The Portland daily press., 1880-05-25
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AGRICULTURAL.
How to Buy a Horse.

Look at him standing quietly in his sta
| bic. to see he has no trick like that of put
| ting one hind foot over the other. In doing
| this he often cuts the fore part of his hind
foot with the sharp calls of his shoe, thus
making him lame perhaps for months. When
brought out do not allow him to be jockied
in his PAGES. Take your stand on one side
of the road and let him walk quietly and
| naturally by; then turn and walk by. show
ing his other side. Now stand behind and
Lave him walk off in front of you and from
you; then turn and walk toward you. OBJ
serve if he goes freely and easily, and plants
his hind feet in the tracks of his fore feet.
| Next have him trotted by you, and back
and forth, watching his action closely.
| Now look at his eyes, and make motion
| with your hand toward them, as if you in
| tended to strike. If he winks quickly or
draws his head back his vision may be de-
pended on generally as good and no blind
| ness in him. The eyes should be moderate
ly prominent. Sunken eyes are apt to get
blind as the horse grows old, and often
characterizes a vicious temper. Examine
the teeth and see that they are sound, strong
ly and evenly set. Look at his fore legs and
notice if he has strong knee joints, and that
they are not sprung. Examine the hind
legs closely above and below the hooks, for
any swellings, and especially for curbs and
and see if they are clear of cuts from inter-
fering, or if there are any scars on them in
consequence of this. The pasterns should
be rather short for carriage horse and not
much sloping. If the latter, and long and
elastic, they are apt to give out at hard
pull. In race-horse such pasterns are less
Objectionable. In heavy draft animal they
are objectionable.
The feet are often passed over, but a thor
nh IF &c Of 4bo
Importance. They should be reasonably
large, the hoofs clear ard tough, free from
cracks, not shelly, and well set up at the
heels; otherwise they will soon wear down
on pavements or hard roads, and the horse
become foot-sore. If always to be kept in
the country to work on farm or dirt road,
low heels are not so Objectionable; lastly, re-
gard the inside of the hoof and see that there
is good sized frog to soften the jar of the
leg when the foot stamps ON the ground
A pony built horse is best for working in
harness. while a more rangy-built one may
be preferable for the saddle; i but these should
not be so long as to be liable to weakness.
The legs from the hooks and knees down,
in all horses should be rather short than
long
If the tail lift hard and stiff, it is usually
an evidence of strong back and hind quar-
tiers. If it lifts quite timber and easily the
REVERSE ID dpt W Uc uuG Case.
Asst the age, this is readily told by the
teeth till seven years old, unless they are
"bishoped.' 1t is usual for jockies to call
horse eight when he is all the way from
ten to twenty; but an adept can give
pretty shrewd guess as to this, for after ten
years old, the eyes begin to sink, gray hairs
to come into the head, and there is want
of youthful look and vivacity.
After all, there is a great risk in buying
horse, even from an owner who is truthful
and disposed to speak of his failings; for in
many cases he is really ignorant of what
these are, or of the incipient diseases which
may be lurking in the system at the time of
the sale. As for the tricks of jockies in hid
ing the age, faults, and covering up diseases,
they are past finding out; and when they
trade with each other, even, the very smart
est and most knowing one gets cheated east
ly by one much more skillful than himself
in showing off horse. 1t is only after US
ing horse for months that pretty much all
that there is in him can be found out, and
we have known unexpected faults and vices
to turn up, after possessing one for years
In the city stables so many horses are
kept under one roof, and there is such a
want of proper ventilation, that "pink eye'',
and 'horse distemper' are often prevalent
there, or if not shown at the time of the
purchase, these break out soon after It is
safest to buy horse Immediately upon its
arrival in town, before he has a chance to
get diseased. and before the sellers have had
time to ''slick him up" Never mind dirty
coat and rough looks; you can clean the
former and smooth the latter without risk
to the animal, after you get home, and he
will probably show 25 to so per cent bet
ter than when you bought him. One rather
thin in flesh is safer to buy than when fat,
for this covers bad points, and when worn
down somewhat, a rather Incorporating
horse turns out to be very common looking.
IN. E. Farmer