swinging out at every step; and there were some very dejected-looking old horses, with the under lip hanging down, and the ears laying back heavily, as if there was no more pleasure in life, and no more hope; there were some so thin, you might see all their ribs, and some with old sores on their backs and hips; these were sad sights for a horse to look upon, who knows not but he may come to the same state.
There was a great deal of bargaining; of running up and beating down, and if a horse may speak his mind so far as he understands, I should say, there were more lies told, and more trickery at that horse fair, than a clever man could give an account of. I was put with two or three other strong useful-looking horses, and a good many people came to look at us. The gentlemen always turned from me when they saw the broken knees; though the man who had me swore it was only a slip in the stall.
The first thing was to pull my mouth open, then to look at my eyes, then feel all the way down my legs, and give me a hard feel of the skin and flesh, and then try my paces. It was wonderful what a difference there was in the way these things were done. Some did it in a rough off-hand way, as if one was only a piece of wood; while others would take their hands gently over one's body, with a pat now and then, as much as to say, "by your leave." Of course I judged a good deal of the buyers by their manners to myself.
There was one man, I thought, if he would buy me,
