The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1880-08-07
HOUSEHOLD AND FARM.
How 70 Buy "A Horse.

Look at him standing quietly in his stable,
to see he has no trick, like that of putting one
hind foot over the other In doing this, he
often cuts the fore part of the hind foot with
the sharp calks of the shoe, thus making him
lame perhaps for months When brought out,
do not allow him to be jockicd in his PAGES.
Take your stand on one side of the road, and
let him walk naturally and quietly by; then
turn and walk by, showing hls other side. Now
stand behind, and have him walk off IN front
of You and from you; then turn and walk to-
ward you. Observe if he goes freely and easi-
", and plants his hind feet IN the tracks OF his
fore feet. Next, have him trotled 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 intend
ed to strike. If he winks quickly or draws his
head back, his vision may be depended on gen.
orally as good and no blindness in HIM. The
} eyes should be moderately prominent Sunk
Y en- eyes are apt to get blind as the horse grows
old and often characterize a vicious temper
Examine the teeth, and see that they are sound,
strongly set and even. 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 tor
any swellngs, and especially for curbs and
spavins. Now look at all the pastern joints
and see if clear of cuts from interfering, or if
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 a hard pull. In race-horse such
pasterns are less Objectionable. In heavy
draft animal they are objectionable.
The feet are often passed over; but thor,
ough examination of these is Of the utmost
importance. They should be reasonably large,
the hoofs clear and tough, free from cracks,
not shelly and well set mp at the heels; other
wise they will soon wear down on pavements
or hard roads and the horse become toot-sole.
II always to be kept in the country, to work
on farm or dirt.roads, low heels are not so
Objectionable Lastly, regard the inside of the
hoofs, and see that there is goodslzed frog,
to soften the jar to the leg when the foot stamps
on the ground.
A pony-bult horse is the best for working
in harness, while n more rangy-bodied one,
with longer legs, may be preferable for the
saddle; 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 lifts hard and stiff, it is usually
an evidence of strong back and quarters If
it lifts quite Timber and easily, the reverse is
apt to be the case
As to 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 come into the head, and there
IS want of youthful look and vivaclty.
After all, there is great risk in buying a
horse, even from an owner who is truthful and
honestly disposed to speak of his faiings; for
IN many cases he is really ignorant of what
these are or of incipient diseases, which may
be lurking in the system at the time of sale
AS for the tricks of jockies in hiding the age
faults, and covering up diseases they are past
finding out; and when they trade with each
other, even the very smartest and most know
ing one gets cheated easily by one much more
skillful than himself in showing Oft horse.
1t IS only after using a 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-eyc" and the
"horsedistemper' are often prevalent there
or if not shown at the time of purchase these
break out soon after. 1t is safest to buy horse
Immediately upon its arrival in town, before
he has 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, with
out risk to the animal, as soon as you get
home; and after this he will probably show
25 to so per cent. better 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 tine-ap-
pearlng horse turns out to be very common
looking.-Ne,o England Farmer.
BREEDING SwINE.-A brood sow is usually
at her best as producer in the number and |