A. S. Alexander

“ In the great horse markets, when a gentleman’s coachman, or a man who is deemed by him to be an expert judge, is commissioned to buy a certain style of horse at not over a stated price, the expert can easily arrange to make a double profit. He seeks out some scalper friend, and gives him a detailed description of the sort of horse wanted. The scalper then visits the stable of his associates in the business, selects a horse that “looks like the job” and secures an option on him at a price considerably lower than the buyer has said he will be willing to pay. ”

“ Bishoping is dental forgery, false marks being made on the incisor teeth to make an old horse appear young. It is a dishonest practise and not to be countenanced for a moment by a reputable horseman. The modus operandi of the business is told as follows in a well-known book on “Animal Dentistry”: “Renewal of the cups (bishoping) is the most important of the artificial attempts to make horses appear younger, and if performed intelligently upon horses that are [31] not too old, together with the shortening and polishing of the crowns of the superior incisors, may deceive even the vaunted expert. ”

“ While a properly matched and trained pair of carriage horses should “act like one horse” when in motion, the buyer should be careful to examine each horse carefully “to halter.” The two animals should be capable of being harnessed to the carriage indifferently to the right or left, and no attention should be paid to the observations of the dealer, who may explain how they have been accustomed to be driven always on the same side, and who, as a rule, will harness the better one of the two horses on the left side, and the poorer one on the right. ”

“ 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. ”

“ I had noticed in a farm paper the advertisement of an auction sale of Percheron horses to be held at the farm of a breeder in an adjoining state. I slipped down there a few days before the date of sale, and picked out a nice looking, two-year-old stallion and on the day of sale bid $320 and the horse was sold to me. A pedigree was thrown in, but as it was written in the English language and the horse had a common, pronounceable name, I discarded it and christened him Les Epinards. ”

“ Kindness, petting, coaxing with a lump of sugar, carrot, apple or other dainty sometimes succeeds with a balky horse when harsh measures fail. Cruel procedures should be discountenanced and punished and among these the worst trick, perhaps, is to start a fire of paper, straw or brush under the balker. Sometimes all that is necessary is to distract the animal’s attention by pounding lightly with a stone on the shoe of a fore foot, by tying a cord around the leg under the knee, or by holding up one foot for a few minutes. ”

“ Then instead of putting a stay chain to my true horse I put on what I call a stay rope, looping it around the balky mare’s tail, drawing it up short and tying it to the other horse’s hame ring. Whenever I spoke to my true puller something else had to come although the balky mare was not very hasty to respond for the first few lessons. We now have her convinced and I drive her single, ride her when driving cattle, can use the cattle whip over her, and she pays no attention to it. At times she runs idle for a week or ten days, but she never gives me a minute’s bother when I use her again. ”

“ Another disinterested party whispers in the buyer’s ear that the horse will be sold at auction. Sure enough, the animal is led to the auction stables, and care is taken that the buyer sees it passing.
The auctioneer and ringman are posted, and they wait for the sucker. The horseman starts the animal at pretty [34] near his value. The bidding is rapid. The sucker gets in, and under excitement bids two or three times. Perhaps one of the regular eastern shippers bids once, but as a rule, the sucker, the auctioneer, and the scalper are the only bidders. ”

“ The horse trainer, on the other hand, develops high knee action by putting on heavy shoes, the toes being left long; by trotting and galloping the horse in plowed land, deep snow, or a deep bed of straw. He also frequently taps the legs back of the knees with a whip or light stick as the horse takes daily walking exercise. Soon the animal learns the trick of high stepping, and thus is ready to match with one of like kind and gait, for sale at a high figure to some rich man in the city.
A coach horse with extraordinary high knee action was sold by a dealer to a city man for $400. ”

“ If the animal will not submit to inspection, look out! The horse that will not allow one to handle his ears, or fights when the attempt is made, may be a terror to shoe, and therefore has had the “twitch” put on his ear many a time in the blacksmith’s shop; or he may have had poll-evil, some injury to the ear, or head, or have a disease present which makes the ear sore or sensitive. A horse so affected is difficult to handle, as he fights when the halter or bridle is put on. ”

