Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1878-12-18
Purchasing Horses.

Few persons who purchase and use
horses are able to make selection of
an animal with sufficient knowi-
edge of what they are buying. II is
rarely that horse Is bought, except
upon faith in the declarations OF the
seller, and q hap-bazard sort Of de-
pendeuce upon luck. The conseq uence
is that when q man is very frequ entity
"s.uck" In his bargain, and when he
suspects or discovers it, he thinks it
20 harm to put off the beast upon
some other purchaser in the same way
that it was palmed off on him. as
he all right p asks the would-be pur.
chaser. swell, bought him so, and
so far as l knoao he 10 all right" re-
plies the seller, trying to make believe
to his own conscience that he really
knos0s very little, although he may
think q great deal.
Now, ii is very easy for any person
OF judgment to learn to know when
be 10 buying horse whether the ami
NAL is sound or not. Blemishes speak
for themselves, but unsOundness re-
quires . close inspection and some
knowledge for its detection. The
feet are the most usual seat of un-
soundness in work horses. From the
general careless habit of caring for
horses and the reckless manner In
using them, there 10 q large proper
ZION of them unsound in the feet.
But disease of the feet is easily de.
tected, although there may be NO ap-
parent lameness. An intending pur-
chaser should have the horse brought
out before him, and watch the animal
az he stands at rest. II the owner is
continually starting the horse into
motion and urging him to "show off"
something may be suspected because
1t 10 when the horse 10 at perfect rest
that his weak points are divulged. II
the horse is sound, he will stand
squarely on his limbs, without moving
any of them, the feet being placed fat
upon the ground, and all the legs
plumb and naturally posed. If one
foot 10 thrown forward with the toe
pointing TO the ground and the heel
raised, or If the foot is lifted from
the ground and tho weight taken
from it, disease of the navicular bone
may be suspected, or at least tender
Ii the foot Is thrown out, the toe
raised and the heel brought down, the
horse has suffered from lamnitis-
founder-or the back sinews have
been sprained, and he is of little fu.
ture value. When the feet are ali
drawn together beneath the horse, if
there has been no disease, there 10 q
displacement of the limbs at least,
and weak disposition of the mus
cles. II the horse stands with his
feet spread apart, or straddles with
the hind legs, there 10 weakness of
the loins, and the kidneys are disord-
cred. When the knees are bent and
the legs totter and tremble, the beast
has been ruined by heavy pulling,
and will never be right again, what
ever rest and treatment he may have.
Contracted or Informed hoofs speak
for themselves.
If the eyes are of q blush or milky
cast, they constitutionally tend to OPP
thalmia and there will be certain
trouble there. II tho cars are thrown
back ward, the temper 10 bad II they
are thrown forward and the horse
starts nervously 1T every movement
or sound, he will probably be shier,
and unsafe to drive. II the hind legs
are scared, he has been kicker. If
the knees are blemished, he 10 apt to
stumble. II the skin is rough and
harsh and does not move easily and
smoothly TO the touch, the horse ia .
heavy eater and has poor digestion.
When these peculisri'ies are absent,
and there 10 nothing to cause suspic-
ion In any other way, the horse may
be taken to be all right 30 far a.
soundness of foot, limb and digestive
organs are concerned. Disease or
imperfection of the respiratory Or
gans may be discovered by pinching
or holding the throat, by observing
the behavior of the horse when he IL
speeded. or by placing the ear at the
side Of the chest, when any sound
heard other than a clear, resonant one,
is indicative Of trouble.-Rnral Neu
Yorker.