 
 
 Besides the false appearance of age that cautery gives, 
 premature decrepitude and its attendant ills are to be 
 feared and avoided; for, that such ills must follow, is 
 sufficiently clear when we consider how certain it is that 
 the powers of digestion and mastication are impaired if 
 not lost when the teeth are gone. 
 
 This shows the importance of not unnecessarily re- 
 ducing the fullness of the moutli. 
 
 WALL-EYES. 
 
 According to popular rumor wall-eyes never become 
 blind, though how this error has originated it is diffi- 
 cult to see. 
 
 The appearance peculiar to wall-eyes is due to tlie ab- 
 sence of tlie coloring matter of the iris, and therefore, 
 were it true that the colored eye alone was liable to blind- 
 ness, wall-eyes would be the only sound ones; and, in 
 such case. He who has arranged with perfect wisdom 
 everthiug for the good of His creatures would have made 
 them the most prevalent, and not the exception. 
 
 The truth is that such eyes are neither weaker nor 
 stronger than ordinary ones, and are, therefore, Sound. 
 
 And wall-eyes are not considered a Blemish. 
 
 WHITE OF EYES. 
 
 A horse that usually shows much white of the eye, 
 particularly at the front corner, or that nearer to the 
 nose, is, in most cases, hacty and nervous, if not violent, 
 and you may believe, accustomed to ill usage. 
 
 In exceptional instances you will find a mild-tempered 
 horse showing much of the white, owing to the unusual 
 smallness of the iris, but the difference of expression in 
 the two cases is most apparent, the one expressing rage 
 
now TO Bl'Y AXD SELL. 125 
 
 or fear, while the other beams with mildness and coufi- 
 dence. 
 
 EXCHANGE. — SWAP. 
 
 In an exchange, or, as it is technically termed, in a 
 swa}), it is vulgarly believed that no warranty, given by 
 either party to the transaction, is bmding. 
 
 Absurd as this may appear, I am not aware that the 
 question has ever been decided judicially; and I will, 
 therefore, mention the method ado2)tod by those who 
 alfect to be aware of this singularity. 
 
 A gives B a receipt for two hundred dollars, and a 
 cheque for one hundred, and receives B's horse; while B 
 gives A a receipt for three hundred dolhirs, and takes A's 
 horse, A having agreed witli B to value their horses at, 
 respectively, two hundred and three hundred dollars. 
 
 Then A imagines that, should the horse which he has 
 taken of B not fulfill the terms of the warranty, he can 
 recover his three hundred dollars; and equally satisfied is 
 B that, if the warranty wliich he has received from A is 
 not verified to the letter, he will get his two hundred 
 dolhirs returned; or the one imagines that, in such case, 
 he may compel the other to a re-exchange, so as to place 
 botli A and B in the same position as that in which they 
 were prior to the transaction. 
 
 I do not myself see why a warranty given in a swap or 
 exchange should be void, especially when a money con- 
 sideration is given and received. But, a,s it is advisable 
 to avoid litigation as far as possible, 1 would suggest 
 that, in an exchange, each party to the contract should 
 hold a warranty in writing from the other, the value set 
 upon the horse being marked thereon. 
 
 PARALYSIS. 
 
 The loss of the use of any limb or function, through in- 
 jury to the brain, the nerves, or the muscles, is paralysis. 
 
126 THE HORSE. 
 
 Horses laboring under a liability to this disease are, on 
 some occasions, deprived instantaneously of the use of 
 the part so affected; as, fur example, a horse will become 
 paralyzed in his leg while he is in action. I have known 
 horses, while trotting or galloping rapidly, to be deprived 
 momentarily of the use of a leg to the great risk of the 
 rider, and, after a few moments, to recover the use as 
 suddenly, and proceed as well as ever, until again 
 attacked. A horse liable to paralysis is Unsound. 
 
 Until this disease has endured long enough to shrink 
 or 23artially wither the muscles, it is not easily detected 
 by those who are not conversant with the symptoms. 
 
 Paralysis must not be associated with '^shrunk mus- 
 cles " when the muscles are shrunk from other causes. 
 
 HUMORS. 
 
 Humor is a term applied to swelling of the legs and 
 other parts of the horse, and to small spots on the body 
 which denote a want of medicine or bleeding. When 
 humor arises from weakness or overwork, tonics should 
 be applied occasionally, but as they are not popularly 
 understood by the term medicine, it is right they should 
 be mentioned to prevent the substitution of depletents. 
 
 A horse while thus troubled is Uxsound. 
 
 AVhen the effect of the medical treatment is over, and 
 the indication of its necessity removed, he is again Sound. 
 
 See article on " Surfeit." 
 
 CLAMBERING. 
 
 The high and short stepping of a horse is called 
 clamberinef. 
 
HOW TO BUY AND SELL. 127 
 
 Clamberers are slow and, from the great waste of 
 muscular energy, are but poor workers; they are in this 
 respect, however, Sound. 
 
 HIGH HIPS. 
 
 High hips are very unsightly; they owe their promi- 
 nence to narrowness of the loins, and are therefore weak; 
 liigh-liip})ed horses are long in the waist, that is, they 
 are too lengthy from the hip to the last rib; they are 
 inclined to be washy, and purge when exercised or sharply 
 worked, and are frequently hot and colicky in temper. 
 
