be utterly iinpr.icticable. The Gaucho picks out a full-
grown c o lt; and as the beast rushes round the circus, he
throws his lazo so as to catch both the front legs. Instantly
the horse rolls over with aheai-yf shock, and, ivhilst struggling
on the ground, the Gaucho, holding the lazo tight, makes a
circle, so as to catch one of the hind legs, just beneath the
fetlock, and draws it close to the tivo front. He then hitches the
lazo, so that the three legs are bound together. Then sitting
on the horse’s neck, he fixes a strong bridle, without a bit, to
the lower jaw. This he does by passing a narrow thong-
through the eye-holes, at the end of the reins, and several
times round both jaw and tongue. The two front legs are
now tied closely together with a strong leathern thong,
fastened by a slip-knot. The lazo, which bound the three
together, being then loosed, the horse rises with difficulty.
The Gaucho now holding fast the bridle fixed to the lower jaw,
leads the horse outside the corral. If a second man is present
(otherwise the trouble is much greater) he holds the animal’s
head, whilst the first puts on the horsecloths and saddle, and
girths the whole together. During this operation, the horse,
from dread and astonishment at thus being bound round the
waist, throws himself, over and over again, on the ground,
and, till beaten, is unwilling to rise. At last, when the
saddling is finished, the poor animal can hardly breathe from
fear, and is white with foam and sweat. The man now prepares
to mount, by pressing heavily on the stirrup, so that
the horse may not lose its balance; and at the moment he
throws his leg over the animal’s hack he pulls the slip-knot,
and the beast is free. Some “ clomidors ” pull the knot
while the animal is lying on the ground, and, standing over
the saddle, allow it to rise beneath them. The horse, wild
with dread, gives a few most violent bounds, and then starts
off at full gallop: when quite exhausted, the man, by patience,
brings him back to the corral, where reeking hot,
and scarcely alive, the poor beast is let free. Those animals
which will not gallop away, but obstinately throw
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themselves on the ground, are by far the most troublesome.
This process is tremendously severe,* but in two or three
trials the horse is tamed. It is not, however, for some
weeks that the animal is ridden with the iron bit and solid
ring; for it must learn to associate the will of its rider with
the feel of the rein, before the most powerful bridle can be
of any service.
The Gauchos are well known to be perfect riders. The
idea of being thrown, let the horse do what it likes, never
enters their head. Their criterion of a good rider, is a man
who can manage an untamed colt, or who, if his horse falls,
alights on his own feet, or can perform other such exploits.
I have heard of a man betting that he would throw his horse
down twenty times, and that nineteen out of these he would
not fall himself. I recollect seeing a Gaucho riding a very
stubborn horse, which three times successively reared so high
as to fall backwards with great violence. The man judged
with uncommon coolness the proper moment for slipping off,
not an instant before or after the right time. Directly the
horse rose the man jumped on his back, and at last they
started at a gallop. The Gaucho never appears to exert any
muscular force. I was one day watching a good rider, as we
were galloping along at a rapid pace, and thought to myself,
“ surely if the horse starts, you appear so careless on your seat
you must fall.” At this moment, a male ostrich sprang from
its nest right beneath the horse’s nose. The young colt
bounded on one side, like a stag; but as for the man,all that
* A n im a ls a r e so a b u n d a n t in th e s e c o u n tr ie s t h a t h um a n ity a n d self-
in te r e s t a re n o t c lo se ly u n ite d ; th e r e fo r e th e fo rm e r is s c arc e ly kno-»-n.
O n e d ay , r id in g in th e P am p a s w ith a v e ry r e sp e c ta b le “ E s ta n c ie ro ," my
h o rse , b e in g tir e d , lag g ed b e h in d . T h e m an o fte n s h o u te d to m e to s p u r
h im . W h e n I r em o n s tr a te d t h a t i t was a p ity , fo r th e h o r se w a s q u i te
e x h a u s te d , h e c rie d o u t, “ W h y n o t ?— n e v e r m in d— s p u r h im— i t is my
h o r se .” I h a d th e n som e d ifficu lty in m ak in g h im c om p r e h e n d t h a t i t
w a s fo r th e h o r se ’s sak e, a n d n o t o n h is a c c o u n t, t h a t I d id n o t c h o o se to
u s e m y sp u rs . H e e x c la im e d , w ith a lo o k o f g r e a t s u rp r ise , “ A h D o n
C a rlo s q u e cosa 1” I t was c le a r t lia t su c h a n id e a h a d n e v e r b e fo re e n te r e d
h is h e a d ,
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