Some dealers temporarily make a horse desist from cribbing by driving
hard wood wedges between his front incisor teeth. Another old plan is
to saw between the teeth. The soreness makes it painful for the horse
to practise the habit of cribbing. Such a horse may be returned to the
commission man, no matter how much time has elapsed since the purchase.
The trick is difficult to discover unless the horse has cribbed long
enough to render the appearance of the teeth suspicious. In the confirmed
cribber the teeth are worn off or levelled and usually have lost the
marks.
Another way of stopping a horse from cribbing is to blindfold the animal,
place a block of wood on the incisor teeth and strike it with a mallet.
By this cruel means the parts are made so sore that the horse temporarily
stops catching hold of the manger to crib and suck wind.
The buyer should always, when possible, see the horse in the stall prior
to the show out. If he remembers this and moves quick enough he may see
the horse wearing a strap buckled around his neck just back of the ears.
Such a horse is a cribber and wind-sucker and the strap is put on to
prevent the latter vice.
Making an Artificial Star.
It sometimes happens or is claimed to have happened that a pure-bred
foal, registered when young in the stud book, is set down as having a
star in its forehead but which on attaining maturity shows no such mark.
Sometimes in matching horses a difficulty is experienced when a perfect
mate is found with the exception that a star is lacking.
In such cases the horseman is occasionally more or less successful in
producing an artificial star. One plan suggested is to cut a boiling
hot potato in two and instantly apply the cut surface to the skin of
the forehead. The scalding removes the hair and it comes in white, but
a careful examination of such an artificial scar often will disclose a
small pink, hairless spot in the center of the mark. The same tell-tale
spot is seen where the artificial star has been produced by cauterizing
with a red-hot iron or scalding with boiling water. The discovery of an
artificial star on the forehead of a stallion or mare sold as pure-bred
and registered is sufficient reason for making a careful investigation as
to the identity of the animal and the integrity of the seller.
An old book gives the following plan of making an artificial star: Take a
piece of coarse tow-linen, the size of the wished-for star. Spread on it
warm pitch, and apply it to the shaved spot; leave it on for two or three
days, then wash with a smart water, or elixir of vitriol, two or three
times a day until well. When the hair grows it will be white.
Black Spots on a White Horse.
An old veterinary book says: Take of powdered quicklime half a pound, and
litharge four ounces. Beat well the litharge with the lime. The above is
to be put into a vessel and a sharp lye is to be poured over it. This is
the coloring matter which must be applied to such parts of the animal as
you wish to have dyed black.
Broken Crest or Wrong Lying Mane.
In certain gross, coarse-necked, heavy-maned, plethoric draft stallions
advancing in age it is not uncommon to find the crest broken over under
the weight of the mane. Attempts are sometimes made by the owner or
seller to offset this objectionable condition by braiding the mane
and causing it to lie upon the side of the neck opposite the break by
weighting with flat strips of lead attached to the hair. If the crest
breaks over to either side the mane may be roached. Weights may also
be used in similar fashion to shed the mane of one horse of a pair so
that it will lie on the proper side of the neck to make the team well
matched and dressed. A broken crest is objectionable in a stallion as it
indicates coarseness and grossness, a tendency to which is likely to be
transmitted. The term broken crest is sometimes applied in the market to
a horse affected with fistulous withers or scarred therefrom.
Concealing Discharging Sinuses.
It is not uncommon for a horse to have a fistula (opening or sinus) of
a salivary duct. Where this is so there will be a discharge of saliva
which appears as a limpid, transparent liquid oozing out or flowing in a
stream. It is most profuse when the animal is eating and at that time may
escape in jets.
Such fistulæ commonly involve Stenon’s duct and are located on the side
of the face or jaw. They are difficult to remedy, and the dealer resorts
to the use of strong astringents and then plugs the openings tightly with
cotton to temporarily prevent escape of saliva until a sale has been
effected.
A fistula connecting with the root of a diseased molar and discharging
pus through a sinus (pipe) the orifice of which is under the lower
jaw, may be plugged in similar fashion, to be discovered later by the
chagrined buyer. It also is possible temporarily to prevent escape of pus
from small chronic fistulæ or those resulting from poll-evil, fistulous
withers or trephining of the bones of the face.
The Galloping Past Dodge.
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.
The better way to test the horse’s wind is to lock the rear wheels of
a wagon by thrusting a strong stick between the spokes from one wheel
to the other; then make the horses pull the wagon at a run and be at
their heads the moment they stop. Such horses may not be true roarers
but mechanical chokers with thick, bull necks or enlarged throat glands.
