A horse is an athlete, and should look like one. Here are a few points to look for in a riding horse or pony:

Head: Alert and proudly held, not over-large. A riding animal with a heavy head will be heavy on the reins.

Eyes: Large and intelligent. Kind horses have kindly eyes. Piggy little eyes reveal piggy little natures. Stick a finger almost into each eye to see if it blinks. If it doesn't, it is blind. Potentially a horse can suffer from as many vision deficiences as a human, and bad sight can make it shy at phantoms for which its rider will not be prepared.

Withers: Prominent, and back not too fat — otherwise the saddle will slip forwards or sideways.

Legs: Smooth and cool to the touch. A horse whose legs are scarred and bumpy, if not actually unsound, will certainly be careless. Have it trotted towards you and away. If its feet swing out sideways, or alternatively if it almost crosses them over, avoid it. Don't buy it if it shuffles.

Pasterns: Strong and springy. If nearly vertical ("upright") they will get jarred trotting on roads.

Feet: Round and neat. If they are splayed, uneven, split, or cracked especially if cracked from the top of the hoof down — don't buy it.

Wind: Unsoundness such as roaring or whistling is particularly difficult to detect. Easier to hear if you can get someone to gallop the horse past you.Everyone will hear it when you have it in the hunting field.

Coughing: If the horse coughs, even once, don't buy it. It may well be only bit of dust in its throat, but it could also be a sign of serious illness.

Unless the horse is to be stabled all the time, ask to see it caught (animals which are hard to catch become a daily nightmare). Have it walked and trotted past you, towards you and away from you, to see if it carries itself well, has a nice springy stride, and if its action is straight. Saddle it up yourself to see if it is well-behaved. Mount it and walk, trot and canter it.Put it over a small jump. Test it in traffic (safer to lead it, in case it fails).If you like it and take it home, allow time for it to settle down. Moving is traumatic for a horse. Until it knows you and comes to meet you, leave a collar on it in the field with 12in of rope attached to catch it by.

Naturally enough, a good, experienced horse is nearly always expensive, though some saving can be made if it is bought at the least useful time of year. Thus bargains in show horses mainly happen at the end of the showing season. A cheap hunter is easiest to find when hunting finishes and hunt stables and private owners sell off horses they do not want to keep through the summer. Thoroughbreds can sometimes be had quite cheaply at race-horse sales when racing stables throw out their disappointing runners, but unless the buyer has inside knowledge such horses may well turn out to be unsound, and the purchaser must anyway provide expert care and handling if the horse is to be transformed into a good riding animal.

For children, who are often capable of enthusiastic neglect, the wisest buys are native ponies or cross-breeds, since these are naturally adapted to the climate and will live outdoors quite happily all year if given a shelter of Nome kind, and of course additional feed when the grass dies down in winter. A pony for a child should be sensible and kind. Ponies aged between seven and ten are the most in demand because they are old enough to be steady but have riot yet begun to show signs of wear. But much older ponies should not be rejected solely on the grounds of age. Provided it's healthy trod up to work, an experienced old pony is an excellent teacher.

Buying your favorite animal from the local riding stable can be a mistake because you know it only as a hard-working member of a herd (horses behave better in company). By itself and lightly worked it may be a brute. Advertisements can also be a let-down, since it may mean traveling miles daily to find that what the advertiser thinks is a beauty is, in your opinion, a wretch. Horse sales, for the casual buyer with no inside connections, are best avoided altogether because there is no opportunity to try the animal out. The safest way to buy a horse is to get one you know and like from a friend. Failing that, a reputable dealer (one who's been in business for sometime in the same locality) is always willing to find you a suitable horse if he knows what you want and how much you are prepared to pay. Try it out,and buy it "subject to veterinary examination" so that if your veterinary surgeon objects to it you can send it back. Always choose the vet yourself, making sure that he is one who specializes in horses.

Perhaps the best way of all to get a horse is to brief an expert to buy one for, you. This method of purchase has two big advantages: there is a better-than-average chance of getting a suitable animal; and if the horse turns out to be no good then someone else is to blame.