Birmingham-you cut off the communication; and the pain in the one case, like the message in the other, is as though it were not. In the present advanced state of science, this operation is performed with the greatest nicety, and the incision usually made below the fetlock can scarcely be detected, save by professional eyes. In the short period of twenty-one days the animal is again fit for work; and many a good screw has been thus preserved from a premature consignment to the bone-house and the kennel. I must here observe, that I would hardly recommend this treatment in cases where the lameness extends to both fore-feet; as, although a horse may go safely and pleasantly enough when devoid of feeling in one of his supporters, we can hardly afford to deprive him of all sensation in two out of four. In such a case the head might be the first sensitive part to touch the ground; and however hard we might wish to see the young sportsman, there are risks which even hunting can scarcely justify. We will hope, however, that in the purchase of his seasoned hunters our friend may be lucky enough to escape this scourge of hard-worked horses; and the method of so en suring himself, is to be careful in avoiding those with narrow heels, contracted feet, short upwright pasterns, small ankles, and that darting action which, pointing the toe into the ground, creates a friction of the joint too prone to produce the disease in question. It will be remarked that horses suffering from navicular wear their shoes perfectly thin at the heels in an incredibly short space of time; the pain they suffer when going in their own natural form causing them to adopt directly its converse. It is well worth while, in purchasing any horse, old or young, to observe carefully how he is shod, and whereabouts his shoes are most worn. The merciful man is merciful to his beast ;" and ere we have done with navicular, let me entreat the horse-master, should he be obliged to have recourse to nerving, or any other painful operation, to have it performed under the influence of chloroform. If scientifically applied, risk there is none; and the pain it spares his dumb friend and honest servant is incalculable. It is not my intention to touch upon the many infirmities to which old horses (and young ones too) are liable; nor could such a subject be thoroughly treated, save by a professed veterinarian. I conclude the aspiring sportsman has begun by furnishing his stable with that most necessary appliance, a groom; and although I should be loath to place implicit credence in everything that worthy might enunciate, still I would not interfere with him too much; and as long as he brought out the horses in their turn, and really fit to go, I should leave him pretty well to himself. As Demosthenes said of oratory, that it consisted of "action! action! action!" so may we say of soundness, that "work! work! work!" is its best preservative, both in man and beast; old horses, especially, should never be suffered to stand idle; they will most assuredly, if allowed to do so, take that opportunity of becoming lame.

The fencing capabilities of seasoned hunters, particularly such as have come out of good hands, are almost beyond belief. Constant practice gives them a coolness and sagacity only to be acquired by long experience; and to many of them we may apply the eulogy bestowed by a certain Hibernian sportsman on his active favourite. "Lep, sir! is it lep ye mane? Faith then, there's not a farmer in Kildare can afford to build him out!" As an instance of the dexterity with which such

animals can get over the strongest enclosures, I may mention a bay horse, called Liberty (a most appropriate name), for many years well known in Leicestershire, and successively the property of some of the hardest riders who frequent that favourite district. In jumping the ox-fences, with which those pastures abound, he had a method of dropping his hind-legs between the rail and the fence so cleverly as to resolve a severe and forbidding obstacle into an easy and delightful leap. To those who are in the habit of scanning, and more especially of charging, this description of fence, I need not enlarge upon the sagacity and agility required to perform so difficult a feat. Should the aspirant then to first-flight honours decide to begin with safe and effective "mounts," let him buy old and seasoned horses, as sound as he can get them without being too particular. Let him put them into thoroughly good condition, with plenty of corn-essential at every age, but more particularly with those whose prime is on the wane; let him give them credit for every qualification indispensable in a hunter, more particularly for their powers of jumping; let him ride them "upon honour," only not hurrying them too much for the first field or so; and let him not doubt but that the nerves of youth, coupled with the sagacity of age, shall bear him triumphantly through the run, and gain him laurels and repute at the finish.

But we will suppose our youth has now learnt "a thing or two" connected with the chase-perhaps it would be fairer to say, has been taught to ride by old Veteran, the worn-out chesnut that carried him so well in last year's famous run. We will suppose that having now acquired with his callow whiskers, physical strength in his saddle, a fine bridle-hand, a knowledge of ground, a certain judgment of pace, and confidence to ride for himself without losing the hounds, he has bethought him that hunting is an amusement which need not necessarily be a very expensive one; that there are men-though only a few-who contrive to make their forage-bills pretty square at the end of the year, by the sale of their horses; and that there is no reason why he, too, should not begin to look about him for that sort of material which his keep and, he flatters himself, his riding shall manufacture into a superior article. In short, he resolves to discontinue his former plan of "buying and using up," and to start in a new line, upon the system of purchasing nothing but young horses of a promising and improving sort. Now is the time for him to look sharp around him, and use all his eyes; now must he be silent as a statesman, and discreet as a doctor; now must he be prepared for much disappointment, not to say disgust, in his new vocation, and make up his mind that, small as may be his capital, he must buy a certain amount of his experience. In order that he may get the largest quantity at the lowest price, let us accompany him on an expedition in which, like Diogenes, he may carry his lanthorn a long time before he meets with an honest man. How to explain it I know not; but the fact is no less obvious than melancholy, that in all matters connected with horse-dealing people allow themselves a latitude of conscience which under other circumstances they would consider downright dishonesty, and that men who in the general walks of life are considered models of rectitude and probity have not the slightest hesitation in misrepresenting truth and magnifying falsehood when the object is to buy or sell the most generous and honest of animals under the sun.

