The Artificial Tail Trick.
Where a horse is bought without careful examination of the tail, it may transpire when too late for redress that the switching appendage has been joined on. We remember examining a fine, thoroughbred running horse that was to be used for saddle purposes. Everything passed scrutiny until we came to the tail, which was that of some other horse, nicely held in place by clamps. When it was removed it was found that the horse under examination possessed a mere vestigial stump of a tail—a regular shaving brush affair—and on that account the deal, like the tail, was all off.
Draft and work horses are often offered with the tail braided and tied up. Where this is the case, the intending buyer should let the tail down and then he may find that a big foreign switch has been braided in with the scant supply of natural hair.
The critical examination of the tail will also save the prospective purchaser from acquiring an animal afflicted with pigment tumors ([see page 48]), or one that is about to lose a portion of the tail by gangrene, due to keeping a cord too tightly and too long around the part when tied up in muddy weather, or while exposed for sale.
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.
The Loose Shoe Trick.
When a horse is a poor mover, but stylish and likely to be a prize winner in the show ring, the owner tries to avoid putting him through his paces before the judges. A shoe is loosely tacked on, so that when the horse is trotted it comes off, and the owner then blames imperfection of motion to the loss of the shoe.