Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1880-05-26
How to buy a Horse.

Look at him standing quietly in his
stable, to see be has no trick like that
of putting one hind foot over the other.
In doing this he often cuts the fore
part of his hind foot with the sharp calks
of bis shoe. thus making him lame per-
haps for months. When brought out, do
not allow him 10 be jockied 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 his other side. Now stand
behind and have him walk of in front
of you and from you; then turn and
walk towards you. Observe lfhe goes
freely and easily and plants his hiud
feet in the tracks of his fore feet. Next,
have him tro.ted by you, to and forth,
watching bis action closely.
Now look at his eyes.and make a mo-
ton with your hand towards them, as
if you intended to strike. Ifhe winks
quickly, or draws the head back, the
vision may be depended on generally
aslgood, and no blindness in him. The
eyes should be moderately prominent.
Sunken eyes are apt to set blind as the
horse grows old and often characterize
vicious temper. Examine the teeth
and see that they are sound. strongly
set, and even. Look al his fore legs
and notice if lie has strong knee joints.
and that they are not sprung. Examine
the hind legs closely above and below
tbs hooks for any dwellings, and es-
pecially for surbs aud spavins. Now
look at all the pastern joints and see il
clear Of cuts from interfering, or if there
are any scars on them in consequence
of this. The pssterns should be rather
short for q 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 pas
tiers are less Objectionable. In heavy
draft animal they are objectionable.
The feet are often passed over, but a
thorough examination Of these is of the
utmost importance. They should be
reasonably large, the hoois clear and
tough, free from cracks, not shelly, and
we'll set up at the heels, otherwise they
will soon wear down on pavements or
hard roads, and the horses become foot
sore. Railways to be kept in the coun-
try to work on farm or dirt roads, low
heels are not so Objectionable lastly,
regard the inside Of the hoOis and see
that they are free from corns, and that
there is a good-siEed frog 10 soften the
jar to the leg, when the foot stamps or
the ground.
A pony-bult horse is the best for
working in harness, while more rangy-
bodied one, with longer legs may be
preferable for the saddle, bnt these
should not be so long as 10 be liable to
weakness. The legs, from the hooks
knees down, in all horses should be
rather short than long.
II the tail lifts hard and stiff. it is
usually an evidence ola strong back
and quarters. fit 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
jockles 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 viyacity.
After all, there is great risk in buy
ing horse, oven from an owner who
10 truthful and honestly disposed to
speak of bis failipgs I; for IN many cases
be is really ignorant Of what these are
or Of incipent diseases which may be
lurking in the System at the time Of
sale. AS for the tricks OF jockies in
hidiag 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 knowing
one gets cheated easily by one much
more skillful than himself in showing
off horse. Ii is only after using
horse for months that pretty much all
that there 10 iE 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 30; many horses
are kept under the same roof, aud there
is such a want of proper ventilation
that "pink eye" and the "horse dis
temper" are often prevalent there, or
ifnot shown at the time Of purchase,
these break ont soon after. It is safest
TO buy horse Immediately upon its
arrival in town, before he bas,ya chance
to get diseased, and before the sellers
have time to "sllck him up" Never
mind dirty coat and rough looks you
can.clean the former and smooth the
latter without risk to the animal ''as
soon as you get home, and after this he
will probably show Is 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 wore down some
what rather Incorporating horse turns