 All large-hipped horses are good leapers, on account of 
 the great leverage provided by their wide hips, and are, 
 in this res2)ect, Sound. 
 
 Where the loins are good, not flat sided, and ^^well 
 ribbed home," the wider the hips the greater the horse's 
 power; in such case the angularity is softened and the 
 horse is a very superior one for work. 
 
 NARROW LOINS. 
 
 Narrow and weak loins are generally found with narrow 
 hips, the defectiveness in this case being even worse than 
 in that of high hips; but as the two defects generally go 
 together, I refer to the article on " High Hi^os." Nar- 
 row-loined horses are Sound. 
 
 LONG WAIST. 
 
 Long waist is a term applied to horses that are very 
 lengthy between the last rib and the haunch-bone: such 
 horses are weakly, have, generally, small loms, but are, 
 so far, Sound. 
 
 See the preceding two articles. 
 
128 THE UOESE. 
 
 WIDE BEHIND. 
 
 Horses that spread or straddle their liind-legs when in 
 fast action usr.ally do so to prevent treading on the fore- 
 feet, their shonlders being too npright to allow the fore- 
 feet to be thrown forward sufficiently to be out of reach 
 of the hind ones. They are seldom g0(3d travellers. 
 Their hocks are generally skewed or '^ cow-hocked," and 
 supposed to be weaker and more subject to disease. 
 Unless, however, it amounts to an extreme malforma- 
 tion, they are Sound. 
 
 But when they go Avide owing to stiff or diseased 
 hocks, they are Unsound. 
 
 See article on " Upright Shoulders." 
 
 DISHING. 
 
 Dishing is a term used to express the movements of 
 those horses which turn out their fore-feet when in 
 action; they usually lift their legs high and are safe to 
 ride, but unpleasant, partly on account of the peculiar 
 roll of the shoulders, and also because their action 
 bespatters liders with mud. 
 
 This action is sometimes induced by bad breaking; 
 with work it generally leaves horses, or as they get 
 stronger with age they lose the habit. 
 
 A horse that thus turns his feet is una]:>le to perform 
 long jonrneys or to do extraordinary work, on account of 
 the amount of exertion consumed in accom])lishing the 
 useless labor. 
 
 Horses that have this habit may still be considered 
 
 Sound. 
 
 PIGEON-TOED. 
 
 Horses that stand with the fronts of the hoofs tnrntd 
 towards each other are called pigeon-toed. 
 
HOW TO BUY AND SELL. 12\) 
 
 They are commonly considered to be unsafe, but this 
 depends upon the width of chest, and upon whether they 
 can or cannot perform all theh* paces without the toes of 
 one foot touching the otlier leg so as to interfere with 
 the usefulness of their action. 
 
 If this peculiarity, then, does not make them defective 
 in the execution of their proper work, they are Sound. 
 
 Of this I have known many instances r.mongst extra- 
 ordinarily good horses. 
 
 But, should the peculiarity impede them in their 
 labor, they are Unsound. 
 
 COCK-THROTTLED. 
 
 Horses that are stilf at the setting on of the head to 
 the neck are termed cock-throttled. 
 
 They cannot bring their noses in properly, and are 
 unpleasant to ride, from their not giving way with that 
 elasticity which is required by the horseman's hand, but 
 yet are Sound. 
 
 When this defect is not cock-throttle proper, but in 
 produced by sore throat, by a swelling of the vicinal 
 glands, by severe cold, or by the commencement of 
 strangles, the stiffness being occasioned by actual disease, 
 the horse is Unsound. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Abrasions 118 
 
 ^ge 81 
 
 Aged Horses 10:) 
 
 Artificial Contraction 25 
 
 Asthma 63 
 
 Bacli, broken 53 
 
 " chinked 52 
 
 " cradle 120 
 
 " high 120 
 
 " hollow 1-2(1 
 
 " low 120 
 
 " roach.. 1-20 
 
 " saddle 120 
 
 Bald places US 
 
 Bandages 33 
 
 Bar shoes 30 
 
 Bastard Strangles, or Vivcs 91 
 
 Bearing-Rein 57 
 
 Bent before 92 
 
 Biting 99 
 
 Bleeding 72, li'l 
 
 Blemishes 119 
 
 Blindness, total -2 
 
 Blood Spavin. , 44 
 
 Bog Spavin 45 
 
 Boltmj^— Running away b4, 99 
 
 Boots , 97 
 
 Broken Back 53 
 
 Canker 32 
 
 Capped Hocks . . 40 
 
 Chinked Back 52 
 
 Clambering 12G 
 
 Clicking — Shovel and Tongs — 
 
 Poker and Tongs 105 
 
 Coat, staring ..47 
 
 Cock-throttled 129 
 
 Colds 62, S9 
 
 Collar-wrung 121 
 
 Contraction, artificial 25 
 
 Corns 26 
 
 Congh 62 
 
 Cough, chronic 62 
 
 Courage 50 
 
 Cradle-back 120 
 
 Crib-biting 63 
 
 " prevention of 63 
 
 Curbs .37 
 
 Cutting 48 
 
 Daisy-cutting Id" 
 
