St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1885-08-08

appearances, is q very pEOntapLo oll0'
The price is immensely cheap, and con-
sequently the guaranty is not very
closely looked after The horse is
taken to the buyers stable, where, after
being groomed the next morning, the
animal looks as if a score of winters had
passed over his head in one night.
Another kind of horse on which the
"copper" gets in his work in great style
is known in the language of the turf as
Bobby This is the slangy term of
fine looking animal afflicted with q
disease of the vertebral column which IS
not apparent so long as the horse is led
up and down, even at a run. The de-
feet Immediately becomes apparent so
sooR as the horse is mounted. To pre-
vent a mount is fine piece of diplomacy
on the part of the cooper" But, at all
events, he has '.gingered" the Bobby,
that is, given him stimulants known
only to the experienced jockey, and the
animal for short time is so full OF tre
and spirit that the purchaser readily alb
stains from an immediate mount
Knowing buyers pinch up and down the
spine of an animal before they buy him,
but then knowing ones rarely go to a
''coper" for purchase.
1.-Two wrongs do not make one right, !"
is saying generally accepted as true.
The cooper does not believe in the tru-
ism of the phrase Ifhe wants to sell a
horse which is knocked" or lame, on
one leg, he proceeds to cure this lame
ness by producing a corresponding all
inert in the sound one. This he does by
taking the shoe off the sound leg and
inserting bean between the foot and
the shoe, after which the latter is fas-
tened again. With dexterous handling
the horse appears to go all right, be-
cause the lameness is equal in each leg.
1t is needless to say that this trick also
is good only as temporary expedient.
Lameness in horses offers wide field
for the s'coper." Any defect of this
kind which is due to local causes is tenn
porarily abated by keeping the feet,
which have been placed in clay sockets,
we'll saturated with stimulating solu-
tons.
Of the broken-winded horses, which
the cooper palms off as sound, there
are several varieties besides the whis-
tiers, grunters, pipers, roarers and high
blowers, and whatever the consumptive
animals may be called. A few days be-
fore the contemplated sale they are kept
short of water and hay and dosed with
antimony, linseed mash or shot, which
make them seemingly sound for a day
or two. An atf1iction known as the
heaves viii subside after an administra-
ton of about four ounces of bird shot
That is, the horse will not heave until
the shot has passed through him. Then
the evil will be greater than before.
Aremedy for lameness, otter resorted
to by the s'coper," is nothing less than
a surgical operation. It can hardly be
denounced as trick, because it effects
a cure in many instances, although the
animal remains cripple and is unfit for
any hazardous work. A small incision
is made about halfway from the knee to
the joint of the afflicted leg At the
back part of the shinbone small white
tendon or cord will be found. This is
cut off, and the external wound is closed
with stitch.
Some of the "coper's" tricks work
both ways. In other words, tricks are
not only employed to render an unsound
horse temporarily presentable to cheat
the purchaser, but sound horses are fire.
quently rendered apparently unsound
to cheat the seller. In the latter in
stance the purchaser of course must
s'stand in with the sellers jockey.
Thus it will be seen that dishonesty is at
the bottom of every horse trick. Ii q
fine wire is fastened tight around the
fetlock of horse, between the foot and
the heel, the animal will within a few
minutes have all the symptoms of being
'sfoundered.'' The lameness disappears
as soon as the wire is removed. The
wire should not be left in place longer
than nine hours. a horses hair passed
through the outer and middle tendon
by means of a needle, and cut off on
both sides to avoid detection, will also
have the effect Of tanning horse tempo
rarily. To make horse refuse food it
is only necessary to grease his front
teeth and the roof of his mouth with
common beef tallow. The horse will
certainly not eat until the mouth is
washed out. Artificial CHAMBERS may be
easily produced by pouring melted but
ter into one of. his ears. There will
soon be discharge from the nostrils
looking to all intents and purposes like
genuine CHAMBERS. A horse can be
made balky for day or two by bathing
his shoulder in a solution of canthari-
DIES and corrosive sublimate.
In short, there are so many jockey
tricks that the purchase of a horse is as
uncertain . thing as the venture Of
some folks in the matrimonial line-or
any other kind Of lottery, for that mat
ter Chicago Herald.
The consequences If he Got Left.