THE PURCHASE, THE CARE, AND THE SALE OF THE SADDLE-HORSE Whether it has been procured by rapine, purchase, gift, or devise, the owner of a really good saddle-horse has something from which he may derive much pleasure and satisfaction. Nor is such an animal so rare as the late Edmund Tattersall suggested, when he gave it as his opinion that a man might have one good horse in his lifetime, but certainly no more. Almost any horse of good temper, safe action, and sufficient strength may be made pleasant to ride. Alidor was a small cart-horse, low at the shoulder, with a rigid jaw and a coarse head, but he became a charming hack, and I employed him for the photographs of the first edition of "Modern Horsemanship." I bought him as a three-year-old, as an experiment; and when he was four the breeder came to see him and gave me a written statement that, so great were the changes made in appearance and action by the calisthenics of his education, the animal could hardly be recognized. Of course a man on the lookout for a horse Much of the friction between purchaser and dealer is usually due to the manner in which the former conducts his part of the bargain. It is not agreeable to a fair-minded man to be approached as though he were a swindler, to be offered one-half of the price he has set on his property, and then perhaps to have a sound horse returned because the buyer did not know what he wanted. I do not wish to be understood as saying that all dealers are honest; I have seen too many who would not go straight; but it is reasonable It is a mistake for an ignorant purchaser to take a knowing friend with him for protection; this will, in the eyes of the dealer, relieve him in a great measure of responsibility. If the friend is really a good judge, it is far better to let him act alone, when he will be considered a client and not an interloper trying to "crab" a sale, and therefore free to deceive himself and his companion. Some dealers will not give a warranty of soundness, and a warranty is too often the cause of disputes and of actions at law to make it advisable either to give or to demand one. A veterinary examination and a short trial must suffice. Sometimes the seller requires that the trial shall take place from his yards, to avoid the risk of injury to valuable animals and that blackmail so commonly levied by head grooms and stablemen. In cases where the dealer objected to sending his horse to another's stables, the author has been in the habit of offering a fair sum of money for the privilege, the amount to go on the price of the horse should the sale be effected; and this proposal has usually been acceptable. Where a trial has been allowed, or even where the purchase has been made, if an indifferent If the animal does not buck or shy, and goes fairly well, albeit a little gay, it is a prize not to be disdained. Many horses, even with stall courage, will go quietly if the saddle be warmed by half an hour's contact with their backs, but will plunge or buck if the rider mounts a saddle freshly girthed. If a fresh horse will stand the ordeal of a cold panel, it will not be apt to misbehave under other trials. Of course the confident rider will make his essay as soon as the horse comes into his possession, and if the new purchase does not come up to his expectations, he will hope that his skill may remedy the faults he discovers. To go to the breeder implies a journey, to find often only young horses that are not thoroughly trained and almost always unused to the sights and sounds of traffic, many of which are fearsome to a country-bred horse. On the other hand, on such a visit, the prospective purchaser has a better opportunity of examining the animals offered for sale, and from a knowledge of the pedigrees and an examination of the progenitors he will be able to form some idea of what may be expected There remains, as sources of supply, the auction, the friend who has a good horse which he is willing to dispose of, and "the stable of the gentleman who is breaking up his establishment previously to a European trip." It has now become a custom to send very valuable high-class horses to the auction block, and if a man is looking for something that has already proved its superiority in the show-ring, he may often find it his property by nodding to the auctioneer. But, aside from the fact that such an animal has probably reached its climax, and that the same experienced care is demanded to maintain its condition, it is not advisable for a man to purchase such a horse except for exhibition purposes. In the hands of a poor or even The Ideal Saddle-horse! Any man with a trained eye and ear should be able to recognize it among a herd of others. Its satin robe should be of a chestnut, bay, or brown color, with a silver star on the forehead. It should have a fine, thin mane, and a tail just heavy enough to set off the haunches. It should be of a stature of no more than 15½ hands at the withers, never more than an inch less than that height; of symmetrical form,—if anything appears to be wrong, it is