 Dealers' Horses 73 
 
 Diet and Exercise , 73 
 
 130 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Dishing , 128 
 
 Dropping before 54 
 
 Dropping behind 53 
 
 Dullness 68 
 
 Eating Beds 64 
 
 Enlargements, soft 96 
 
 Examination 15 
 
 Exchange— Swap 12 > 
 
 Exercise and Diet 73 
 
 Eyes, the 20 
 
 '• wall 124 
 
 " white of 124 
 
 False Quarter 28 
 
 Feet, contracted 23 
 
 " contraction of the 15 
 
 " fever in the 108 
 
 Firing 122 
 
 Fleshy Heel 55 
 
 Foot, flat 17 
 
 " perfect 17 
 
 Galls 120 
 
 Glanders S9 
 
 46 
 
 Groggy 40 
 
 Grunting. . 60 
 
 Harness, quiet in 81 
 
 Hard Mouth 117 
 
 Heel, fleshy 55 
 
 Heels, cracked 46 
 
 Height and Age 81 
 
 Herring-gutted 113 
 
 High-back 120 
 
 Hip, low 46 
 
 Hips, high 127 
 
 Hocks.. . 36 
 
 " capped 40 
 
 Hollow-back 120 
 
 Hoofs, open 17 
 
 Horse, the sound 66 
 
 " aged 103 
 
 " dealers' 73 
 
 '• saddle 74 
 
 " used... 106 
 
 " trial of 115 
 
 " young — 106 
 
 Hot Water... H" 
 
 Humors 1 26 
 
 Hunters 74 
 
 Jibbing 98 
 
 Joints, enlarged .... 96 
 
 " other Diseases of 46 
 
IXDEX. 
 
 131 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Knees, the 18 
 
 Knees, broken .. 19 
 
 swollen 20 
 
 Knuckling 95 
 
 Lame 41 
 
 Lameness 54 
 
 cunning 55 
 
 Lampas 123 
 
 Large Barrel. 112 
 
 Leather Soles 31 
 
 Legs, swollen 47 
 
 Loins, narrow 127 
 
 Long Pasterns. .-. . 96 
 
 Long Waist 127 
 
 Low Action or liaisy-cutting, or 
 
 going near the Ground .. . 107 
 
 Low-back 120 
 
 Low Hip 46 
 
 Malformations 69 
 
 Medicine 73, 86 
 
 Mouth, bard 107 
 
 ^' the 22 
 
 Narrow Loins 127 
 
 Neck Vein Ill 
 
 Nervousness 12_' 
 
 Open Hoofs IT 
 
 Over-reaching lOo 
 
 Paralysis 125 
 
 Pasterns, long 96 
 
 Pigeon-toed 129 
 
 Play— Playfulness 84 
 
 Poker and Tongs I(t5 
 
 Price 101 
 
 Pumice Sole . 18 
 
 Quiet in Harness 81 
 
 RatTail 49 
 
 Rearing 97 
 
 Receipts on Warranty 79 
 
 Rheumatism 43 
 
 Ring Bones '<1 
 
 Roach-back 120 
 
 Roaring 60 
 
 Rumbling 114 
 
 Running away— Bolting 84, 99 
 
 Saddle Horses 74 
 
 Saddle-back Cradle-back, Hollow- 
 back. Low-back 120 
 
 Sand-crack. 27 
 
 Scars 122 
 
 Shoulders, upright 92 
 
 Shovel and Tongs 105 
 
 Shying 82 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Sinews 59 
 
 Skittishness 86 
 
 Soft Enlargements 96 
 
 Spavin, blood 44 
 
 bog 45 
 
 Spavins .33 
 
 Speedy-cut .S4 
 
 Splents 33 
 
 Staring Coat 47 
 
 Starting 84 
 
 Stiff Hocks 117 
 
 Stopping. . 116 
 
 Strangles 88 
 
 String Halt 45 
 
 Stumbling 107 
 
 Surfeit 72 
 
 Swap. 125 
 
 Thorough Pins 44 
 
 Thrushes 29 
 
 Trial, the 69 
 
 Trials of Used Horses II5 
 
 Tucked-up 114 
 
 Turning 116 
 
 Unnerving 49 
 
 Upright Joints— Knuckling 93 
 
 Upright Shoulders 92 
 
 Used Horses 106 
 
 trial of 115 
 
 Vein, neck 1 1 1 
 
 Vices 76 
 
 Vives 91 
 
 Waist, long 127 
 
 Wail-Eyes 124 
 
 Warranties, Receipts on 79 
 
 Warranty 13 
 
 Warranty, use of 13 
 
 W^ashey 114 
 
 Water 109 
 
 Water, hot 113 
 
 Weaving 67 
 
 Weaving, cure of 68 
 
 Wens 47 
 
 Wheezing 62 
 
 Whistling 61 
 
 W^hlte of Eyes I24 
 
 Wide behind 128 
 
 Wind, broken 59 
 
 Wind-sucking 67 
 
 Windgalls 32 
 
 Work 110 
 
 Wounds 118 
 
 Young Horses I06 
 
STANDARD BOOKS. 
 
 Forest Plantino-. 
 
 By H. Nicholas Jarchow, LL. D. A treatise on the care 
 of woodlands and the restoration of the denuded timberlands 
 on plains and mountains. The author has fully described 
 those European methods which have proved to be most useful 
 in maintaining the superb forests of the old world. This expe- 
 rience has been adapted to the different climates and trees of 
 America, full instructions being given for forest planting of 
 our various kinds of soil and subsoil, whether on mountain 
 or valley. Illustrated. 250 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. $1.50 
 
 Soils and Crops of the Farm. 
 
