The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1911-01-26
HOW 70 BUY a HORSE.
srsstiesl Hints on Selecting Aelmal
That Win ns Useful.

The hrst things always TO consider
u q horse are his fcet and legs, Fog 4
Is clear that even II be were ahso-
uicly perfect In other respects be
would be of little value II anylhinx
we're The matter with bis feet or legs,
says David nuTum in the Satunlay
Evening rost. Ills feet should be syn''
mctrieai In shape and neither too deep
nor too t'at. for the too deep foot Is
more liable 60 become contracted, and
be DAT foot always gives trouble on
hard roads OF these two defects
however. the Dat foo, ia the worse.
The limbs should be clcan-that Is,
free from fieshIness and they should
have plenty OF bone and substance
The fore legs should be long from the
horses body down TO the Knee and
.hort from the knee 20 the fetloch
joint. II Il well 10 remember TINT
This point II nm exceedingly important
one IN road horse,
The hind legs should be both clean
ana UNl. a Inuhu i'A ~ Always ~ ~
avoided. and Il cannot be, too clean.
II Il looks as II the skin had been re.
moved. the bone scraped and the skin
then put back again. 40 much the
better. but limbs ms clean M this are
found only on high bred horses and
are not 10 be expected in cold blooded
or draft stock.
Much hair on the limb Is also to be
avoided. There are. |, Is true, many
rood draft horses that are rather hairy
limbed. but the feature adds nothing
TO their value and In road horse
would be lntolernble. The gambrei
'oInt should be strong md well devel.
oped. and II is better that II be rel
aiively near the ground, though TINS
IL not as Important MS In the case OF
the fore knee.
Unsoundnesses Of the limbs, such as
spa wins, ringbones and the Ike are not
much to be feared In buying new
horses. but should always be looked
for. They are very easily described.
but Il would be well 10 study them
further by examining some horse that
Is known to have them, A spawn Il
n bony enlargement on the inside OF
the gambrel Joint.
A ringbone- worst OF all defects OF
this character. though all are bad
enough-is bony enlargement run
ming around the ankle between the
hoof and the fetlock Joint splints are
small b6ny enlargements on the inside
OF the fore leg between the knee nud
the fetlock joint. They rarely do much
harm unless unduly large or situated
too near the knee. The horse should
stand squarey upon his legs His feet
should be well under him. not sprawl
ed apart, aud his hoofs should be
straight fore and aft, neither toeing
in. nor out.
We now come TO the body. The back
should be short. The hind quarters
should be well developed, with the hip
Joints fairly well forward. The hind
quarters are most elegant when the
line from the top Of the hips 10 the
root Of the tail II only moderately
oblI1ue--n neither too strnight nor 700
drooping. The straightness or obliq-
nifty Of this line does not seem TO ar
feet the horses usefulnes very much.
but the degree have mentioned Is
one OF the points Of equine perfection
and ns such should receive considera'
tion whenever possible.
The body should be nicely rounded
and swell ribbed up"-thnt Is, the
space between the ribs and the nip
bone should be short. Horses that are
deficient in this respect are hard keep
ers and. as rule. less satisfactory
generally than those that are more
compactly put together. The shout
ders should be slantinr. This CON
formation makes a shoulder that is
both strong and elegant. An upright
shoulder Is a bad thing and always to
be avoided. The chest should be deep.
no as to give ample lung capacity
The neck. 40 far az Its utility goes,
may be either short or long but the
latter IL more elegant. II should not
be Heshy nor "beefv." and al point
little aft Of where II Joins the bead
II should be bent a little This con-