The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-05-03
CAPTURING WILD HORSES.
he Skill Required to Shoot Mus
tang And Not XIII Him.

tang And Not Kill Him.
From the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
]. 7. Hill, at the present time live stock
agent for the Chicago and Alton, and who
for many years has been engaged in cattle
raising in Texas and the Indian Territory,
remarked to a reporter at the Laclede
Hotel: I'm the early days of the cattle bust
ness in Texas, from 1857 to 1860, the ranges
were overrun by bands of wild horses.
These animals were great nuisance, as
they would get mixed with our loose
horses and run them off when any one APP
preached As rule, they were a rough.
illshaped set of beasts, and almost untam-
able, so that few attempts were ever made
to catch them, it being considered best to
shoot them on sight and thus get rid of a
disturbing influence in our horse herds.
sometimes, however, a really fine ami
NAL would be seen and the ranchmen
would try hard to secure it, But the ordj
nary mode of capture-lassoing- sell
dom be used against wild horses and these
beasts were very shy, and even poor
horse, carrying no weight, could outstrip a
very fine animal with man on his back.
l have chased wild horses hundred t ines
and have become thoroughly convinced of
the truth of the English racing saying that
the weight of stable key will win or lose
race.
I'm this extremity the Texans used to re-
sort to a means of capturing the horses
which is. believe, exclusively American.
1t was discovered, | do not know how, that
blow upon a particular sinew in horses
neck, located just above where the spine
joins the skull, would paralyze the animal
temporarily without doing it any perma-
nent injury. In those days the Texans
were nearly without exception fine shots,
and at short range could send rifle ball
with phenomenal accuracy.
1.-THE horse could not be approached ex-
| cept on foot, and it was impossible to
catch them on horseback. But, not to be
overcome by any such difficulties, the cow
boys discovered way to capture them.
Taking his rifle, a hunter would crawl
| through the thick chaparral until within
| fifty or sixty yards of the horse he desired to
secure. Then, taking careful aim, he
would endeavor to send a bullet through
the top of the neck so as to strike the sin
ew. When this was properly done the
horse would fall as if struck by lightning
and remain insensible for ten or fifteen
minutes, recovering completely in an hour
or two, with no worse injury than slight
| wound in the back of the neck that soon
| healed. OF course many bullets went
astray and hundreds of horses were killed,
| but a good shot would secure about one
| horse in three that he attempted to crease,
| as UnlS mOue Oh capture was Cdlleu. Inc
| large calibre rifles commonly in use were
| not adapted to this peculiar mode of hunt
| ing, as if they touched the sinew they we're
| sure to break it, and the wound the A or So
| calibre balls inflicted were too severe. The
weapon universally employed in creasing
| mustangs was the old Hawkins rifle, which
carried a bullet not much larger than a
pea, had a set trigger and required but a
small charge of powder. These weapons
MI 1rofa 70 ri
but inflicted but a trifing wound, and the
bullet was likely to take course through
soft flesh around any hard object instead of
tearing through it, as a larger ball pro-
PEELED by heavier charge of powder would
do, Hundreds of mustangs always the
best anima S in the herd, used to be creased
every year, and this practice was kept up
until the herds had entirely disappeared.
''Some of the horses thus secured were
very tough and feet animals, but few
were of any practical use. Nearly all were
stations, as a wild mare that was good for
anything was seldom seen, and tho cap
tured horses were nearly without excep-
ton irreclaimably vicious, even when
judged from the Texas standpoint. Even
when broken to the saddle, they could on
" be ridden by the very best horsemen, and
were always on the lookout to do their
riders all injury. Strange to say, they sell
| dom tried to kick, but man had to be
continually on the lookout for their fore
feet and teeth. They only used their hind
| feet when a man was about to mount, but
nearly every one of them had trick of
| kicking forward as soon as the rider put
his foot in the stirrup, and unless he was
wary he would receive terrible blow on
| the leg | used to own horse that, be-
lieve, could scratch himself between the
ears with his hind foot, his hind leg being
apparently made Of India rubber. The
instant he felt a foot i'll the stirrup his hind
| hoof would come forward with the
speed of Lightning, in the attempt to inhict
a most vicious kick. gave up mounting
him in the usual way and always used to
vault into the saddle without touching the
: stirrups, feat easily enough performed in
my younger days, although would have
some difficulty i'll doing it now. used to
| like to ride wild horses, but after one or
two narrow escapes from their deadly fore
| feet, which they would use if man care
lessly stood in front of them, gave it up
| and stuck to tame stockn