CHAPTER VII.
HOW TO BUY A HORSE.
OF WHOM TO BUY—EXTRAORDINARY CHEAPNESS AND EXTRAORDINARY EXCELLENCE NOT TO BE EXPECTED—POINTS TO BE REGARDED—HOW TO EXAMINE THE EYES—BROKEN WIND—ROARING—WHISTLING—BROKEN KNEES—TO EXAMINE THE LEGS—SPLENTS—DAMAGED BACK SINEWS—SPAVINS—RINGBONES—CURBS—THOROUGH-PIN—HOW TO TELL THE AGE OF A HORSE.
It is not, of course, to be imagined, that any person entirely unacquainted with horses, the points of their anatomical structure, their constitution and their qualities, can be by the mere perusal of any one or more books on the subject, at once created into a good judge of the animal, and a competent purchaser beyond the risk of being deceived or of deceiving himself. To become a perfect judge of a horse requires the observation and attention of half a life-time; nor with every man will these be sufficient; for a certain degree of natural tact and talent, or adaptability to the study, is clearly indispensable; and there are some men who, if they were born in a manger and brought up in a stable, would never become horsemen or judges of a horse. Still, there is no doubt that a person desiring to purchase, and desiring to exercise in some degree his own choice in the matter rather than submit wholly to the guidance of a friend, may, by carefully studying what has been written on the subject, qualify himself so far as in a great measure, using proper precautions and profiting by some advice, to secure himself against the probability of being very grossly