These are practically sound and only roar when pulling a heavy load up
hill or on getting the chin down close to the chest.
Keeping a Horse on Edge.
A horseman of the old school writes: “When dealers have had a horse some
time in their stables, they exercise him with a whip two or three times
a day, so that when a ‘chapman’ goes to look at him, they have only to
stir their hand with the whip in it. Under such conditions it is hard to
say whether the horse, fearful of a drubbing, is lame or not, and a good
judge may be deceived.”
In another place he says: “A horse that goes with his fore feet low is
very apt to stumble and there are some that go so near the ground that
they stumble most on even road, and the dealers, to remedy this, put
heavy shoes on their feet, for the heavier a horse’s shoes are, the
higher he will lift his feet.”
“An Eye for An Eye.”
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. Where a horse has recently
become blind from periodic ophthalmia (moon blindness), he may still be
able to detect a bright light, and so when exposed to sunshine, may throw
up his head and look directly at the sun. This act makes the examiner
liable to consider the eyes sound.
Periodic ophthalmia, as suggested by the term, comes on at intervals, but
eventually after repeated attacks ends in blindness of one or both eyes.
A horse that has had a few attacks, causing a slight opacity of the
cornea (scum), is a favorite with the scalper, as he can be bought cheap,
treated for the temporary clearing up of the eyes, and sold at a profit
to an unwary buyer. The disease is incurable, and its presence is to be
suspected when the eyebrow appears triangular and wrinkled, and the eye
looks smaller than its mate, or a healthy eye, and is retracted into the
orbit.
Unscrupulous buyers sometimes render a horse temporarily blind by chewing
whole flaxseed to a pulp and smearing it in the eye. By washing a cloudy,
sticky-looking eyeball, this trick is readily discovered.
A horse may also be rendered temporarily blind by the administration of
certain drugs.
The clearing-up process of treating a blue-eyed or moon-blind horse also
is effected by skilful use of such drugs as atropia, belladonna, eserine,
nitrate of mercury ointment, bloodroot, alum, calomel, etc. Their
effect is transitory, and the horse soon has an unmistakable attack of
ophthalmia.
Examine the Ears.
It will be well to “put a flea in the ear” of the man who contemplates
buying a horse and who may not know that the ear will bear investigation.
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.
Sometimes a fine silken thread may be found running under the forelock
from ear to ear to prevent them from lopping over.
Or there may be a leaden bullet suspended by a silk thread in the
hollow of the ear to prevent its constant motion. Sometimes the motion
indicates impaired sight or nervousness, whereas the lack of it may
indicate deafness.
Then, too, we sometimes find at the base of the ear a chronic, almost
incurable fistulous opening and tract connecting with the bursa mucosa,
constantly discharging a substance like liquid vaseline, which daubs and
mats the hair, giving the part an untidy, filthy appearance.
Besides this, temporarily stitched and glued split ears, chronic eczema
and warts may be looked for and avoided. It is more difficult to find ear
ticks, such as are met with in southwestern states, but when present they
cause great irritation, and may make a horse fractious.
Bishoping, an Old Trick.
John C. Knowlson,[1] an old farrier, writing in 1850, says: “Horse
dealers have a trick of knocking out the nook teeth at three years and
a half, to make a horse appear five years old when only four; but they
cannot raise the tusks. At six years old the nook teeth are a little
hollow, and at seven there is a black mark, like the end of a ripe bean.
Afterwards you will observe the flesh shrink from the teeth, which
grow long and yellow. Horse dealers have also a method which they call
_Bishoping a horse’s mouth_; that is, filing the tusks shorter, rounding
them at the ends, taking a little out of the nook teeth, so as to make
them rather hollow, and then burning them with a hot iron. I was hired by
Anthony Johnson, of Wincolmlee, Hull, as farrier to a number of horses
that were going to the city of Moscow, in Russia, for sale, and we had a
little gray horse, called Peatum, that was seventeen years old, the mouth
of which I bishoped, and he passed for six years old, and was the first
horse sold, and for £500 English money! I only mention this as a caution
to horse buyers.”
[1] See note on page 47, relating to “An old operation for
spavin.”
How Bishoping is Done.
