Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 12.djvu/202

190 190 HORSE [THE HACK. practically sound ; for of really sound horses there are not two in a hundred. r. The Purchase of a Hunter. The nature of the country in which ise the horse is to be used should be the intending purchaser s first a consideration, because upon it will depend the stamp of animal iter. required, and it is advisable, if possible, to get a horse that has been used to the prevalent style of fences. Where the fields are large and strongly enclosed with what are called flying fences, nothing is better than a horse which is nearly or quite thorough bred ; but if the enclosures are small, and separated from each other bv banks, with or without hedges on the top, and with a ditch on one or Loth sides, a rather more compact horse will not only be more suitable, but cheaper into the bargain. A horse intended for Leicestershire, or any other grass country, must be nearly thoroughbred, and not under 15 3, or he would he blown before he had crossed half a dozen of the big fields there ; while a little horse, would take too much out of himself at each fence, But for Devonshire, Surrey, Essex, or Sussex, where the fields are small and the fencing for the most part what is called cramped, a horse with less blood and of smaller stature will answer every purpose, and, what is a great consideration, can be bought for about one-third of the price of a Leicestershire horse. So too a horse unaccustomed to water would be useless in Lord Fitzhardinge s country, nor would a bad timber jumper show to advantage with the Blackmoor Vale hounds. Whatever stamp of horse is used, however, the points we have insisted on must exist : good shoulders, back, loins, legs, hocks, and feet are needed in every hunting country in the United Kingdom. The horse may be purchased either at auction, from a private person, or from a dealer. The first method is not to be recom mended unless the buyer or his agent be a good judge of a horse, or unless one or the other happen to know something of the antecedent.? of any lot intended to be purchased. Few real bargains are picked up at the hammer. Horses of known character, especially if comprised in a stud, always fetch their full value ; and to buy a horse of which nothing is known is simply to take part in a lottery. liny ing from a private person is not always a satisfactory proceeding, even when the performances of the horse are known. People enter tain different ideas as to what constitutes unsoundness ; and in many cases the groom is the only person who knows that there is a screw loose somewhere, and what that screw is. Purchasing from a dealer requires some little knowledge. Some men trade only in the highest class of horses, and must perforce ask long prices to afford a fair margin of profit to cover the original outlay, coupled with the expense of schooling and keep. Others again make a specialty of &quot;useful&quot; animals at a moderate price. The buyer s success in either case will, to a great extent, depend upon how he goes to work. The best course is to select a dealer who has a name to lose, and to tell him at once the kind of horse that is wanted, and about the price the purchaser is willing to pay. The dealer will then offer whatever horses he can sell at the price, and the buyer can take or reject them as he pleases. Formerly a warranty of soundness by the seller was a necessary factor in every horse sale ; but now warranties are going out of fashion, many of the leading dealers refusing altogether to give one. Nor is this surprising when the effect of a warranty is looked at ; no lapse of time puts an end to a warrant}. The seller of a yearling may have an action brought against him in four years time, and. if the jury can be got to believe that the unsoundness complained of existed at the time of sale, the buyer will win. In giving a warranty, the seller of a horse insures, as it were, the care and skill of the buyer, and may have to suffer for selling a sound horse which ignorance and carelessness reduced to the level of a screw in six months. There is also a limited warranty ; that is, the dealer may be willing to warrant the horse for one month, or fourteen days, or for any other fixed period. In this case, the dealer only warrants against suoh defects as may be discovered within the stipulated time. This kind of warranty should be looked at with some amount of suspicion. It is very often given with a horse that might not pass the veterinary surgeon, and that hns some defect of which the dealer knows, which renders it problematical whether he will keep sound for any lengthened period. With a limited warranty the horse often escapes the veterinary surgeon s inspection ; he lasts sound for a short time, and then goes lame, the time of the limited warranty having meanwhile expired. The most satisfactory and at present