Horse Trading: “Swindlers have struck a new scheme for beating the unhappy granger who is inclined to make money more rapidly than by the paths of strict rectitude,” the Parsons Daily Sun in Kansas pointed out in July of 1889. Dapperly dressed Man No. 1 shows up at a farmhouse and offers to buy a good horse. He gives the horse owner $10 and promises to return in a week to pay the difference and collect his horse. The next day, well-dressed Man No. 2 appears at the same farm and expresses keen interest in the same horse — a horse that, in fact, he must own. He offers $10, $15, $25 more than the price that Man No. 1 offered. The farmer says he cannot sell the horse, so Man No. 2 says he will come back in a week and if the horse is still available, he will pay the extra $25 for it. When Man No. 1 returns, the farmer wants to keep the horse and make the extra money — so he gives Man No. 1 his $10 back and an extra $10 for his troubles. “No. 1 takes his money,” the reporter explains, "is ten dollars ahead, half of which he gives to No. 2, and the farmer still owns the horse.”
Feague means “to put a piece of ginger up a horse’s anus.” It was just as common to replace the ginger with a live eel.
Another cruel means of improving the asking price of a horse was bishoping, which involved filing down the horse’s teeth. Because horse’s teeth continue to grow throughout their lives, shaving them down meant that even a worn out old carthorse could pass as a young colt.
Horse Trading: “Swindlers have struck a new scheme for beating the unhappy granger who is inclined to make money more rapidly than by the paths of strict rectitude,” the Parsons Daily Sun in Kansas pointed out in July of 1889. Dapperly dressed Man No. 1 shows up at a farmhouse and offers to buy a good horse. He gives the horse owner $10 and promises to return in a week to pay the difference and collect his horse. The next day, well-dressed Man No. 2 appears at the same farm and expresses keen interest in the same horse — a horse that, in fact, he must own. He offers $10, $15, $25 more than the price that Man No. 1 offered. The farmer says he cannot sell the horse, so Man No. 2 says he will come back in a week and if the horse is still available, he will pay the extra $25 for it. When Man No. 1 returns, the farmer wants to keep the horse and make the extra money — so he gives Man No. 1 his $10 back and an extra $10 for his troubles. “No. 1 takes his money,” the reporter explains, "is ten dollars ahead, half of which he gives to No. 2, and the farmer still owns the horse.”
Feague means “to put a piece of ginger up a horse’s anus.” It was just as common to replace the ginger with a live eel.
Another cruel means of improving the asking price of a horse was bishoping, which involved filing down the horse’s teeth. Because horse’s teeth continue to grow throughout their lives, shaving them down meant that even a worn out old carthorse could pass as a young colt.