The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1884-03-20
Tanning Wild Horses.

on the range, nOTSeS are easily urlEen,
more so than cattle; but one indiscreet
rider will make all the horses wild that
see him or hear him, and thus double
the labor of driving them into the cor
raj and of handling them after they are
in. The colts of the mares l use
usually four or fve-I break to the hal
ter and to being handled while they fol-
low the mares. Those that are ''entirely
Wild l drive into a corral with the
herd, and get some one, Charles X. if l
can, to throw lasSo-a rope with a
moose in the end-over the head of the
one / wish to capture, letting 90 of the
rope as soon as the moose is drawn snug,
if there is crowd of horses in the cor
raj, so that none shall become entangled
in it. After the horses quiet down we
manage to get hold of the rope, which
is thirty or forty feet long, and often we
attach another rope to the fist one. We
then begin pulling toward the center of
the corral and let the horse run around
US with the crowd, being careful to
avoid becoming entangled in the rope,
and dropping the rope whenever other
horses are likely to trouble US by their
movements.
The horse with the rope on, being
severely choked, can soon be separated
from the others, and he must neceS-
sarily yield so far as running from Us is
concerned. and he will then back up
against side of the corral and stand
there. We then begin pulling on
the rope in sudden hard pulls at an an
gle of thirty-five to forty-degrees from
the line of his body, and as soon as he
moves his forward feet we slacken our
hold on the rope. An ordinary man
can easily start a large horse, but two
are required unless one is an expert.
An expert can hold horse alone better
than you and l could have done when
we were at our best. [ saw II. hold a
large four-year-old horse outside of the
corral that would have freed himself
from two raw hards" of equal weight
and muscle.
To proceed with the breaking: We
persist in pulling the colt from his
tracks and then ''slack up on the rope :;
and thus we soon get him so far from
the side of the corral that we can go
around and around, first in one direc-
ton and then the other until he will
follow us. This generally occupies
from one-half to three-quarters of an
hour. While pulling we are constantly
speaking soothingly or coaxingly to the
horse; after this manner: ''Come here,
Tom, Jack, Bill" or any other name
that may occur to. us. Then he will
soon come to us at the call rather than
have us pull him by the rope. As soon
as we can get hand on him, we begin
to scratch or rub him, talking kindly to
him all the time, and continue this I'M
til he will allow us to take some pecu-
liar turns with the rope around his nose
and over his head. by which meansiwe
form of the rope what is called MEX
lean halter" We then lead him as be-
fore, frequently stopping to scratch
him, but always making him come to
us for the scratching, instead of our
going to him.
A slender boy of seventeen years,
with my assistance, broke an entirely
wild four-year-old horse, weighing
1000 pounds or more, in two hours, so
that led him some twenty rods from
the corral and through two gates and
handed the boy the rope, he having
newly broken horse fifteen miles unac-
companied by any one. Most of the
people around us do as we do until they
get the rope on the colt, when they be-
gin in rough manner to tangle the
colts feet in the rope and either cast
the colt or choke him down. They
then bride and blindfold him and let
him get up. AS soon as he is up they
throw a saddle on him, mount him,
raise his binder and apply whip and
spurs, and often one or two mounted
men with long whips follow, shouting
and whipping, until the colt is com
pletely exhausted, but is not in the
least ''broken'' or subdued. l have
known colts of such bottom that the eff
fort to exhaust them was given up,
which afterward were made gentle by
kind treatment, accompanied by firm,
unyielding management.
In breaking to harness and saddle
in the order named-I manage about as
we did in Ohio, with one Improvement
on very wild colts. Iput rope on the
colt as would to cast him, but only on
one hind foot, and that one on the side
opposite the foreleg, around which IpaSs
the rope so that the rope shall cross
from one side to the other under the
colts belly. L then haul that hind foot
clear from the ground so far that if he
should struggle he would fall. After
he finds that if ne moves he must fall,
l proceed to put on and take off the
''bitting harness" 1 coax and pet
him until make him believe he stands
still of his own accord; and L repeat
the Harvesting and embarrassing until
he acts as though it were to him
a pleasant operation and will stand
still with all his feet on the ground.
1t is frequently the last time he
objects to being harnessed. When
| come to ride him l make him come
up to something from which l can
easily mount and dismount many times
without trying to have him move from
his tracks. l make him believe | will
not ride him unless he will come to me
and stand still until l am well seated
in the saddle. Handled in this manner
l have never had a colt attempt to
throw me. and 1 have broken several
horses that were BADLY spoiled" but
Il won't again
About eight years since two young
men gave up the job of breaking a colt,
and attempted to get the rope off him,
but he broke away from them and
ju.nped out of the corral. They fol-
lowed him uutil they tired their horses
out. and then gave up the chase. The
same day while riding with M. l
came across the colt As it was rain
ing it seemed necessary to relieve him
of the shrunken rope. gave my horse
in charge of M, and dismounted.
The colt seemed much afraid of me and