wrong,—with a broad, flat forehead, a face neither concave nor convex, a small muzzle with nostrils that can dilate until they show the fire within, while soft hazel eyes beam forth brightly and kindly. Its pointed ears, beautiful in form, While skill in horsemanship and the possession of a good horse are to be highly considered, all the pleasures of riding are not confined to the expert with his splendid mount. Many men who are never able to attain even tolerable proficiency in the art get a great amount of recreation and satisfaction in the exercise. The author has a friend who, late in life, and when his figure had developed beyond the stage where a secure seat might be practicable, was accustomed to place himself on the back of a quiet pacing-mare, in one of those saddles with a towering horn on the pommel and a fair-sized parapet on the cantle. Thus equipped, he passed many happy hours in going wherever the steady but headstrong Belle was inclined. When the mare brought forth some three-cornered progeny from registered sires, her owner's delight was unbounded, for he was then a breeder as well as a horseman. No estimate can be made of the real value of a riding-horse, or what a horse for a specific purpose should cost; these depend on the man and the horse. A really satisfactory, confidential When one sees the wretched cabins, called boxes, hot in summer, draughty in winter, in which horses are kept on many of the breeding farms, and even on some of the race-courses, it is a matter of wonder that health and condition of the stock can be maintained under such circumstances. Exposure to the inclemency of the weather, however, is better than the pampering which city horses usually find in close and overheated stables. The stable should be reasonably warm in winter and as cool in summer as may be, thoroughly ventilated, without draughts, and with good drainage. The light should be admitted from the rear of the stalls; certainly a horse should not stand facing a near window on a level with its head. A gangway should be in the front of the stalls as well as in the rear, and the horse should be fed through an opening about sixteen inches wide in the front of the stall. This narrow opening will be beneficial to the sight of the horse, and the animal cannot fight its neighbors. For more than half a century the home stable of the author has had such an arrangement, which proved perfectly satisfactory. In that stable there were two rows of stalls facing a middle gangway. Except for sick or weary horses, the stall is better than the loose box; in the former, stable discipline is better kept up. In a loose box an idle horse is apt to become too playful, and horse-play too often degenerates into something worse, such as biting and kicking. The floor of the stable should be of hard bricks, or of some combination of asphalt. The drainage should be to the rear of the stalls, with a very slight slope. If the drains are made under the horse, the slopes are multiplied and the inclines are greater than in the length of the stalls. Always the horse should have an abundance of dry The horse should be out of the stable, except in very inclement weather, for at least two hours every day; eight hours of slow work, with a halt for rest and refreshment after the first three hours, is not too much for a horse in good condition. During the Civil War, General John Morgan, after two weeks of severe campaigning, marched his cavalry command, without dismounting, a distance of ninety-four miles in about thirty-five hours. Many of the horses of Kentucky breeding performed this work without flinching, and were called upon to do further duty without respite. Notwithstanding the vigor with which General Morgan conducted this raid into Ohio, he was overtaken by General Hobson after twenty-one days of hard marching, in which a distance of about seven hundred and fifty miles was covered. On a previous occasion General Morgan marched his cavalry ninety miles in about twenty-five hours. Under somewhat similar circumstances the "exigencies of the service" have on occasion required the author to remain in the saddle, with but momentary dismounting, if any, for from sixteen to eighteen hours, sometimes riding at the gallop, and the horse, a thoroughbred by Albion, A horse should never be struck or otherwise punished in the stable, and the first exhibition of cruelty on the part of the groom should be the cause of his dismissal. The currycomb should be used only for cleaning the brush, and never should be applied to the skin of the horse; but so great is the temptation to use it on a mud-covered animal that it is better to abolish the instrument. A whalebone mud brush, a strong straw brush, a smoothing brush, a soft cotton cloth, and several good sponges, together with some wisps of clean straw, should be the only articles of the toilet. The face and nostrils, the dock, and other hairless parts of the horse should be washed daily; but, except to cleanse sores or for wet bandages, water should never be put upon the legs of the