The following account was given to me by a friend who has had great experience in Horses:

“There can be no doubt that a vicious Horse is to be known by his Eye:—I took a Horse to Mr. Professor Colman, at the Veterinary College, St. Pancras, to be examined previous to purchasing;—he had on a water-deck, the Day being Wet; the wind caused it to flap against his sides, and he reared and plunged most violently. Mr. Colman, whose Judgment respecting Horses I had previously repeatedly consulted with the greatest advantage, after looking at him for a few minutes, decidedly pronounced him to be a Vicious Horse. I begged Mr. C. to tell me whether he judged so from his plunging occasioned by what is mentioned: he said No, from his Eye; he was constantly trying to look back:—however, I bought the Horse; and sure enough the Professor’s prognostic was perfectly true—he was decidedly vicious! the very next day he attempted a grand go at kicking and plunging, and did great damage to my Carriage.”

For the following Advice, we are indebted to as Honest a Man as any that deals in Horse-Flesh.

“I have found many persons who have purchased Horses of me, very inquisitive and troublesome about their Eyes; indeed, as much so as if their Eyes were any way concerned in the action of the Animal. As I know they are not, I give myself very little trouble about them:—if a Rider is in full possession of his own, what his Horse has is perfectly immaterial.

“Be sure to buy a Broken-knee’d Horse, whenever he falls in your way: the best bit of flesh that ever was crossed will certainly come down one day or another; whereas, one that has fallen, (and sacrificed himself pretty much,) never will fall again, if he can help it.

“Buy any thing but a Threatener. By the Threatener, Man himself, the Lord of the Creation, who subdues all the Animals that range the Forest, is himself kept in fear and trepidation!—This ingenious Animal has the sagacity, at every step, to threaten the fracture of his Rider’s neck, probably with a view to abolish the practice of Riding; but has, at the same time, the good sense not to fall quite down, lest he should accidentally break his own. As amongst Pigeons, so amongst Horses, there are Tumblers: the feat is, however, performed differently, and varies a little in its effects on the performers: the Pigeon executes it without any thing on its back; the Horse seldom achieves it without somebody upon his. To the latter, therefore, we must give the greatest share of merit, who ventures to perform upon a hard Road what the other does only in the Air, without even a cloud to brush against. The one seeming to prefer the Milky, and the other the Highway.”—See the Duke of Newcastle on Horses; Lord Pembroke on Breaking Horses, &c. 12mo. 1761; Mr. Berenger’s Art of Horsemanship; and Dr. Bracken and Mr. Gibson’s Books.

See a Comprehensive Abstract of the various Acts of Parliament relative to “Stealing Horses,” “Buying Stolen Horses,” “Killing or Maiming Horses,” &c. in p. 1046 of the Second Volume of Sir George Chetwynd’s comprehensive Edition of Dr. Burn’s Justice, 8vo. 1825.

TO PRESERVE
THE
HEALTH OF HORSES.

The methods of treating and keeping Horses are as various, and, for the generality, as inconsistent with reason as those of Shoeing are; but a little consideration would, in most common cases, direct people right in both. One pampers his Cattle, with a view of strengthening them; and afterwards, by way of correction, pours down Drugs into them without thought or measure:—Another lets no Air at all into his Stable; and his Horses inevitably catch cold when they stir out of it, and get Fevers if they stay in it, by corrupted Air:—a Third, equally wise, leaves his Stable open, and his Cattle exposed to the wind and weather at all times, whether his horses or the weather be hot or cold, and frequently even in wind drafts, while they are in a sweat.