“ Doping an unsound horse may be punished by expulsion from the market, and tricks, like the application of “soup” to make a horse act mean, are prohibited on “horse row.” It is when a buyer deals with a “scalper” who conducts his business “under his hat,” or patronizes the dealers who conduct a questionable business at small sales stables on the side streets near the stock-yards, that he may expect to get “the short end of the deal,” and we would strongly advise our readers to give such dealers and sales stables a wide berth. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Another plan of making a profit, is to get as low a price or option as possible from the dealer, and then add a profit by having the seller charge a higher price than the option and afterward hand the balance to the buyer’s agent. Unless the commissioner is paid a special fee by his employer for making the purchase, these methods of making living wages for the work involved in the deal are considered perfectly legitimate by men connected with the horse markets. ”

“ Where this is the case, it will often pay the farmer whose pocketbook is not particularly well filled to pass by the young, soft, untried, expensive horses that have been specially fattened to bring high prices and buy a second-handed horse at a bargain price.
For example, suppose a big, strong gelding, getting along in years, has four well-developed side-bones which render him stilty and stiff in gait for city use, and which on that account is offered for $80, or thereabout. Such a horse may prove a profitable purchase for use on the land. ”

“ The buyer should have a keen look out for the eye of the horse; otherwise he may easily make sad mistakes in the market.
The pupil of the eye should contract when the horse comes out into the light. If it does not, the eye is blind, or at least unsound. Such eyes have an unnatural appearance which should attract the attention of the alert examiner, but he will be very apt to overlook the blindness if the horse is led out into the bright sunshine. ”

“ Often, should a buyer visit a scalper’s stable in the city, he will be shown a fine-looking horse and attractive harness and wagon. The price asked for the horse and outfit is a low one, and the stranger jumps at the chance to acquire the property ”

“ In Kansas City a horse that had been overdosed with drugs to conceal the symptoms of heaves dropped dead while climbing an incline. The story of the “accident” spread through the market, and the next morning, when the owner of the drugged horse offered another of his animals in the auction ring, the auctioneer is said to have stopped, told the story to the audience, pointed out the man who gave the drugs and the owner, and added, “Now, this man has a load of horses to sell to-day and you folks can be your own judges about buying them.” ”

“ The fact that several bogus pedigree registry associations are in existence, although they have not received the approval of the Department of Agriculture at Washington, makes it possible for dishonest stallion peddlers to obtain fraudulent registry certificates and, by using them, to fool the farmer. It would be well if no registry associations were allowed to engage in the interstate business of recording the pedigrees of breeding animals without first obtaining the approval of the Secretary of Agriculture. ”

“ Heaves or broken wind more commonly perhaps than any other unsoundness, offers opportunity and necessity for skilful handling by the trickster in horse dealing. There are numerous plans for the temporary relief of this disease, and so skilfully is the work done that often it is not suspected or discovered under twenty-four hours following a purchase. The “patient” receives no bulky food and all feed is wetted. Sometimes ammonia water is used in sprinkling the hay, and the observant buyer may detect this by the odor. Lime water or a solution of baking soda also is frequently used. ”

“ Removing the mane or foretop will be certain to detract from the value of the horse in the market.
“Protecting” the Buyer.
In some sales-stables, when a coachman commissioned by a rich layman to purchase a single horse, or match a pair in his behalf, has stated his needs, looked over a few animals, and hinted at what he can afford to pay, he is asked by the dealer: “How much shall I protect you?” That means how much commission will you expect if the deal is consummated; and the coachman is not slow to ask a handsome rake-off. ”

“ On the next day hitch up with the balker on the other side of the tongue. With most balky horses two lessons will prove enough; often one will answer. But if the horse is old he may forget in two or three weeks, if rested much, so you will need to keep your appliances ready and put them on at the first sign of balking.
There is little danger of a horse forgetting if he is worked with the same mate and driver; therefore if you want a perfect job you will do well to change the driver and the mate while the lesson is fresh. ”

