Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-01-15
WAR AGAINST WILD HORSES.

WAN AGAlNSI WILD HORSES.
stockmen Organizing Hunters to shosi
Them-Herds Of wild Horses Proving In.
Jurious TO Ranch-Owners-Skill and Pa
thence Required to Catch Them.
Wild horses have become so nu1her-
Gus on the plains that some of the
stockmen in this vicinity have organ
lied hunting party, whose object will
be to thin them out. The hunters are
provided with long-range rifles, fleet
ponies, and supplies and forage enough
to last all winter, and they will en-
deavor to make . clean job of it.
These horses have existed on the plains
for many years, but of late they have
been increasing very fast. They are
quick to scent the approach of foes,
feet as the antelope that may often be
seen browsing in security at their side,
and as unmanageabfe as the wind.
Native animals when turned loose on
the prairie soon become wild, and if
allowed to run without being disturbed
breed very rapidly. Horses continually
break away from their owners and
Join the wild horses, and this is the
reason why stockmen are aroused over
the subject. Men who crossed the
plains in 1S49 encountered many wild
horses, and for years afterward they
must have increased rather than dimin-
ished. Horses stand the winter much
better than cattle, and unless the
weather is unusually severe will come
out fat in the spring.
Every year large numbers of domes-
tic horses escape from the settlers.
Some of them are found, but when
mares escape they are never reclaimed.
In wandering over the plains they en-
counter the wild bands, and from that
time forward are as wild as the others.
The wild stations are the guardians of
the bands. Always on sentinel duty,
they give the alarm when the enemy
approaches. In moment the stray
glers are rounded in, fleet-footed
stallion leads the van, and, with the
others at his flanks, away they go in a
laundering charge. Nobody has yet
been able to overtake them. Some
times they are lassoed or shot, but such
thing as heading them off in a race is
out of the question. SIS
The range of wild horses at present
extends from Texas to the Southern
Dakota line They are more numerous
in Northern Colorado, Wyoming and
Western Nebraska than anywhere else
on the plains. On the Republican
River, on the divide between the South
Platte and the Lodge Pole and the
North Platte, and as far east as the
heads of the Loup and Dismal Rivers,
the horses range at will. Five or six
years ago they could be found on the
divide between Sidney and Sterling in
punches of fifty or seyenty-five, but now
q bunch of twenty-five is considered
large. Sometimes there is more than one
stallion in band, but one of them is
always acknowledged as chief, winning
this distinction by many hard-fought
battles with his rivals. One bunch of
eleven horses recently seen near Sidney
was entirely composed of stations; but
this is explained on the theory that they
were probably driven out of various
herds when young, and gradually herd
ed together, as old buffalo bulls are in
the habit of doing. From the horse
ranch of M. E. Post, about fifteen miles
north of this city, nearly 200 mares have
wandered away, and it is believed that
at least one-half of them have Joined
the wild horses.
The wild horses are compact little
weighing from 800 to LOO
pounds. The majority of them stand
about fourteen hands high. In color
they are usually brown, sorrel or bay.
A gray is seldom seen, unless it is a
horse that has strayed away from civ
ilization. Their tails grow long, fire.
quently dragging the ground, but their
names are like those of other horses,
and not flowing to the knees, as they
are represented in some books. The
BYE, probably from being constantly on
the watch. is larger than the eye of the
domestic horse, and even when tanned |
the eye remains distinctive mark of
The horses origin. Wild horses, when
captured and trained are superior to
any other horse of the same size. Many
IF them are used by the cowboys, and !
others are broken to harness and driven |
rs carrirge horses, being entirely trust
Several men living in Sidney make a
living by catching wild horses. Until |
i've or six years ago no one knew how
20 do it, and very few outsiders now I'M
the methods adopted. Mr.. |
Livingston of that town describes the |
process as follows: 1.-Two men always
work together. Let them start out |
rom Sidney, either north Or south. and
hey are almost certain to find a bunch
within fifteen miles. The plan is then
% pitch tent and make camp, and
,ne of the men, mounted on his best |
horse, carrying with him few cold
biscuits or something else convenient
% eat, starts after the bunch.
He does not ride very fast, and
1t first does not attempt to get
iear them, but is content to keep the
punch moving, not allowing them to
top and eat. The horses may go only
en- or dozen miles, or they may go
fifty or sixty; but, no matter how far
hev run, they will turn back and seek
he range from which they started. If
hey go far the mettle of the rider and
lis horse will be tried to the utmost
The bunch must be kept moving, and
here is no chance to change saddle
lOrses until they turn, of their own ac-
ord. and pass near the camp. Day
md night, on they go. If the weather
'e clear and the nights not stormy, the
ider will continue close after the ami
nails, sometimes half mile and some
lines within a hundred yards. 1t
makes no difference whether it be dark
n light, the horse that is ridden and
rained to the business follows after the
lerd, When the first rider succeeds in
urning the bunch and bringing them
,ack to the camp he is relieved by the
econd, who, with a fresh horse, starts
Ifter them, while his companion turns
n and takes much-needed rest. This
ime they will not probably go so far.
After awhile they become tanner, and