“I told you that Marks, Colours, and Elements, are nothing at all to know a Horse by; they are but Philosophical Mountebanks that talk of such Toyes. Nay, Shape is nothing to know the Goodness of a Horse—the best Philosophy is to Try him; and you may be deceived then, if he be a Young Horse;—Colts alter extremely both in Spirits and Strength. What Judgment can one give of a Little Boy, what Kind of Man he will prove? No more can one give a Judgment of a Colt, what Kind of Horse he will prove. Ride him and Try him; that is the best Philosophy to know him by.”—P. 104.
“A Young Horse of Three Years Old is but a Gristle,” saith his Grace of Newcastle, in p. 202 of his Book.
“For any Man that would have a Horse of Use in his ordinary occasions, or for Journeys, or Hunting, I would never buy a Horse till the Mark be out of his Mouth, i. e. till he be Seven years old; and if he be sound Wind, Limb, and Sight, he will then last you Eight or Nine Years.
“A Young Horse will have as many Diseases as a Young Child, and you will have to leave him with your Host at some Inn, and hire another Horse for your Occasion; and have your Host’s Bill, and the Farrier’s, which will come to more than your Horse is Worth; and there’s your Young Horse; but your hearty Old Horse shall never Fail you.”
There is more Trouble in looking after One Young Horse than in taking care of Two old ones.
Let the Horse you select for trial be stripped—let your own Servant (who being a stranger to him will not know how to humour defects or conceal any dispositions he may have to vice, &c.) walk and trot him in a strait line, on a paved piece of Road, such as is used for this purpose at the Veterinary College at Saint Pancras; while you stand alternately before and behind him; observe well if he has any inequality in his motions—see if he steps firmly on the ground—stop him often—put him on again—observe whether in setting off he has a partiality for either Leg, beyond that which seems to be natural to Horses in every part of the World, of taking off with the Left.
If a Horse is Lame with one Leg, it is sometimes disguised by putting in a Stone between the Shoe and the sole of the other foot, which is so judiciously contrived as to make him pick them both up alike.
The best way to discover Lameness is to have the horse rode so as to be heated; let him then be put into the stable till he get cool, when take him out for another trot, and examine again.
They sometimes bring Horses for trial, heated, by which many bad qualities and defects are concealed; dull Horses are animated, while the vicious pass as mere mettlesome; with many other disadvantages to the Purchasers, endless to mention. The best way is to get to the Dealer’s early in the Morning, before you are expected, and you will so find out more defects than any other way.
If the Horse be heated, let him be turned into the Stable till he gets cool; go up to him by yourself—examine him—observe his general manners, and, above all, to judge of his Temper watch his Eye:—a Horse never plays a vicious trick, or thinks of one, without shewing his intention to do so by his Eye;—study the Eye of a Horse during the usual operations of the Stable, and you will be enabled to form some opinion of his Temper and Disposition.