If the buyer is allowed twenty-four hours in which to reject a horse, heaves, if present, will usually show up in that time if the horse is given an abundance of drinking water and bulky food and then is put to work. Secret of Plugging a Roarer. It is well to examine the horse’s nostrils when making a purchase, otherwise he may sneeze out one or more sponges on arriving at his new home. The sponges are inserted to prevent a “roarer” from making a noise when breathing. This is also accomplished by fastening a spring truss to the nose band of the bridle in such a way that it causes pressure upon the false nostrils and so lessens the intake of air when the horse is in motion. Sponges even of fine quality clog with mucus if left in place too long. Dealers tie fine cords to the sponges and by this means pull them out of the nostrils as soon as the horse is sold. Another plan is to cut off the ends of a lemon, squeeze it dry and then insert it in the nostril. It is left there with impunity as it will soon dry out, shrivel and be sneezed out of the nostril. Another trick is to pack the horse’s sheath with oakum to prevent unpleasant noises when he is trotting; and the vagina of a lacerated (gill flirt) mare may be similarly treated for a like reason. Laceration of the perineum, an accident occurring at parturition, is usually incurable, hence the importance of making a careful examination when buying a mare. Diamond Cut Diamond. It is not always at the time of making a sale that the “gyp” practises sharp tricks. When occasion offers he has been known purposely to depreciate the value of a horse he wishes to buy. If he can make it appear that the horse is lame, sick, broken-winded, weak eyed or balky he may acquire him at a discount, and he has secret methods of accomplishing his dishonest ends. A fine wire or cord tied around the pastern soon causes symptoms simulating those of founder; or the horse limps painfully after a horse-hair has by means of a needle been passed through a certain part of his leg, or when a small nail has been driven into the foot or a gravel or bean put under the shoe. A horse will stop eating and so appear sick when tallow has been smeared upon the roof of the mouth and inner side of the upper incisor teeth; or refuse to pull when his shoulders and breast have been bathed with an irritating solution of corrosive sublimate, tincture of cantharides, or tartar emetic; or seem to have glanders when fresh butter has been melted and poured in his ears; or afflicted with eye disease when whole flaxseed has been chewed and rubbed on the eyes; or he can be made fractious by an application of a caustic fluid. The owner should make a careful search for such causes of unsoundness should his horse mysteriously go wrong at the time when a trade is pending, and on recognizing the possibility of a trick it is better to call the deal off than to discount the price. Making a Horse Act Mean.