perhaps the nrost usual course of business is for a horse to be sold subject to a veterinary examination and a trial. A skilful man should discover all symp toms of what may be called external unsoundness, while as to disease of the liver, or any internal complaint, if the veterinary surgeon cannot discover it there is no reason why the dealer should have been able to find it out. The trial the li iyer will probably make himself, and, if with hounds, it will be well to ascertain what condition the horse is in. An animal just out of n dealer s show stable would have neither his muscles nor his wind in a state that would enable him to live with hounds ten minutes, even at a moderate pace. Early symptoms of distress therefore, under such circumstances, should not of themselves prompt the rejection of a horse, if he is satisfactory at starting, and if his physical struc ture is that of a hunter. The age of the horse is determined by the appearance of the teeth till he is seven years old, but the legs are as good a test as anything. Many a horse at five years old is often worth less as a hunter than one of ten or twelve years old, owing either to a natural want of stamina or to premature over work. If the legs show much signs of work, and if the joints arc round and big, the money paid should as a rule differ materially from a &quot;sound price.&quot; Not that perfectly fresh legs can be expected in aged horses, particularly if good performers ; but there is a point below which &quot;honourable scars&quot; should be, looked upon as an objection, unless the buyer intend to have a &quot; screw.&quot; The Had;. Under the term &quot;Lack&quot; may he ranked The cover hack, park hack, cob, pony, and, in short, saddle hack horses of all kinds save hunters and racers. The park hack, as its name implies, is for use in fashion- rark frequented places, and must therefore be worth looking hack. at. Fashion has prescribed that the genuine thing shall be about 143, with a small and well set-on head, good sloping shoulders, and well formed hind legs ; he must also be very well bred. So much for his points. A wonderfully good temper is absolutely essential. Street vehicles give but little place to the equestrian, and a series of hurried retreats out of harm s way might ruffle a horse of uncertain temper and not hard worked into the bargain. Tricks of all sorts must be unknown ; a whole week s idleness should not produce any uncalled-for gambols. The park hack s breeding and shape will probably have endowed him with a fair turn of speed; this is not a necessity, providing his walk and trot be perfection. He should be able to walk 5 miles in an hour, or he will be perpetually breaking into an uncomfortable jog when required to keep pace with a quick walking companion. In trotting he should have good but not extravagant action, and. if he is equally easy whether going 5 or 9 miles per hour, he is one of twenty. He should be bitted to a nicety, and should have been thoroughly well trained. Especial care should be exercised in the selection of the lady s horse; and the perfection which is so often theoretical in the case of a gentleman s hack should approach a reality when a horse is intended to carry a lady. With regard to the size, it had better not be under 15 1 at the least, and should have very good shoulders and by no means a short neck, or else the rider will experience that un comfortable sensation of having nothing in front of the saddle. The cob is a nondescript animal, but withal a very Cob. valuable one when good. An underbred thickset animal, termed a &quot;stocky 1 horse in some parts of England, is not the fashionable cob, which should have a good deal of breeding and the strength of a dray horse. Although a cob should not exceed 14 l,he should be master of 15 stone, being generally ridden by elderly heavy persons. To be worth a large sum he must unite to a symmetrical shape an even temper, perfect manners, and easiness in his paces. &quot; If any one, says a writer in the Field, &quot;pos sesses a cob up to ) G stone, who can walk 4 miles an hour and trot 12, with a good mouth and amiable disposition, who fears nothing, and never stumbles, let him, if a rich man, keep him, he will not get another such in a hurry ; if a poor one. let him. in offering him for sale, fear not to open his mouth boldly, and demand for him a price which shall make a difference in his (the owner s) year s income ; for people must, and usually are ready to, pay for their fancies, and a good cob, as already remarked, is, of all the equine race, essentially a fancy article, and one too for which the demand is always brisk.&quot; A Galloway, although strictly speaking a distinct breed, Gallo- is commonly understood to be a horse not over 14 hands. Avay - Prior to the introduction of railways, or even before the fast coaches were put upon the road, Galloways were a