 By George E. Morrow, M. A., and Thomas F. Hunt. The 
 methods of making available the plant food in the soil are 
 described in popular language. A short history of each of 
 the farm crops is accompanied by a discussion of its culture. 
 The useful discoveries of science are explained as applied 
 in the most approved methods of culture. Illustrated. 310 
 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth $1.00 
 
 Land Draining. 
 
 A handbook for farmers on the principles and practice of 
 draining, by Manly Miles, giving the results of his extended 
 experience in laying tile drains. The directions for the laying 
 out and the construction of tile drains will enable the farmer 
 to avoid the errors of imperfect construction, and the disap- 
 pointment that must necessarily follow. This manual for 
 practical farmers will also be found convenient for reference 
 in regard to many questions that may arise in crop growing, 
 aside from the special subjects of drainage of which it treats. 
 Illustrated. 200 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. , . $1.00 
 
 Barii Plaiis and Outhnildings. 
 
 Two hundred and fifty-seven illustrations. A most valu- 
 able work, full of ideas, hints, suggestions, plans, etc., for the 
 construction of barns and outbuildings, by practical writers. 
 Chapters are devoted to the economic erection and use of 
 barns, grain barns, horse barns, cattle barns, sheep barns, corn- 
 houses, smokehouses, icehouses, pig pens, granaries, etc. 
 There are likewise chapters on birdhouses, doghouses, tool 
 sheds, ventilators, roofs and roofing, doors and fastenings, 
 workshops, poultry houses, manure sheds, barnyards, root pits, 
 etc. 235 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . . $1.00 
 
STANDARD BOOKS. 
 
 Herbert's Hints to Horse Keepers. 
 
 By the late Henry William Herbert (Frank Forester). 
 This is one of the best and most popular works on the horse 
 prepared in this country. A complete manual for horsemen, 
 embracing : How to breed a horse ; how to buy a horse ; how 
 to break a horse ; how to use a horse ; how to feed a horse ; 
 how to physic a horse (allopathy or homeopathy) ; how to 
 groom a horse; how to drive a horse; how to ride a horse, 
 etc. Beautifully illustrated. 425 pages. 5x7 inches. 
 Cloth $1.50 
 
 Diseases of Horses and Cattle. 
 
 By ^ Dr. D. McIntosh, V. S., professor of veterinary 
 science in the university of Illinois. Written expressly for the 
 farmer, stockman pnd veterinary student. A new work on 
 the treatment of animal diseases, according to the modern 
 status of veterinary science, has become a necessity. Such an 
 one is this volume of over 400 pages, written by one of the 
 most eminent veterinarians of our country. Illustrated. 426 
 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth $i.75 
 
 The lee Crop. 
 
 By Therox L. Hiles. How to harvest, ship and use ice. 
 A complete, practical treatise for farmers, dairymen, ice 
 dealers, produce shippers, meat packers, cold storers, and all 
 interested in icehouses, cold storage, and the handling or use 
 ,of ice in any way. Including many recipes for iced dishes and 
 beverages. The book is illustrated by cuts of the tools and 
 machinery used in cutting and storing ice, and the different 
 forms of icehouses and cold storage buildings. Illustrated. 
 122 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. .... $1.00 
 
 The Secrets of Health, or How Not to Be Sick, and 
 How to Get Well from Sickness. 
 
 By S. H. Platt, A. M., M. D., late member of the Connect- 
 icut Eclectic Medical Society, the National Eclectic Medical 
 Association, and honorary member of the National Bacterio- 
 logical Society of America ; our medical editor and author of 
 "Talks With Our Doctor"' and "Our Health Adviser." Nearly 
 600 pages. An index of 20 pagesi, so that any topic may be 
 instantly consulted. A new departure in medical knowledge 
 for the people — the latest progress, secrets and practices of all 
 schools of healing made available for the common people — 
 health without medicine, nature without humbug, common 
 sense without folly, science without fraud. 81 illustrations. 
 576 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. .... $1.50 
 
STANDARD BOOKS. 
 Hunter and Trapper. 
 
 By Halsey Thrasher, an old and experienced sportsman. 
 The best modes of hunting and trapping are fully explained, 
 and foxes, deer, bears, etc., fall into his traps readily by fol- 
 lowing his directions. Illustrated. 92 pages. 5x7 inches. 
 Cloth $0.50 
 
 Batty's Practical Taxidermy and Home Decoration. 
 
 By Joseph H. Batty, taxidermist for the government 
 surveys and many colleges and museums in the United States. 
 An entirely new and complete as well as authentic work on 
 taxidermy — giving in detail full directions for collecting 
 and mounting animals, birds, reptiles, fish, insects, and 
 general objects of natural history. 125 illustrations. 204 
 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth $1.00 
 
 Hemp. 
 
 By S. S. BoYCE. A practical treatise on the culture of 
 hemp for seed and fiber, with a sketch of the history and 
 nature of the hemp plant. The various chapters are devoted 
 to the soil and climate adapted to the culture of hemp for 
 seed and for fiber, irrigating, harvesting, retting and machin- 
 ery for handling hemp. Illustrated. 112 pages. 5x7 inches. 
 Cloth. . $o.5G 
 
 Alfalfa. 
 