Well, we will suppose that our young friend, whom for the sake of distinction we may as well call Mr. Hotspur as anything else—we will suppose Mr. Hotspur has made up his mind to purchase, and with that object comes out hunting on his hack, or his last old screw, as the case may be, and hazards a cautious inquiry of one or two of his most intimate friends as to whether they know of "a good-looking young horse that would be likely to carry him—not too much money, you know," being the careful addition rendered necessary by the want of funds— why, could the happy Hotspur believe all that was told him, he might suppose the whole country glutted with superior well-bred five-year-olds, all to be sold for a mere song, and wanting only his acquiescence to find their way direct to his stables.

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Why, Snaffles has a horse out to-day that would be the very thing," says one.

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My man told me of a very clever young horse belonging to Farmer Bull; only I had no room for him," says another.

"Have you seen Smith's bay? or Tomkins's brown? or Jones's chesnut?" chorus a whole host of voices; and poor Mr. Hotspur, rather overcome, begins to think the difficulty will only lie in selection from so excellent a choice. Soon to be undeceived-for as Mr. Snaffles is at this very moment out, upon the horse so expressly adapted for our friend, he thinks he may as well have a look at him first, and should he like his appearance, thus save himself all further trouble. Snaffles is a dealer, and scents a customer as keenly as a vulture in the desert winds a dead camel; but beyond a dexterous application of the off-side spur, and the curb-rein, to get his head into the right place, betrays no further consciousness that mortal eye is scanning the brute he bestrides. That he is a brute is obvious to Hotspur at the first glance, and he inwardly resolves that his stable-buckets shall never be polluted by such weak legs and calf-knees as those; so he turns a deaf ear to Snaffles, who soon finds or makes an opportunity to draw his attention to the horse in question, and, more suorum," lays particular stress upon the excellence of those points in which the animal is most deficient. spur, however, is not very green; and having old Veteran's fine shape impressed on his mind's eye as a model, is more likely to err on the side of fastidiousness than any other, and will deal with Snaffles at no price.

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Hot

Tomkins's brown and Smith's bay are both out likewise; but the bay shows a sad want of breeding, as well in action as in appearance; and the brown, though a good-looking lengthy kind of horse, has not that form of going with his hind-legs, without which no quadruped ever yet deserved the title of hunter. This is a point on which it behoves the purchaser to be very careful. I have seen horses with apparently no one good point about them, except a lashing, easy method of getting their hind-legs under them when galloping, that could slip over a country, taking the rough with the smooth, in a manner, considering their make and shape, truly surprising. Besides which, such horses from the amount of propelling power they possess, are almost invariably good leapers; whilst on the other hand I have known many a magnificent-looking animal, of faultless frame, that for want of this peculiar qualification was perfectly helpless amongst really large fences, and unable to go three fields when the ground was deep. Tomkins's

assurances, however, that the brown is very raw--green he calls it— induce our friend to take another look at him, and liking the general appearance of the horse, he determines to watch his performances when they find. This he has no great opportunity of doing. Farmers, though the best set of fellows in the world, are not, one and all, extremely forward or enterprizing riders. Some there are, not to be beat; and well do they deserve credit for assuming and maintaining a frontrank place with a horse, only rejoicing in what is called, farmers' condition; but the majority of them take their hunting very easy, as they do most things in life, and as, wherever the hounds may meet, they are pretty sure of having a friend who knows all the short cuts and bridlegates, doubtless their temptations to skirting and shirking are well-nigh irresistible. One of this sort is Tomkins; and although he has assured our friend Mr. Hotspur that the brown can "jump anythink". rather a loose definition-it is not till he is aware of the possible purchaser's watching him that he makes up his mind to exhibit the saltatory prowess of his five-year-old.

