The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1871-10-05
4 pERiLOUS TRADE.
How They Break Wild Horses in
Texas.

untameu Steeu OF the pTalrleS ~ Ieu-
dered tractable and useful. At the
present day in Texas the hordes OF
mustangs that formerly ranged over
its vast prairies have become almost
extinct in the settled portions, and
coniine themselves to the extreme
western countries. In their place are
horses mostly crossed with American
stock, which are In u state OF semi
wildness-that is, they roam at will
until certain seasons of the year, when
all such as can be caught are driven
in herds to huge pens constructed for
the purpose, to be branded and mark
ed, after most of them are let loose to
roam at will again.
When the owner of II portion of u
herd desires to break any Of his young
horses he proceeds in this wise: The
first movement is to lasso the horse
selected by the head and fore feet, and
throw him to the earth: then kind
of hair halter, called "bosal," is put
on his head, both to serve as u bride
or to stake the animal, it being much
more ef1ectual than "a halter or bri-
die in checking his frantic efforts to
liberate himself. He is either tied up
closely all night or staked, at the will
Of the owner. The next morning the
sport begins.
All horse and stock raisers have one
or more r0qacrOS, whom they employ
for the special purpose of breaking and
riding wild and refractory horses.
These go out, followed by all the
members of the family, and proceed
to overhaul their saddles and see that
there is no defect in the rigging"
When they are satisfied that all is
secure, they lead, or rather drag, for
ward the steed. Heis alternately led,
dragged and whipped forward, until
he reaches the point where lie Is to be
saddled.
A leather strap attached to the bosal
is then pulled over his eyes, aud Il
saddle blanket is dropped gently on
his back, but very seldom remains ut
the first trial, as he will almost inva.
rably shake it of. After one or more
trials, however, he submits to both
blanket and saddle. The latter arti-
Gle is strapped on tightly with two
uirihs. fore and flank. strained, indeed
so tipltly, that one uuacrustOmcl 10
the sight would think That it was III
tended to cut the animal in two; the
rider now adjusts the stalle-ropu into
reins by tying ii securely to the bos9l,
LEAVING n Ionp end hy which to hold
on, in ihe event the Horse should sue
coed in THROWING Ii n.
EVERYTHING is nov ready for thu
mount, The rider ndurns bis heels
with II huge pair of spurs, stands di-
rectly facing the horse, abreast on
little forward Of the shoulder, seize.
the under part Of the bosal with hi.
! left hand, pulls the horses head rounu
near him to prevent being kicked
takes the stirrup in his right hand ali
tuning it toward him places his lef
foot in it firmly. Crasping TIE pom.
mel, he now gives Tie saddle shak,
or two, makes one OF Two feints a,
mounting to see how his horse3hiI
will take It, and then suddenly springs
seating himselfsccurely in the saddle
The blinds, of course, are still over
the eyes oCthe horse, and as u General
thing he stands his neck stretched
out and head partially down, u per-
feet picture Of awkWarClness. The
rider ii Mt his ease, and adjusts him
self and everything about him with
the greatest care, as he knows there
is warm work before him. When
ready for the start he reaches gently
forward and slips up the blinds. Ma
turalIy the horse is rather astonished
at first and refuses to moved. A sharp
application of the whip and spur,
however, readily induces him to
change his mind. He takes timidly
one or two awkward steps, then sud
denly doubling himself UP until he
resembles camel, and throwing his
head down before his fore feet, he be-
gins q series of pitches, which consist
in jumping as high and as far as he
can, coming down stin-lerged.
Those who have accomplished the
extraordinary feat of going down a
fight ofstairs at one step can form
some faint idea how il feels to sit ON
the back of n pitchinp horse.
some of the more vinious vii, lie
down when tbe saddle il hucllcd on
and II requires a tremendous amouut
of whinpin~ to get them started. some
will rfnr and fail backward ocr,sions
allv killing their riders. some nitch
straight AHEAD for mIite n distance
,vbiIo otl,or, ,.;II ,,;toJ, et,,;,.lt e.,
ward for a few iumps and thcn rs the
Texans say, "swap ends so quick that
it makes your head swim.n
E,rt,,pnt,j,, thn,, aoo,, t;r, 90 ,,,,.l,