HORSE TRADER

Followers of the nags, in the horse and buggy days, will find plenty of good anecdotes, swaps and deals, and all manifestations of ""horse trader's disease"", in this recall of life in Auburn, N.Y. as the author tells of his father's equine predilection. The roster of the 4-foots covers the admirable Nellie (who in 1920 raced in a sulky at the Cayuga Fair), Queen Marie whose circus training produced great notoriety for the family, the wild beast Mab, the intractable mule, Rip, and many another who had been unloaded or swapped. There are whistlers, balkers, kickers; there are Sunday hossmen, suckers and gentle cheats; there's the compulsion for tricking and skinning, and the fun and solemnity of the game of shellackin' your fellow horse fancier. Even when Father goes into the cattle business -- there is still horse flesh to consider -- which all adds up to a lot of horse sense about a shrewd and active period piece.