horse. Tight bandages are permissible only when applied by a skilled groom, or under the orders of a veterinary surgeon. Massage, rubbing the legs of the horse with the hand When a horse comes in from a hard day's work, covered with mud, dry serge bandages may be loosely put on the legs while the other parts of the body are receiving the services of the rubber. By the time that the body of the horse is clean the mud upon the legs will have dried, and, the bandages being removed, the dirt may easily be brushed out, a good hand-rubbing following. The hoofs should then be cleaned out and washed, and the horse be placed in its stall knee-deep in straw. Should a horse be brought in late and really "done up" by its work, it will be better to give it a pail of warm gruel, rub dry the saddle-place, and turn it into a warm box-stall at once, without annoying it with the brushing and handling that would be necessary to clean it thoroughly. No weary horse, no matter how dirty it may be, has ever been the worse for a few hours of complete rest under such circumstances, for the quiet will be of far more importance than the dressing. But this course should be followed only under the directions of the master, who should always see that his overworked horses get the attention they require, if he does not superintend the general stable work from time to time as he should. When the hairs of the tail require cleaning, it is well to use plenty of unchilled water, pretty well saturated with salt, washing the dock also with the solution; and this should be used whenever the horse shows a disposition to rub its tail against the side of the stall The horse should be dressed in some covered place that is shut off from the stalls; and the owner should, occasionally at least, look in on his horses when they are being dressed and at feeding time; and should he find that he is not master of his own stables, he should change his groom or give over keeping horses. This page is being written while the thermometer is playing about zero and a cold north wind is blustering round the corners of the house, which state of affairs suggests that, when it can be afforded, it is expedient to have a covered ride in which horses may be exercised and trained in stormy weather. An area 35 feet by 70 feet is quite large enough for twelve or more horses, and the many turns and bends required by the limited space will improve the horses therein exercised in every particular. Then the otherwise weary days of winter may be made enjoyable to the horseman by musical rides, for many pretty and intricate figures may be formed by ten or twelve riders. My riding-house is 28 feet by 60, and it is quite large enough for my purposes, as I always work my horses singly and without an attendant. In London I saw Corradini training a manÈge horse in the gangway of a stable, behind a row of stalls; he had a space of about 8 feet by 30. I believe that the horse was never galloped until it was ridden in public in the circus ring, but the schooling it had received made it fit for any movement. A little study and a little experience should teach a man much regarding the shoeing of his horse. If the animal has true and level action, it should have light irons all round. If it shambles, or if the stride is too confined, the weight of the shoes should be increased. The upper surface of the iron, which comes next to the hoof, should be flat; the lower surface may be bevelled from the outside, or have a groove in which the holes for the nails are punched. The hind shoes should have very small calks, the toes being correspondingly thickened to give a level bearing. Only so much of the crust or wall of the hoof should be removed as will give the foot a level bearing, keeping the toe straight and the face of the hoof with the slope which conforms to that of the pastern. The bars at the heels should not be cut away, except upon the recommendation of a veterinary, and the frog and sole should have nothing removed from them beyond the loose flakes that show themselves as those parts are Turned-in toes or toes turned out may be produced by bad shoeing, or, when natural malformations, be mitigated more or less by good work, a glance at the foot showing what is required in each case. So brushing, interfering, overreaching, forging, bowed tendons, and many other disorders may be produced or prevented. No horse should be sent to the forge unattended unless the smith is a master of his craft, a white blackbird. For ice-covered roads and for slippery asphalt streets, I have found no shoes equal to Dryden's rubber pads. When it is no longer advisable to retain a horse, it will usually be found that a satisfactory sale is even more difficult than a satisfactory purchase. The saying "first loss is best" applies in this case with force. If a dealer will not take the animal, it is better to send it to the auction block than to hold on indefinitely for a chance buyer. If the seller desires to keep in touch with the horse and to be kept informed of its future, he will give a warranty. |