PURCHASING HORSES.

Waikato Times, Volume XV, Issue 1297, 21 October 1880, Page 3

PURCHASING HORSES.

Few persons who purchase and use horses are able to make a selection of an animal with a sufficient knowledge of what they are buying. It is rarely that a horse is bought except upon faith in the declarations of the seller, and a hazard sort of dependence on luck. The consequence is that when a man is very frequently stuck in his bargain, and when he suspects or discovers it, he thinks it no harm to put off the beast upon some other purchaser in the same way it was palmed off on him. "Is he ail right ?" asks the would-be purchaser. " Well, I bought him so, and so far as I know, he is all right," replies the seller, trying to to make believe to his own conscience that he really knows very little, although he may think a great deal. Now, it is very easy for any person of judgment to learn to know, when he is buying a horse, whether the animal is sound or not. Blemishes speak for themselves, but unsoundness requires a close inspection and some knowledge of its detection. The feet are the most usual seat of unsoundness in work horses. From the general careless habit of caring for horses and the reckless manner oi using them, there is * large proportion of them unsound in the feet. But disease of the feet is easily detected, although there may be no apparent lameness. An intending purchaser should have the horse brought out before him, and watch the animal as he stands at rest. If the owner is continually starting the hors3 into motion and urging him to "show off," something mav be suspected ; because it is when the horse is at perfect rest that his weak points are divulged. If the horse is sound, he will stand squarely on his limbs, without moving any of them, the feet beinjf placed flat upon the ground and all leg. 1 ' plump and naturally poised. If one foot is thrown forward with the toe pointing to the ground and the heel raised, or if the foot is lifted from the ground and tbe< weight t?ken from it, disease of the navicular bone may be suspected, or at least tenderness, which is a precursor of disease. If tbe foot is thrown out, the toe raised, and the heel brought down, the horse has suffered from lamnitis — founder — ©r had the back sinews sprniiied, and he is of little future value. When the feet are all drawn together beneath the horbe, if there has been no disease, there is a misplacement of the limbs at lea&t, and a weak disposition of the muscles. If the hor o e stands with his feet spread apart, or straddles with his hind legs there is weakness of the loins and the kidneys are disordered. When the knees are bent and the legs totter and tremble, the beast hns been ruined by heavy pulling and will never be right again, whatever rest and treatment he may have. Contracted or ill-formed hoofs speak for themselves. If the eyes are of a bluesh or milky cast, they constitutionally tond to opthalnia, and there will be certain trouble there. If the ears are thrown backwards the temper is bad; if they arc thrown forward and the horse starts nervously at every movement or sound, will probably bp a shier and unsafe to drive. If the hind legs are scarred, he has been a kicker. If the knees are blemished he is apt to stumble. If the skin is rough and harsh and does not move easily and smoothly to the touch, the howe is a heavy eater and has poor digestion. When these pecularities are absent and there is nothing to cause suspicion in any other way, the horse may be taken to be all right so far as soundness of foot, limb, and digestive organs are concerned. Disease or imperfection of the respiratory organs may be discovered by pinching or holding the throat, or by observing the behavior of the horse when he is speeded, or by placing the ear at the side of the chest, when any sound heard other than a clear, resonant one, is indiactive of trouble.