The hounds have a fair holding scent, which enables them to keep on hunting terms with a straight-running fox, who is pointing his head for a fine grass country. The fences are of moderate size, and there is no reasonable excuse for any young horse with the slightest pretensions to the character of a hunter not getting to the front; so poor Tomkins is obliged to make a demonstration, though sorely against his will, Mr. Hotspur riding some twenty yards behind him, and criticizing the performance in the least indulgent vein. A couple of gaps let the brown through easily, and his fencing qualities are still a mystery; but at the end of the next pasture there is a fair flying fence, which admits of no prevarication, and Hotspur watches, all eyes, for the result. The seller's views of what is requisite in a hunter generally differ widely from the purchaser's; and Tomkins, with all his assumed confidence in the five-year-old, now looks to right and left for a friendly hand-gate or convenient gap. The hounds are already half-way across the next field, and You must jump or else go home." So the young one and his rider wander together down to the fence, in that wavering and uncertain manner with which man and horse accomplish such a manœuvre when unaccustomed to take a line of their own. The place is chosen too late, the steam put on and the horses' head relinquished too soon; so after a determined effort to refuse, and a futile attempt to get over, the brown alights with his fore-feet in the further ditch, and giving his rider a very complicated kind of "purl," breaks away from him, not to be caught again until the chase has disappeared beyond the far horizon. Mr. Hotspur does not mind the mistake so much as the animal's faulty style of going; but, putting that and that" together, determines he will have nothing to do with the brown horse.

And so the game goes on. One after another, he sees pretty nearly every horse that is recommended to him; and one after another, he rejects them as unsuited to his purpose, and below the standard which he has fixed in his own mind as the value of his money. Young men are apt to run into extremes, and our friend is now rapidly falling into the error of thinking nothing good enough-a delusion that fills the dealer's pockets and the rich man's stable to some tune. Still he leaves no stone unturned to get a good one if he can. Wherever he hears of a horse he goes and

looks at him, and ere long he comes down to second-class tickets, and other economical methods of reducing his expenditure in thus purchasing disappointment. All this time there is a nag standing within a mile of him that he has never been to see. Farmer Bull has a young grey horse for sale, that was ridden last year by his nephew (now in gaol), with all the appearance and action of a hunter; but, somehow, the colour is one which Hotspur has always hated; and old Bull, a portly worthy of rosy countenance and enormous weight, is the last man he ever suspected of possessing anything that could be called a flyer. However, he has nothing to do this afternoon; so, with a thick stick and a cigar, he walks across the fields to Farmer Bull's residence, well aware that he shall find the good man at home for at least three hours after dinner time, whilst the process of digestion is being assisted by a steaming compound of Hollands, hot-water, and sugar.

"Servant, sir! Take a seat, sir. Glad to see ye, Muster Hotspur," says the occupant, as our friend finds his way into the little stuffy parlour, the solitary window of which, looking on the straw-yard, has not been opened for many a long year. Well, sir, I have a nice young horse," he proceeds, as his guest explains his errand in the awkward manner with which possible purchasers always affect extreme indifference; "you can see him, if so be as you like, sir; no harm in looking, you know." And finding his hospitable entreaties to "do as he does ineffectual, the farmer extricates his ponderous proportions from his arm-chair, and leads his visitor, ankle-deep in liquid wealth of manure, to a comfortable-looking stable, with a flock of well-fed pigeons billing and cooing on its roof. "Reuben, where's the key?" shouts the proprietor; and Reuben, a shock-headed yokel, makes his appearance at the summons, and ushers Mr. Hotspur into the presence of the grey.

On looking at a young horse, more especially when he has not been forced in his growth by high keep and premature work, we must bear in mind that we are scanning not that which is now perfect, but that which should bear promise of future perfection, and that a very evenlyshaped five-year-old rarely becomes a fine horse when arrived at maturity. The grey in question has a neat, well-set-on head, and lengthy, oblique shoulders; but the latter are low in the withers, and, like his neck, have rather a tendency to thickness. In short, there is plenty to grow out of; and Mr. Hotspur, after feeling his legs-a famous flat and sinewy pair-and casting an anxious eye at his hocks, in which he can detect no sign of weakness, curb, or spavin, likes him well enough to request Farmer Bull to let him see him out, and lay his leg over him. Now begins all the hunting for tackle, and trouble in putting it on-all the clumsy and unstableman-like arrangements which make such a difference between a farmer's and a dealer's yard; and when at length Reuben, devoutly hoping he may not be asked to get up, leads out the young horse, disfigured by a saddle with a brass cantle, and a bridle with a yellow front, Mr. Hotspur cannot help thinking that, what with his ungainly accoutrements, his long coat, and his untrimmed tail, they have done their best to make their favourite look as bad as may be.

My man, here, bain't much of a jock," says the farmer, as emerging from the straw-yard into what he calls the close beyond, the grey snorts and sidles, and seems to scent a gallop on the breeze. "Perhaps you'll ride him yourself, sir?"