“ Unnerving is most often done to hide the lameness caused by navicular disease which is incurable: it may also be practised on account of ringbone, side-bone, founder or other unsoundness of the foot. After unnerving the horse does not evince pain when the parts below the seat of the operation are pinched or pricked. The operation merely does away with pain and lameness. It is in no way a cure. ”

“ Some horses roar loudly when going fast in harness, but are instantly quiet when action ceases. To prevent the detection of this unsoundness the seller, unless prevented from doing so by an experienced buyer, gallops the horse past the latter and, by tugging upon the lines, makes it appear that the animal is trying to run away or is difficult to control. The team is pulled up some distance away and by the time the buyer gets there the horse has resumed normal breathing. ”

“ Tying a Mare With a Foal.
To tie a mare so that her foal will not get hung in the halter strap, use a ring in the manger instead of a hole. Thirty inches is plenty long enough for the stale. Put a weight on end of the stale—an old bar shoe will do all right. All good horses in Great Britain are tied this way, except that the chain is used.
Secret of Handling a Balky Horse.
A tired, balky horse is less apt to balk than one fresh from the stable, and such horses are oftentimes kept in harness [14] right up to the time of sale. ”

“ The seller from the country is as likely to “put up a job” on the commission man or dealer as the latter is to cheat the greenhorn buyer, and we agree with Dr. Hawley, who says: “Horsemen in general are not more dishonest than men in any other branch of business which offers like opportunities for trickery; neither do I believe they are more dishonest than the men who buy from them.”
Two Sides to a Horse.
When a horse is first led out for the intending buyer to examine him in the dealer’s stable, it is a common trick to stand the animal close against a wall. ”

“ If the horse is undersized the dealer will try to stand him with the hind feet low. In the stable or yard everything is prepared so that this may be easily done. Another plan is to put on abnormally thick shoes, or those having calkins; the animal’s head is kept lowered so that the withers will be correspondingly heightened. Opposite methods are practised when a horse is a trifle too high for show-yard requirements or mating, and such tricks have given buyers of horses for the army no end of trouble. ”

“ The intending purchaser should get the horse away from the wall and make a tour of inspection around him, looking carefully at every part and detail, and then using the hand, if necessary, to corroborate or correct what the eye has seen or suspected. It is always best to look at the horse from a little distance before closing in, and making a more careful inspection. Close inspection deals with minute things, and may make one overlook or fail to see bigger and more important things which would appeal to the eye when taking in the entire side of the horse at a look. ”

“ As the wheel revolves with great velocity, the cupping is the work of but a moment, if the horse stands complacently. When the corner tooth has but a small table it is enlarged by filling and the cup is cut across its entire length. The cup in the corners is frequently made with a rounded belly internally and a sharp commissure externally to give a more confusing if not a more natural appearance. When the cupping process is complete, the arcade is dried and kept free from saliva by wrapping the jaw behind the teeth with a cloth or towel. ”

“ Many farmers and tradesmen get too much drink when they go to market, and then set off home, riding like madmen, and calling at some public house on the road to get more of the soul and body destroying evil, leave their horses to stand sweating at the door, where it is no wonder that they get cold. ”

“ Soreness of the skin may be the cause. It is a trick of the “gyps” secretly to bathe the shoulders of a horse with an irritating solution which in 12 hours or less makes the animal refuse to pull in harness. They do this with horses on which they purpose making a bid the following day in the hope that when the victim balks the owner will become disgusted and discount the price. Some horses balk when worked in single harness but go all right when hitched double. Chloroform is sometimes used to make a balky horse stupid, so that he will forget to balk. ”

“ Some years since it was common to find cunningly worded horse-sale advertisements in the daily newspapers, offering seemingly valuable animals at sacrifice prices. In some of these advertisements it was stated that a widow about to leave for Europe, where she hoped to be able to assuage the grief of her recent bereavement, would sell her favorite carriage horse, provided she could be assured of a good home and kind treatment for the highly esteemed animal. ”