Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 October 1874 — Purchasing a Horse. [ARTICLE]

Purchasing a Horse.

A lthough it may not be necessary that a person should be perfectly acquainted with the mechanical structure of the horse’s frame, according to the laws of nature, to render him a good judge of a horse, yet, fortunately for such as have them to sell, vast numbers of persons purchase horses from very slight experience of them, regardless of the proverb of “ He hath a good judgment who doth not rely On his own.” Tnere is also another proverb prevalent, we believe, in Spain, which well applies here: “He that would buy a mule without a fault must not buy one at all;” and, although faultless horses may be as rare-asd’ault-less drivers of them, we will offer a few hints to a person in the act of purchasing one, addressing him in the colloquial style. - First, bear in mind the uses for which you intend the horse. Secondly, until you try him, it is hard to say what a horse will do. following indices may induce you to try him: If he appears well-bred, with a loose, bright skin, which may be called his complexion, observe that bis hair does not stand hollow from the skin, particularly about the poll of his neck. If you find him standing over a good deal of ground,it is, a sure sign that be has got length where it ought to be; not in the back, but from the obliquity of his shoulders.' and the arm being set on at the extreme ppint of which so much c jntributiSto the act of extern!.m of the she parts;; • ’ Next examine minutely his thighs and ; hocks, being especially careful to observe i the position of the point of the hock bone. : Above all things avoid a short or an overt stopped horse. This latter v Trb m Tiedng : too heavy for his legs, wilP’seldom last many years. As for the minor points, common observation alone is wanting. Have his head placed in such a situation as will enable you to satisfy yourself that he has perfectly organized.eyes, free ’from incipient cataract, sometimes rather difficult to be detected; and as for his age, there are but two ways of satisfying yourself on that point.*" By his teeth till about eight years old; afterward by the state of his legs, which are, in fact, the best test of his value, the best proof of what he has done and the sure source of

speculation as to what he may hereaftii be expected to do. Observe, also, his joints, that no material injury has been done to them by blows, strains, etc., and that they are strong. But the purchaser of a horse must not trust to his eye. Neither must he be satisfied with him, how well soever he may go upon a good road. It is the peculiar excellence of going well through dirt that renders a horse valuable for most purposes; and no man can assure himself that a horse has this peculiar excellence until he puts him to the test. The best method of doing it is this: Put him along at a good pace, with a slack rein, upon a good road, letting him find himself all at once upon that which is soft and holding. If, on quitting the former, he cringes more than might be expected, and shortens his stroke much, look for a better horse, as this one will be going in distress when other horses are going comparatively at their ease. Horses possess gradations of excellence in this qualification more than in any other, but in it consists the swznmwm bonum in a good horse; inasmuch as, ■whatever may be his other good qualities, they are all useless when the acting parts are, from this cause, deep ground, easily over-fatigued. With regard to his wind he must not judge hastily of that in a horse not in work. Should he not perceive anything like whistling in his respiration when he puts him along at a quick pace, and his chest is capacious and deep, and his head well set on, he is not to reject him in case he appears blown by a short gallop. Condition and work will rectify that; but many a good horse has been rejected on this account by personsnot taking into consideration the state of his bodily condition in a trial of this nature. The price of the horse varies with the times, and, no doubt, is as much regulated by the price of wheat as the loaf of bread is. But first-rate horses in all ages of the world have ever produced good, and even extravagant, prices.— Prairie Farmer.