3. guidelines for the purchase of a trained horse

Who wants to buy a horse already under the saddle, may pay attention to the following rules, for not being cheated. First of all it should not be hidden how old the animal is. So a horse, which has no more cups on the teeth left, does not give reason for hope, nor one can get rid of it again easily. Is the horse still young, so it shall not stay hidden from the buyer, how he behaves, when putting the bit in the mouth or pulling the neckpart of the bridle over the ears. Whether difficulties arise here, can be seen best, when the bridle is but off and on in front of the buyer. One has also to pay attention to how the horse takes the rider on the back. There are a lot of horses, that resist because they know they must make an effort when the rider is on horseback. One must also try, if, when mounted, the horse will go away, or if, when one wants to ride away from standing horses, he 'adheres' or wants back to them. There are also horses, who, because of bad education, bolt away from the riding place and back to the stable.

If and on which side a horse is hard in the mouth, tells us the school, which is called circle, because many do not try to bolt, if the hard side of the mouth and the opportunity to escape from school homewards are not on the same side. One must also know, whether he can be stopped easily when going faster and whether he likes to turn and then jump again. One should also try if he obeys as well, when provoked by a stroke. A disobedient slave or a disobedient army are quite useless, but a disobedient horse is not only useless, but also makes as much damage as a traitor. With the assumption that here a war horse shall be bought, it is necessary to try him for all situations of battle. He must be able to jump ditches and small entrenchments and climb hills. Also one should try him by riding up and downwards on steep ground. Such tests show, if the spirit is courageous and the body totally healthy. But one should not reject the horse immediately, which is not able to do these jobs. Many cannot because they are not trained, and not because they maybe have not the power to do it. When they have learned it later, they will do that all good, as far as they are just healthy and not of bad character.

But beware of the shy ones by nature, because those too anxious ones do not allow to harm the enemy on them. They have often thrown off the rider and brought him in most dangerous situations. When buying one should also make sure, whether the horse shows any bad habit, against either human or horses and if it has ticklish spots. All that gets bothersome for the owner. Bad habits when bridling or mounting and other spites one can identify best by trying to do the same again, after the horse has already has worked. Horses that - after making efforts - like to do efforts again - give enough evidence of a good character. To put it in a nutshell: Horses with good legs, gentle and fast, that like to bear efforts and also are strong enough therefore, but - first of all - that are obedient will do least harm to the rider in war and contribute most to his rescue. On the other side, horses, who need a lot of stimulation because of their laziness or because of their temperament a lot of flattery and calm down, cause the rider so much trouble, that he cannot make use of them and rather sees himself endangered.