Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1874-01-14
HORSES in AnntraItn.

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Ma Adeler.
-a--O--p-
Horses i'm Australia.
The feats Of the Australian race horse
are only beaten on the best courses in
England, and for bottom it is questioned
if the colonial horse has been excelled.
No amusement is so general as racing;
10 people so addicted to it; nowhere is
the horse in such general use as in Aus
tralia. 1t is not confined TO one class or
one district, as it may be elsewhere; it is
the amusement of the country. There
are cricket and all games, cours.
ing, hunting, yachting and many
sports; but horse.racing is the first
and universal favorite. In the bush,
every small village has its fastest horses;
nearly every station INDUCES in little
racing; for horses are everywhere, and
constantly used by all the population;
as it is so easy to keep any animal in
this climate, horses cost nothing. They
are born aud bred-broke in and worked
all their lives-upon grass, and in the
bush without any shelter, or, we may
say, any grooming. These are the or
dinary horses of the country. Race
horses and pet hacks, or hunters, or
heavy draft horses, are fed and sta
bled, being for special work; but they
are exceptional. And as grass is SO
plentiful, and as horses, like cattle, re-
quire no looking after beyond keeping
them within some limits, they have in
creased far and beyond all limits Of use
or profit They are more than unstable,
and worse than useless. In many of
the old districts of New South Wales
they run wild in thousands; they are
not worth looking after. and are very
difficult to collect in any way; they eat
the food of other profitable stock, and
are only a scourge upon the pastures.
Hence they have to be exterminated
like vermin. In many parts of the
country they are shot by hired men for
so much per head, and are collected
and destroyed systematically. They
abound in wild mobs upon mountains Of
the most rugged and inaccessible char
acter, as we'll as upon the widest plains
of the interior; always degenerating, be-
coming smaller, weaker and wilder.
The wild-horse of the ranges becomes
very active and wiry, and has hoofs of
iron, with the foothold OF a mule. He
scrambles over rocks, and gallops down
slopes which no other horse, under any
circumstances could be made to face.
He can only be obtained by careful
stalking and coaxing into defles, or by
fences leading into yards, and run
through by one man after another; or,
if upon the plains, the wild horse gal
lops until he falls. Here he may be got
up by "coaxing," like wild.cattle, but
by another system Of hunting. Day
light is chosen for this, as some gallop-
ing may be expected, and a mob of quiet
horses taken as coaches, and drawn
quietly out as decoys. When the mob
frst see the others they are very shy of
joining them, and will not remain with
them of their choice. The old patriarch
will round up his troop, and then trot
and gaze upon the strangers-his head
erect, ears forward, and nostrils dilated,
his heavy crest lifting a long, tangled
mane-he challenges the intruders.
They will take no notice. Then the
wild horse goes round his own, and
drives them back a little. He again
salutes the othersi and this time he
examines them and passes through
the lot. The wild troop then
trot mp, the fpals frolicking in
front, they will gallop round
the others and wheel back again their
sire goes out and steadies them. And
40 on. for some minutes. They might
break away at length, and perhaps leave
tho coaches But the stock men must
watch their opportunity and round up
the whole two mobs together. A STAN
pede is aimost ppre 70 ensue, and most
Of the Wild ones be lost--they viii break
away, straight across the plains, trusting
TO their speed alone, but they cannot last
long. stabbed horse will run them
down under any we.Eht and most stock
horses can head them again aHG sGein
bpt they will not stop, and in attempts
to ge1 theH, many are run until they
drop dead on tbs Rlsip many foals are
left anl the whole dWindle cy tke holt-
ing and knocking up, uutil perhaps only
G half of the original wild moo -saehes
the yard. Then even that half result is
unsatisfactory for out of hundred
such wild animals, there are not
perhaps three head worth breaking in
possibly some "coach" has been lost, or
some stock-horse injured. The only
gain is the removal OF the lot from the
pasture they were occupying. which they
held to the annoyance and risk OF the
quiet horses, and TO the loss of feOd for
all other st ock.