The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1867-03-29
AGRICULTURAL.
On the Purchase OF . Horse.
From the YAte

We intend, in this article, beginning
a plain and practical summary of those
things a man should look at and con-
slider before he buys horse.
"a We will not look to the hackneyed
question as to what price he can afford
to give, or whether he can afford to
keep horse at all but simply pre-
sumo that a gentleman wants a horse.
The first question he must put to him
self is: what use do | want this
animal for ?a.tDo i want him for a
hunter, hack, trapper, or carriage
horse?" We will presume that he
wants hunter Size is the first
thing to be observed; there is no
greater folly in the world than buying
horse not big enough for his work.
$ Rather be overhorsed than under
horsed," is an exceedingly, practical
and wholesome motto There are
many records of ponies and. little
horses accomplishing wonders = Of
carrying heavy weights to hounds, of
their getting over pounding I fences,
and of always being there or there
rabouts, but these may be safely, put
down as exceptions to the rule. n Y
The question of height having been,
satisfactorily settled, the next re-
quirement is that the animal should
be $ long and low Where the
length should exist we shall hereafter
detail, but the word " low, more par
ticularly, is applied to the desire that
the animal should not be leggy or
cooked up. IF he has the points well
shown or developed, to which we
shall presently allude, and the, aver
age standard fixed at 1873, then the
"long and low" axiom will be fulfilled.
These being settled the next thing
a man should be satisfied Of is
4 breed and this requirement we
most particularly impress upon the
purchaser as an important one.
Without : blood ! a hunter is of mo
use. " Blood gives stamina, emu
lation and intelligence; and when the
under bred, numbering beast is licked
to stand-still, the wiry, well-bred
!" weed will be going on. Let. it not
be understood that we recommend
weeds, but merely give this as an illus
tratlon OF how even weak specimen
of the thorough bred will often give
the 9 o-by," to an animal possessing
more muscular development, but |
lacking the laristocratic descent. Isbnn
Very well the horse we are looking
at fulfills the qualifications above ex- 1
pressed-viz: height, length, and
breed" And now to further points,
should be small the skin of the
muzzle should be fine and sensitive,
and the nostrils broad; the eyes
should be bright, large and dis
playing intelligence. and the forehead
broad; there should be depth in the
lower jaw, and the ears should be
long; short ear is a sign of wsnt
Of. blood; the teeth should then be
observed.
His head should be well set on a
neck neither too long nor to short;
long-necked horses very often turn
put or are roarers; short necked |
horses are generally underlined.
The neck is one of the most i'm
portant parts in the symmetry of the
it should have great muscu-
lar development, just below the fine
crest, from which the name takes its |
origin, and should blend without any
appearance Of, lumber, into the
shoulders and withers The wind |
pipe should be large.
We now arrive. at the shoulders |
he form of these Important parts of |
he horses structure is subject of |
great dispute7-we mean practically
or it takes good judge to tell what
IS bad shoulder and what is good /
,ne; a man even bearing in mind
very desideratum is often at fault in
aspect of actual judgment and why
S this? We will tell you. A reliable
knowledge of what constitutes good
,r bad shoulder is only to be learned !
rom actual experience. We will, |
however, eendeavor to explain the re-
luirements of good shoulder, and
he first great necessary exists in the
slant By this Gas the word inn
olies) we mean that the line from the
point of the shoulders to the withers
should be of great obliquity; the
Elthers should rise up to point
sharp withers y and blend
With gentle curve into the
forming the anterior
part of the back; the points of
he shoulders should be placed we'll
by which means greater
ength of the humorous is obtained.
ind the leverage on the limb below
,roportionately increased. The shoul-
lers, taken as whole, should not be
shelly" that is to say, although the
muscles run into a finely developed
inc at the withers, they should. on the
,reat expanse of the shoulders,
tand out bold and prominently. A
vell developed shoulder conduces
realty to the length Of the horse;
Or, if the obliquity of it is great,
e., the point placed well forward
md the withers well back, not incon-
siderable portion of the trunk " of
he animal is TINS we'll accounted for.