 By F. D. CoBURN, Its growth, uses and feeding value. 
 The fact that alfalfa thrives in almost any soil; that without 
 reseeding, it goes on yielding two, three, four and sometimes 
 five cuttings annually for five, ten, or perhaps 100 years ; and 
 that either green or cured it is one of the most nutritious 
 forage plants known, makes reliable information upon its pro- 
 duction and uses of unusual interest. Such information is 
 given in this volume for every part of America, by the highest 
 authority. Illustrated. 164 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. $0.50 
 
 Talks on Manure. 
 
 By Joseph Harris, M. S. A series of familiar and 
 practical talks between the author and the deacon, the doctor, 
 and other neighbors, on the whole subject of manures and 
 fertilizers ; including a chapter especially written for it 
 by Sir John Bennet Lawes of Rothamsted, England. 366 
 
 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth $1.50 
 
 3 
 
STANDARD BOOKS. 
 
 Practical Forestry. 
 
 By Andrew S. Fuller. A treatise on the propagation, 
 planting and cultivation, with descriptions and the botanical 
 and popular names of all the indigenous trees of the United 
 States, and notes on a large number of the most valuable 
 exotic species. Illustrated. 300 pages. 5x7 inches. 
 Cloth $1.50 
 
 Irrigation for the Farm, Garden and Orchard, 
 
 By Henry Stewart. This work is offered to those 
 American farmers and other cultivators of the soil who, from 
 painful experience, can readily appreciate the losses which 
 result from the scarcity of water at critical periods. Fully 
 illustrated. 276 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . $1.00 
 
 Irrigation Farming. 
 
 By Lute Wilcox. A handbook for the practical applica- 
 tion of water in the production of crops. A complete treatise 
 on water supply, canal construction, reservoirs and ponds, 
 pipes for irrigation purposes, flumes and their structure, 
 methods of applying water, irrigation of field crops, the 
 garden, the orchard and vineyard, windmills and pumps, 
 appliances and contrivances. New edition, revised, enlarged 
 and rewritten. Profusely illustrated. Over 500 pages. 5x7 
 inches. Cloth. $2.00 
 
 Ginseng, Its Cultivation, Harvesting, Marketing and 
 
 Market Value. 
 
 By Maurice G. Kains, with a short account of its history 
 and botany. It discusses in a practical way how to begin with 
 either seed or roots, soil, climate and location, preparation, 
 planting and maintenance of the beds, artificial propagation, 
 manures, enemies, selection for market and for improvement, 
 preparation for sale, and the profits that may be expected. 
 This booklet is concisely written, well and profusely illus- 
 trated, and should be in the hands of all who expect to grow 
 this drug to supply the export trade, and to add a new and 
 profitable industry to their farms and gardens, without inter- 
 fering with the regular work. New edition. Revised and en- 
 larged. Illustrated. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . . $0.50 
 
 Truck Farming at the South. 
 
 By A. Oemler. a work giving the experience of a suc- 
 cessful grower of vegetables or "garden truck" for northern 
 markets. Essential to anyone who contemplates entering this 
 profitable field of agriculture. Illustrated. 274 pages. 5x7 
 
 inches. Cloth. $1.00 
 
 4 
 
STANDARD BOOKS. 
 
 Henderson's Practical Floriculture. 
 
 By Peter Henderson. A guide to the successful propaga- 
 tion and cultivation of florists' plants. The work is not one 
 for florists and gardeners only, but the amateur's wants are 
 constantly kept in mind, and we have a very complete treatise 
 on the cultivation of flowers under glass, or in the open air, 
 suited to those who grow flowers for pleasure as well as those 
 who make them a matter of trade. New and enlarged edition. 
 Beautifully illustrated. 325 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. $1.50 
 
 Mushrooms. Hozv to Grozv Them. 
 
 By William Falconer. This is the most practical work 
 on the subject ever written, and the only book on growing 
 mushrooms published in America. The author describes how 
 he grows mushrooms, and how they are grown for profit by 
 the leading market gardeners, and for home use by the most 
 successful private growers. Engravings drawn from nature 
 expressly for this work. 170 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. $1.00 
 
 Play and Profit in My Garden. 
 
 By E. P. Roe. The author takes us to his garden on the 
 rocky hillsides in the vicinity of West Point, and shows us 
 how out of it, after four years' experience, he evoked a profit 
 of $1000. and this while carrying on pastoral and literary 
 labor. It is very rarely that so much literary taste and skill 
 are mated to so much agricultural experience and good sense. 
 Illustrated. 350 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . $1.00 
 
 Fumigation Methods. 
 
 By Willis G. Johnson. A timely up-to-date book on 
 the practical application of the new methods for destroying 
 insects with hydrocj^anic acid gas and carbon bisulphid, the 
 most powerful insecticides ever discovered. It is an indispen- 
 sable book for farmers, fruit growers, nurserymen, gardeners, 
 florists, millers, grain dealers, transportation companies, col- 
 lege and experiment station workers, etc. Illustrated. 313 
 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth $1.00 
 
 Fungi and Fungicides. 
 
 By Prof. Clarence ]\I. Weed. A practical manual con- 
 cerning the fungous diseases of cultivated plants and the 
 means of preventing their ravages. The author has endeav- 
 ored to give such a concise account of the most important 
 facts relating to these as will enable the cultivator to combat 
 them intelligently. 90 illustrations. 222 pages. 5x7 inches. 
 