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 not too old, together
with the shortening and polishing of the crowns of the superior incisors,
may deceive even the vaunted expert. The operation consists of cutting
large cups in the inferior corners, smaller ones in the laterals and mere
dots in the centrals and then staining them with silver nitrate. The
cupping process is performed with an engraver’s gouge, and a revolving
hand drill, or by the modern ingenious implement in vogue in the Chicago
market, consisting of the foot engine used by human dentists, equipped
with a circular cutting wheel, by which cups of perfectly normal shape
and size can be made. The horse is backed into a single stall and secured
in a dental halter. An assistant works the dental engine with the foot.
The operator holding the hand piece of the flexible shaft in the right
hand and the jaw in the other, cuts first a large elliptical cup, with
sharp commissures, in the table of the corner incisors, then smaller ones
in the laterals and small dots in the centrals. 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. The cups are then stained by applying a saturated
solution of silver nitrate with a stick and then drying it immediately
by plunging the head of a burning match into it. The drying process
immediately blackens the cavity. If the stain flows over the table of the
tooth it is filed off.
Shortening, polishing, cupping and staining the incisor teeth of a
nine or ten-year-old horse may be so cleverly performed that the most
circumspect study of the mouth may fail to detect the alteration. In
these cases the cupping is limited to the removal of the crusta petrosa
within the infundibula, thus leaving the cup with a perfect enamel
boundary. At that age the other retrogressive changes are not pronounced,
and afford but little evidence to guide the diagnostician. When horses
are past the age of twelve years the results of these operations are
easily detected by the interrupted contact of the incisor arcades (rows
of teeth) and especially by the angle of inclination, which is never
altered by any natural process and which cannot be artificially changed.
The shape of the tables and the absence of enamel around the cup will
also lead readily to detection of the fraudulent attempts to make very
old horses appear younger.”
Miscellaneous Secrets.
The Widow Trick.
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. In reality the widow was a myth
and the valuable horse a good looking, but worthless “robber.”
The scheme was craftily carried out, and many a man from the country
fell a dupe to the wiles of the “widow” and her confederates. On going
to the address mentioned in the advertisement, the prospective buyer
would find a large stable in the rear of a fine old-fashioned mansion
on one of the outlying boulevards or avenues. Here in charge of a
glib-tongued coachman, usually a colored man, would be found several
finely groomed horses standing knee deep in the finest of wheat straw
bedding and surrounded by every appointment of a swell private stable.
Opening negotiations with the groom, the buyer would hear one of the
most plausible and pleasing tales imaginable elaborative of a similar,
condensed story told in the glowing advertisement that had induced the
visit. The filly or gelding would be described as bred in the purple,
by Allerton, out of Kentucky Queen, she by a Pilot Jr., or some such
combination of standard blood, possessed of great speed, having done
halves in 1.08, a final quarter in 34 seconds, and the half “would have
been as good as 1.06¼ had the track ‘near the pole’ not been heavy
from a recent rain.” When the purchaser had become interested, but not
sufficiently so to agree to a somewhat steep price, the “widow” dressed
in deepest mourning and heavily veiled would opportunely appear upon the
scene, do the weeping act and manage matters so adroitly that soon a
bargain would be struck at a handsome figure.
Sometimes a “Colonel” or a “General” or a “Judge” would take the place
of the “widow,” the man posing as that character being suitably dressed
for the part, commanding in appearance, and so plausible and polished in
address as to disarm all suspicion. During the preliminary negotiations
between the groom and the buyer, the “General” would be conveniently
stationed in the hay-loft overhead and would be summoned by electric bell
when wanted, the “sucker” meanwhile being taken into the alley to see the
horse go through his paces.
Needless to say that the buyer on getting the horse home and trying him
out quickly rued his bargain, and equally unnecessary to say that when he
went back to the swell stable for redress he found the place abandoned
and was wholly unable to locate the men who had perpetrated the swindle.
This method of fleecing the unwary buyer is still in vogue but far less
common than was the case before the advent of the automobile. Still it
will be well to take glowing horse-sale advertisements with a large grain
of salt, and better still to purchase a horse through some reliable
commission man or dealer.
Landing a Sucker.
Dr. H. W. Hawley, an experienced veterinary horse buyer at the Chicago
Stock Yards, says in the June, 1903, number of the Chicago Veterinary
College “Quarterly Bulletin,” that most of the tricks of the horse
dealing trade, though not all of them, are performed by scalpers. It
takes only a few glances or questions for the sharper to know just the
sort of horse the city buyer is looking for, and the scalper, with the
aid of his colleagues, proceeds to “land a sucker.”
