Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1893-12-21
GOOD TRAITS OF THE BRONCO.

GOOD TRAITS OF THE BRONCO.
| Hardy and Enduring, When Once Broker
He Proves Docile and Intelligent.
WheH broncos 'brolxen to the sad
| die" are offered for sale in the east it is
well for the tendesfoot purchaser tc
learn the exact significance of the
phrase. TIE bronco, as he is known
in the high valleys of western Colo.
RADIO, is a beast of strange qualities.
He often roams the mountain pastures
until he is three or four years old,
nearly as wild as the e1lxs that find
pasture in the higher and more diff
fcult parts of the same region. Then
somebody catches him with Iasso
and fetches him home. After that comes
the breaking process and when done
by a hired professional horse breaker
it is simplicity itself The phrase
"brol1en'S implies that the breaker has
saddled and ridden the bronco three
times. The theory is that after a
bronco has been coerced upon three
successive days into letting rider stay
on his back any rider may thereafter
ride the beast OF course, that means
NOCky Idlu
The western Co1oradoan performs
marvels with broncos scarcely better
broken than this indicate An eastern
hunter was accompanied by a guide
riding freshly-broken bronco, and
that half-wiid creature was made to
carry him over miles of the toughest
imaginable mountain wilderness. After
the newly-brolen bronco was relieved
of his masters weight, and the guide
had transferred himself to another
horse, that docile little beast patiently
followed the party for miles over the
mountain and through woodland
The bronco quickly learns to follow
and to stand. The patience with which
he does the latter seems inexpl1ca BILE
until one has learned the secret OF his
training. When hunters go after the
grizzly bear Or elk they commonly ride
on horseback up to the point on the
mountain side where the evergreens be-
gin. Here they leave their buncos I'M
hitched, sure 0 + finding them on the
return, perhaps six or eight hours
later. This is done with horses only a
few months broken. It is sometimes
safer with them than with older
beasts. for the latter have often been
trained to go straight home when
turned loose.
The secret of the bronco's docility in
standing where he is left lies in the
fact that he has been broken to bit
with spade" Now, the spade is a
broad piece of metal SO placed in the
middle of the bit that when the curb
rein is drawn the spade comes hard
against the roof of the bronco's mouth.
The rider teaches the bronco the uses
of the spade in this fashion: Having
dismounted, the breaker throws the
curb rein over the bronco's head so
that the rein lies partly on the ground.
Then lthe breaker waits until the
bronco moves. The movement is usu-
ally sudden and impetuous. The
breaker, with equal suddenness places
his foot hard upon the dragging end
CT the rein, and the spade is driven in
to the roof of the bronco's mouth. It
is stubborn beast that does not step
short when he fee Is the spade.
This discipline is repeated again and
again, until the beast learns that to
move while his rein hangs over his
head and trails on the ground is to stir
the spade into activity. When the
breaker Is sure that the bronco has
learned his lesson it is pretty safe to
turn the beast loose with the rein over
his head. Should the bronco attempt
to leave the place where he is left, he
must sooner or later tread on the
dragging rein and drive the spade up
ward into the roof of his mouth.
When left to himself, therefore, he is
f,,1 = h.
and he seldom attempts to trot away
lest he incur the cruel retribution of
the spade.
The bronco as broken to the pack
saddle is a most intelligent creature.
If there be a party of two or more ac-
companied by a pack horse, at least
one rides behind him SO as to watch
his movements. The pack horse as
rule patiently follows his leader,
scrambling up the rough mountain
sides, and carefully picking his way
through difficult places. If the pack
horse hesitates at an unusually large
fallen tree, the man behind him gives
him an admonitory stroke and over he
goes. If there be two such trees near
together the pack horse calculates to
a nicely how he sha II best land beyond
the one in order to take the other
to best advantage. Thus he goes
all day. hating when his leader
halts, steadfast, obedient, almost
tireless, doing his work if need be on
scant food, too busy to exhibit the vi
cious traits with which the tenderfoot
imagination has invested him. He
comes from an ancestry accustomed to
short fare and bred to hardness from
the fact that the weaklings of the race
have persisted. The consequence is
that the bronco is tough, strong for his
size, enduring more than better bred
horses. and surprisingly exempt from
the diseases of pampered equine civili-
zation.- He has the same right to his
vices that the neat housewife has to her
little acerbities of temper; they are the
licensed failings of rare and conscious
virtue.-N. Y. Sun.
HEAT OF THE SUN