Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-09-19
HORSE INTERSECTIONS.



llAxainst when Making q Purchase.
From the Cincinnati ENQUIRER.
The man who can buy horse and feel sure
OF his purchase Is necessarily an expert. There
are more chances for deception in horse trade,
likely. than there are in any other traffic. A
successful dealer in horsefesh generally learns
his trade by years Of experience, which is
usually quite expensive. Then too, he must
be very familiar with the horse, its habits and
its ailments. Few men who have attempted 1t
can say that they were never beaten at horse
trade
There seems to be no exact standard by
which to- Judge good horse. Long horses
have been speedy. and short horses have been
speedy. Tall horses have shown good quail
ones. There are, however, certain rules and
laws OF hygiene which may be studied and
consulted in making an equine purchase.
The hOrse-buyer must remember that horse
| flesh is subject to exactly the same diseases
that man Ia. "He has headache, earache tooth
ache, fever and all other ailments" as a vet
Urinary surgeon expressed it to the writer. In
ternal ailments can seldom be discovered by any
other than veterinary surgeon. There are sur
face indications. however. which are easily dis
cernlble, and should always be looked for by q
hOrse-buyer, whether an amateur or profess
sional One point the amateur might make in
purchasing horse is this: ''Never buy horse
from man you do not know, unless he comes
to you highly recommended for honesty and
fair dealing" I'm buying horse" said a pro-
fessi0nal in the business, ''always take him
when he is cold-that is, when the animal is
fresh from the stable. In this way you may dis
cover lameness, which will pass away when the
horse warns up: but which. nevertheless, is o
very bad point. No man will buy lame
horse If he knows it. If there are any
too great curves about the animal, such
as a sway-back, man who is at all familiar
with the horse will easily discover them.
Strlng-halt or depressed hip will also be
discovered. The eyes must always be examined,
| for while blind horse is not useless. one with
perfect vision is much more desirable. The
teeth too, always come in for their share Of
Inspection, but they are not always a guide
unless the buyer is well up in his business, for
trader who so wishes can make them very
deceitful. BY filing and a process known as
bishoping, an old horse that has seen nearly
score OF years can be given set of teeth
which Will pass with many as those Of five
year-old."
There is no way of judging the wind and the
speed OF horse except by trying him. A horse
with broken wind, or what is vulgarly called
the heaves.' is not desirable. Hitch him up,
and drive him mile or more sharply, and If he
stands 1t well his wind is good enough. Horses
can stand as much as half mile without show
Ing any evidence Of the imperfection.
In buying horse look particularly at his
legs. See that he is not splintered in the fore
legs or spawned behind. These diseases are
| those of the bone. and affect horse about the
back joint. The bone goes through process of
malformation, causing swelling and stiffness,
which are usually very evident to the horseman.
A similar disease or affection peculiar to the
horse, which must also be looked for. is ring
bone. This much resembles SPAWN, and is found
just above the boot on either the fore or hind
legs of the animal, and also produces swelling,
| and in time lameness
Another thing that must be looked for in
buying horse Is the CHAMBERS. horse that is
afflicted with that plague you mightas we'll kill.
He is incurable and will transmit it to all the
animals with which he comes in contact. Fort
unately 1t Is not a very common disease. The
symptoms of 1t are very cancerous sores in the
nostrlls and at times very disagreeable dis
charge. AS stated above there is no criterion
by which to buy horse for speed. In proof Of
this will cite you couple of instances. Some
time agoa horse was bought in the 5th street
market for street car purposes. He was driven
on the Elm street line for long time, and no.
thing unusual was noticed about him until one
day, when having been accidentally hitched to a
buggy. 1t was discovered that he could spin his
mile in about ESQ, and was much too valuable
to be driven to a street car. remember, too, a
very large horse, seventeen hands high, which
for long time was driven to transfer wagon
as one ola four-hOrse team He was given easier
work and better quarters when it was found
that he could do mile In better than three min
utes.
.lt.