Keeping a Horse “In the Air.”
The dealer tries to keep a horse “in the air” as much as possible when showing him to a prospective buyer, but the latter should be sure to examine the horse when he is “standing at ease.” The object of keeping the horse rattled by cracking whips, shaking barn door latches, rattling a whip handle inside of a derby hat, whooping, yelling, and chasing behind him, is to make him appear spirited, or to hide some lameness. Often the horse so treated has a spavin, the laming effects of which disappear with exercise, and this also is true if the horse has navicular disease or chorea.
This absurd treatment of the horse is customary in the selling of a heavy draft stallion that has been so fattened, pampered and drugged that he is practically asleep half the time, and has to be waked up by strenuous means to give him an appearance of life. A naturally acute and wide-awake horse needs little urging.