The gentlemanly scalper, with a disinterested manner, informs the buyer
that he saw a lovely horse in a certain barn, the color being mentioned,
but not being a horseman he knows nothing as to the soundness of the
animal, nor as to the price. Word is sent along the line, and everything
is ready. The horse is led out and just suits; is sound and all right,
but the sum asked is $25 to $75 more than the market price. Perhaps the
unsuspecting buyer will offer $10 or $15 more than the auction price, but
he is allowed to go away with a polite, “Thank you, for the offer.”
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 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 latter
can usually tell when the victim has made his last bid, and the horse
is knocked down to him at a good profit, which is divided between those
concerned.
Sometimes the auctioneer is fooled by the sucker refusing to bid again.
In such a case the scalper kicks out of his last bid and the horse is
sold to the sucker at his previous bid.
A Horse That Was Right There.
A New Hampshire horse dealer was “burned” by trading for a horse that
would work anywhere and pull strongly except when he came to the foot of
a hill; there he would balk and refuse to pull a pound. After he had kept
the horse about a month a stranger came along and was “taken in.” The
horse looked well and a trade was made for another horse and considerable
“boot.” The buyer asked the dealer if the horse was a good worker and was
told, “You bet! He will work any place you put him and when you come to
the foot of a hill I tell you _he’s right there_!”
So the buyer discovered, and on complaining bitterly to the dealer was
reminded of his honesty and candor in stating that at the foot of a
hill he would always be right there. No doubt he paid more particular
attention to the plausible talk of the dealer the next time he had
occasion to “dicker” for a “hoss.”
An Honest “Hoss” Dealer.
There lived in Michigan a shrewd old horse dealer who gave folks due
warning to beware when he donned his selling clothes. He used to say:
“When I say, ‘Hoss’,—look out! I’m a-goin’ to trade. But when it’s
‘Horse,’—nawthin’ doin’! Ye’re perfectly safe.”
It is related that this character had a balky horse put on him by brother
dealers in a neighboring town; but a few days later he got even, and with
the same “hoss.” The former owners failed to recognize the beast, for in
the interim it had been clipped, roached, docked and bishoped, besides
receiving a few artistic spots of dye, and having had “tug marks” and
“collar galls” manufactured by skilful shaving at the right places. In
his new fix he looked a young, handsome, hard-working animal, but when
the deal was made and the new owners hitched him up, they realized at
once that both they and the horse were “stuck.”
A Sharper’s Smooth Sayings.
Elsewhere we have told of a balker that “was right there at the foot of
a hill” or that would “stand without hitching.” The scalper and crafty
dealer use many catchy phrases of this sort, and they fool the buyer
unless he has sharp ears and quick comprehension.
A few additional catch sayings may prove of interest: A dealer having
a horse with defective eyesight fitted him out with close blinkers and
said to the buyer, “He doesn’t look very well.” Another said of a heavey
horse, “If he ain’t windy you needn’t take him.”
Again, as to looks, and ability in harness, one said, “If he don’t suit
you in harness you can take it off,” and again, “Single I bought him;
double I broke him myself.”
Some of the dealers are wits and most of them have quaint expressions and
sayings. The following sample will suffice: A dealer was seen exercising
a horse so badly foundered in his hind feet that he not only walked on
his heels but stood with his fore and hind feet almost on the same spot
under his body. “Say! What are you goin’ to do with that critter!” asked
a bystander, and like a flash came the answer, “Take him to Indiana to
tramp sourkraut in a barrel.”
The Winter Board Trick.
A farmer read an advertisement in a city paper asking for a winter
home and board for two family horses that the owner desired to leave
comfortably provided for in the country during his absence in Europe.
The farmer went to the city to investigate and found a fine pair of
horses in a swell stable. Soon a bargain, profitable to the farmer, was
arranged at a specified rate per week for board, stabling and care during
the winter, but as the pleased stranger was about to leave for home, the
stableman said, “Here, you are a stranger to me, and therefore you ought
to put up some security for having such a valuable pair of horses in your
care.” After some discussion, the farmer was induced to deposit $100 as
security, and went home, congratulating himself upon the good winter’s
profit he would have in looking after the horses which were to be shipped
to him by train the following day. In due course, two horses arrived,
but they were old “plugs,” worth perhaps $5 a piece. The swindle cost
the farmer $90 and his expenses, for when he went to the city to hunt up
the sharper, he found the stable in the same old place, but the bird had
flown, and no one could tell him where.
How Horses Catch Cold.
An old time farrier wisely says: “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. Wagoners, carters, and coal
carriers, are also often guilty of this abominable practise.”
Tricks in Measuring Horses.