 Paper, 50 cents; cloth $1.00 
 
 5 
 
STANDARD BOOKS. 
 
 Insects and Insecticides* 
 
 By Ci.ARF.NCE M. Weed, D. Sc, professor of entomology 
 and zoology, New Hampshire college of agriculture. A practi- 
 cal manual concerning noxious insects, and methods of 
 preventing their injuries. Many illustrations. 334 pages. 
 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . . . . . . $1.50 
 
 Hozv Crops Grozv. 
 
 _ By Prof. Samuel W. Johnson of Yale college. New and 
 revised edition. A treatise on the chemical composition, 
 structure and life of the plant. This book is a guide to the 
 knowledge of agricultural plants, their composition, their 
 structure and modes of development and growth ; of the com- 
 plex organization of plants, and the use of the parts ; the 
 germination of seeds, and the food of plants obtained both 
 from the air and the soil. The book is indispensable to all 
 real students of agriculture. With numerous illustrations and 
 tables of analysis. 416 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. $1.50 
 
 Tobacco Leaf. 
 
 By J. B. KiLLEBREW and Herbert Myrick. Its Culture 
 and Cure, Marketing and Manufacture. A practical handbook 
 on the most approved methods in growing, harvesting, curing, 
 packing and selling tobacco, with an account of the opera- 
 tions in every department of tobacco manufacture. The 
 contents of this book are based on actual experiments in field, 
 curing barn, packing house, factory and laboratory. It is the 
 only work of the Icind in existence, and is destined to be the 
 standard practical and scientific authority on the whole subject 
 of tobacco for many years. 506 pages and 150 original en- 
 gravings. 5x7 inches. Cloth $2.00 
 
 Cohnrn's Szvine Husbandry. 
 
 By F. D. CoBURN. New, revised and enlarged edition. 
 The breeding, rearing and management of swine, and the 
 prevention and treatment of their diseases. It is the fullest 
 and freshest compendium relating to swine breeding yet 
 offered. Illustrated. 312 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. $1.50 
 
 Home Pork Making. 
 
 The art of raising and curing pork on the farm. By 
 A. W. Fulton. A complete guide for the farmer, the country 
 butcher and the suburban dweller, in all that pertains to hog 
 slaughtering, curing, preserving and storing pork product — 
 from scalding vat to kitchen table and dining room. Illus- 
 trated. 125 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . , . $0.50 
 
STANDARD BOOKS. 
 
 Harris on the Pig. 
 
 By Joseph Harris. New edition. Revised and enlarged 
 by the author. The points of the various Enghsh and Ameri- 
 can breeds are thoroughly discussed, and the great advantage 
 of using thoroughbred males clearly shown. The w^ork is 
 equally valuable to the farmer who keeps but few pigs, and 
 to the breeder on an extensive scale. Illustrated. 318 pages. 
 5x7 inches. Cloth $1.00 
 
 The Dairyman's Manual. 
 
 By Henry Stewart, author of "The Shepherd's Manual," 
 "Irrigation," etc. A useful and practical work, by a writer 
 who is well known as thoroughly familiar with the subject 
 of wUich he writes. Illustrated. 475 pages. 5x7 inches. 
 Goth $1.50 
 
 Feeds and Feeding. 
 
 By W. A. Henry, This handbook for students and stock- 
 men constitutes a compendium of practical and useful knowl- 
 edge on plant growth and animal nutrition, feeding stuffs, 
 feeding animals and every detail pertaining to this important 
 subject. It is thorough, accurate and reliable, and is the most 
 valuable contribution to live stock literature in many years. 
 All the latest and best information is clearly and systematically 
 presented, making the work indispensable to every owner of 
 live stock. 658 pages. 6x9 inches. Cloth. . . $2.00 
 
 The Propagation of Plants. 
 
 By Andrew S. Fuller. An eminently practical and use- 
 ful work describing the process of hybridizing and crossing 
 species and varieties and also the many different modes by 
 which cultivated plants may be propagated and multiplied. 
 Illustrated. 350 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . $1.50 
 
 Gardening for Pleasure. 
 
 By Peter Henderson. A guide to the amateur in the 
 fruit, vegetable and flower garden, with full descriptions for 
 ihe greenhouse, conserv?:iory and window garden. It meets 
 the wants of all classes in country, city and village, who keep 
 a garden for their own enjoyment rather than for the sale of 
 products. Finely illustrated. 404 pages. 5x7 inches. 
 
 Cloth $1.50 
 
 7 
 
STANDARD BOOKS. 
 
 Pri'^c Gardening. 
 
 Compiled by G. Burnap Fiske. This unique book shov. " 
 how to derive profit, pleasure and health from the garden, 
 by giving the actual experiences of the successful prize win- 
 ners in the American Agriculturist garden contest. Every 
 line is from actual experience based on real work. The result 
 is a mine and treasure house of garden practice, comprising 
 the grand prize gardener's methods, gardening for profit, farm 
 gardens, the home acre, town and city gardens, experimental 
 gardening, methods under glass, success with specialties, prize 
 fiowers and fruits, gardening by women, boys and girls, irriga- 
 tion, secrets, etc., etc. Illustrated from original photos. 320 
 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . « . , = . $1.00 
 
 Gardening for Profit. 
 
