Kentucky Bred Lady’s Riding Horse (Dixie)
Not only the horses themselves but the horse buyers may be divided into classes. There is the green purchaser with plenty of money and the green one with only a hundred or two to spend; the clever
buyer who “has an eye” and the buyer who thinks she “has an eye.” The first mentioned should go to a high-class dealer, rely on his advice, and thus be sure of getting what she wants as long as she is willing to pay the price. The second ought to find something in the “practically sound ones” or among the discarded polo ponies. The clever buyer will fill her wants anywhere, in the auction marts, on the stock farms, at the race track, or through a casual meeting on the road, while the one who thinks she
“has an eye” is a source of profit to others if not to herself.
The attitude of the public at large toward the horse dealer is to my thinking most unfair, for reputable business methods are to be found among them quite as much as in any other business or profession. If the buyer’s experience is limited, there is nothing in which she can be so easily deceived as in a horse. Therefore, I strongly advise the novice to go always to a dealer of good standing, state frankly what she is looking for, how much she is willing to pay, and put herself in his hands without affecting knowledge which she lacks. When you go to a dealer of standing you may be confident that having acquired a high reputation he will maintain it, and will not sell you a horse other than he represents it. If you go to a “gyp” dealer you must keep your eyes open and rely on a veterinary of your own selection, coupled with the advice of some friend who has real knowledge of horses; otherwise you are putting yourself at the mercy of the kind of man who has given horse-dealers at large the unfair reputation in which they are held by the public.
Certainly the novice should not expect to get “something for nothing,” and I would strongly advise the buyer to make up her mind that it is better economy in the long run to pay a good price for
what she wants than to buy something cheap and in a short time have to sell it for even less than she may have paid.