 By Peter Henderson. The standard work on market and 
 family gardening. The successful experience of the author 
 for more than thirty years, and his willingness to tell, as he 
 does in this work, the secret of his success for the benefit of 
 others, enables him to give most valuable information. The 
 book is profusely illustrated. 376 pages. 5x7 inches. 
 Cloth. $1.50 
 
 The Windozv Flozcer Garden. 
 
 By Julius J. Heinrich. The author is a practical florist, 
 and this enterprising volume embodies his personal experience 
 in window gardening during a long period. New and enlarged 
 edition. Illustrated. 123 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. $0.50 
 
 Market Gardening and Farm Notes. 
 
 By Burnett Landreth. Experiences and observation for 
 both north and south, of interest to the amateur gardener, 
 trucker and farmer. A novel feature of the book is the calen- 
 dar of farm and garden operations for each month of the year ; 
 the chapters on fertilizers, transplanting, succession and rota- 
 tion of crops, the packing, shipping and marketing of vege- 
 tables will be especially useful to market gardeners. 315 pages. 
 5x7 inches. Cloth $1.00 
 
 TJie Sfndy of Breeds. 
 
 By Thomas Shaw. Origin, history, distribution, charac- 
 teristics, adaptal)ility, uses, and standards of excellence of all 
 pedigreed breeds of cattle, sheep and swine in America. The 
 accepted text book in colleges, and the authority for 
 farmers and breeders. Illustrated. 371 pages. 5x7 inches. 
 
 Cloth. ... $1.50 
 
 8 
 
STANDARD BOOKS. 
 
 Animal Breeding, 
 
 By Thomas Shaw, This book is the most complete and 
 comprehensive work ever published on the subject of whicli 
 it treats. It is the first book which has systematized the subject 
 of animal breeding. The leading laws which govern this 
 most intricate question the author has boldly defined and 
 authoritatively arranged. The chapters which he has written 
 on the more involved features of the subject, as sex and the 
 relative influence of parents, should go far toward setting at 
 rest the wildly speculative views cherished with reference to 
 these questions. The striking originality in the treatment of 
 the subject is no less conspicuous than the superb order and 
 regular sequence of thought from the beginning to the end 
 of the book. The book is intended to meet the needs of all 
 persons interested in the breeding and rearing of live stock. 
 Illustrated. 405 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . $1.50 
 
 Forage Crops Other Than Grasses. 
 
 By Thomas Shaw. How to cultivate, harvest and use 
 them. Indian corn, sorghum, clover, leguminous plants, crops 
 of the brassica genus, the cereals, millet, field roots, etc. 
 Intensely practical and reliable. Illustrated. 287 pages. 5x7 
 inches. Cloth. ....... $1.00 
 
 Soiling Crops and the Silo. 
 
 By Thomas Shaw. The growing and feeding of all kinds 
 of soiling crops, conditions to which they are adapted, their 
 plan in the rotation, etc. Not a line is repeated from the 
 Forage Crops book. Best methods of building the silo, filling 
 it and feeding ensilage. Illustrated. 364 pages. 5x7 inches. 
 Cloth $1.50 
 
 Stewart's Shepherd's Manual. 
 
 By Henry Stewart. A valuable practical treatise on the 
 sheep for American farmers and sheep growers. It Is so 
 plain that a farmer or a farmer's son who has never kept 
 a sheep may learn from its pages how to manage a flock 
 successfully, and yet so complete that even the experienced 
 shepherd may gather many suggestions from it. The results 
 of personal experience of some years, with the characters of the 
 various modern breeds of sheep, and the sheep raising capabili- 
 ties of many portions of our extensive territory and that of 
 Canada — and the careful study of the diseases to which our 
 sheep are chiefly subject, with those by which they may even- 
 tually be afilicted througli unforeseen accidents — as well as the 
 methods of management called for under our circumstances, 
 are carefully described. Illustrated. 276 pages. 5x7 inches. 
 
 Cloth. $1.00 
 
 9 
 
STANDARD BOOKS. 
 
 Pear Culture for Profit. 
 
 By P. T. QuiNN^ practical horticulturist. Teaching how 
 to raise pears intelligently, and with the best results, how to 
 find out the character of the soil, the best methods of pre- 
 paring it, the best varieties to select under existing conditions, 
 the best modes of planting, pruning, fertilizing, grafting, and 
 utilizing the ground before the trees come into bearing, and, 
 finally, of gathering and packing for market. Illustrated. 136 
 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. ..... $1.00 
 
 Cranberry Culture. 
 
 By Joseph J. White. Contents : Natural history, history 
 of cultivation, choice of location, preparing the ground, plant- 
 ing the vines, management of meadows, flooding, enemies 
 and difficulties overcome, picking, keeping, profit and loss. 
 Illustrated. 132 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . $1.00 
 
 Ornamental Gardening for Anierieans. 
 
 By Elias a. Long, landscape architect. A treatise on 
 beautifying homes, rural districts and cemeteries. A plain 
 and practical work with numerous illustrations and instruc- 
 tions so plain that they may be readily followed. Illustrated. 
 390 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. , . . . $1.50 
 
 Grape Cnlturist. 
 
 By A. S. Fuller. This is one of the very best of works 
 on the culture of the hardy grapes, with full directions for 
 all departments of propagation, culture, etc., with 150 excellent 
 engravings, illustrating planting, training, grafting, etc. 
 282 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth $1.50 
 
 Gardening for Young and Old. 
 
 By Joseph Harris. A work intended to interest farmers' 
 boys in farm gardening, which means a better and more profit- 
 able form of agriculture. The teachings are given in the 
 familiar manner so well known in the author's "Walks and 
 Talks on the Farm." Illustrated. 191 pages. 5x7 inches. 
 Cloth $1.00 
 
 Money in the Garden. 
 
 By P. T. QuiNN. The author gives in a plain, practical 
 style instructions on three distinct although closely connected 
 branches of gardening — the kitchen garden, market garden and 
 field culture, from successful practical experience for a term 
 of years. Illustrated. 268 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. $1.00 
 ' 10 
 
STANDARD BOOKS. 
 
 Plums and Plum Culture. 
 
 By F. A. Waugh. A complete manual for fruit growers, 
 nurserymen, farmers and gardeners, on all known varieties 
 of plums and their successful management. This book marks 
 an epoch in the horticultural literature of America. It is a 
 complete monograph of the plums cultivated in and indigenous 
 to North America. It will be found indispensable to the 
 scientist seeking the most recent and authoritative informa- 
 tion concerning this group, to the nurseryman who wishes to 
 handle his varieties accurately and intelligently, and to the 
 cultivator who would like to grow plums successfully. Illus- 
 trated. 391 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth, . . . $1.50 
 
 Fruit, Harvesting, Storing, Marketing. 
 
 By F, A. Waugh. A practical guide to the picking, storing, 
 shipping and marketing of fruit. The principal subjects cov- 
 ered are the fruit market, fruit picking, sorting and packing, 
 the fruit storage, evaporating, canning, statistics of the fruit 
 trade, fruit package laws, commission dealers and dealing, 
 cold storage, etc., etc. No progressive fruit grower can afford 
 to be without this most valuable book. Illustrated. 232 pages. 
 5x7 inches. Cloth $1.00 
 
 The Fruit Garden. 
 
 By P. Barry. A standard work on fruit and fruit trees, 
 the author having had over thirty years' practical experience 
 at the head of one of the largest nurseries in this 
 country. Invaluable to all fruit growers. Illustrated. 516 
 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth $1.50 
 
 The Nut Cidturist. 
 
 By Andrew S, Fuller. A treatise on the propagation, 
 planting and cultivation of nut-bearing trees and shrubs 
 adapted to the climate of the United States, with the scientific 
 and common names of the fruits known in commerce as 
 edible or otherwise useful nuts. Intended to aid the farmer 
 to increase his income without adding to his expenses or labor. 
 Illustrated. 290 pages, 5x7 inches. Cloth, . . $1.50 
 
 American Grape Grozving and Wine Making. 
 
 By George Husmann of California. New and enlarged 
 edition. With contributions from well-known grape growers, 
 giving wide range of experience. The author of this book is 
 a recognized authority on the subject. Illustrated. 269 pages, 
 5x7 inches. Cloth. . , $1.50 
 
STANDARD BOOKS. 
 
 Turkeys and Hoiv to Grozv Them. 
 
 Edited by Herbert Myrick. A treatise, on the natural 
 history and origin of the name of turkeys ; the various breeds, 
 the best methods to insure success in the business of turkey 
 growing. With essays from practical turkey growers in 
 different parts of the United States and Canada. Copiously 
 illustrated. 154 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . $1.00 
 
 Profits in Poultry. 
 
 Useful and ornamental breeds and their profitable man- 
 agement. This excellent work contains the combined expe- 
 rience of a number of practical men in all departments of 
 poultry raising. It forms a uniciue and important addition to 
 our poultry literature. Profusely illustrated. 352 pages. 5x7 
 inches. Cloth. $1.00 
 
 The Nezv Egg Farm. 
 
 By H. H. Stoddard. A practical, reliable manual upon 
 producing eggs and poultry for market as a profitable business 
 enterprise, either by itself or connected with other branches 
 of agriculture. It tells all about how to feed and manage, 
 how to breed and select, incubators and brooders, its labor- 
 saving devices, etc., etc. Illustrated. 331 pages. 5x7 inches. 
 Cloth $1.00 
 
 Treat's Injurious Insects of the Farm and Garden. 
 
 By Mrs. Mary Treat. An original investigator who has 
 added much to our knowledge of both plants and insects, 
 and those who are familiar with Darwin's works are aware 
 that he gives her credit for important observation and discov- 
 eries. New and enlarged edition. With an illustrated chapter 
 on beneficial insects. Fully illustrated. 296 pages. 5x7 inches. 
 Cloth $1.50 
 
 The Dogs of Great Britain, America and Other Coun- 
 tries. 
 
 New, enlarged and revised edition. Their breeding, train- 
 ing and management, in health and disease ; comprising all 
 the essential parts of the two standard works on dogs by 
 "Stonehenge." It describes the best game and hunting- 
 grounds in America. Contains over one hundred beautiful 
 engravings, embracing most noted dogs in both continents, 
 making, together with chapters by American writers, the most 
 complete dog book ever published. 370 pages. 5x7 inches. 
 Cloth $1.50 
 
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