The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1893-11-26
A WILD RIDE FOR LIFE
a RANcHMAN cHAsED BY a
MAD HORSE.
A Horse Bitten by Mad DOG Is eizod
with Hydr0phobic symptom. and
Plays Havoc With Cattle aud sheep
Adventures OF II s.tocKm1n.

A stockman named Thompson. own
Ing the Happy Jack clttle ranch in
Arkansas was lately the hero OF
most startling adventure. in which
he barely escaped with his. life
Thompson was on his way to the
Platte river with several hundred
head of cattle. in search of water. the
smaller streams haviny proved inad-
e4uate in supplying the vast drOrcs
of the neigh bo. hood He was as
sisted by seven or eight cowboys, a
small number, scarcely sufficient for
so large herd. and whom one flank
of the moving body of animals wan
dered off in the night from the corral
looking for the whercwith to allay
their thirst it was n3cessary for full
ly half the herders to go a;ter them,
thus scattering the party. ThOmp-
son himself rode east. following the
tracks of cattle which he took for his
own, but which proved 20 be those
of a herd lower down also going 10
the Platte
He had got out of sight OF his as
sistant and had dismounted to ex-
anime the trail, which he was be-
ginning to suspect was u day or two
old, when he observed a horse rum
ming toward him at rapid gallOp,
says the Philadelphia Times. The
animal wa not saddled, bat showed
marks of being in recent use, and
Mr.. Thompson concluded that he
had probably broken loose from his
owner and that the latter would soon
be out looking for him. 50 resolved
to catch him. Advancing the cat
tleman held out his hand to the
stranger, but the animal snapped at
him and made dart for the other
horse, trying to bite and kicking out
with his heels. Thompson now saw
the runaway was foaming n u man
ner that meant more than hea; from
| his gallop. ami thinking that the
animal was mad, ha~ tened TO his
| horses help.
Flinging himself into the saddle.
he clapped spurs to him an1 male
| break for the place where he had left
the still corra!ed he'd. The frenzied
horse gave lase. All then began a
| break-neck race TO- life over the
prairie Thompson sessed the ad-
vantage of having the animal he be-
| strobe fresh and under perfect con-
troll, while the purauar was able to
run only by spurts, with the irregu-
larity of nladness, and half blindly,
| but in spite of this he was sufficiently
near to render the chase one of great
excitement and danger, for, from the
furious creatures beiligerence dis
| played at fr5t. it was easy to SEQ
what would be the fate Of animal or
man who fell before him.
So, withcut spa"inr whip or spur,
Thompson flew over the ground with
the mad horse only q few dozen yards
in his rear. The danger was in
creased by the existence of large
cracks in the earth gaping for water,
which were often quite wide enough
to admit of the horse he rode falling
with one foot in them and breaking
limb, when he would be at the
mercy of the painting. raging animal
close behind him, which allowed no
time for picking the way over these
pitfalls. But the fiery little Spanish
mustang ridden by Thompson seemed
to realize that his life and that OF
his rider depended on his skill in
avoiding these cracks, and hew over
them like q bird, rebuilding his
speed whenever the horse following
gave a shrill 'hriels of warning.
Once Thompson saw Il rattles make
leap out at the mustanga az ne cleared a
clump Of tail prairie grass aud
sprang at his heels. but The blow
failed and fastened itseff on the
lower leg OF the animal which came
after, but, with the long, greenish
body .still hanging to it, the mad
horse did not stay for moment. and
as the mustang paused for q second
to gather itself for leap across a
yielding place in The earth where
some mole had once cXcavated its
home, gained somewhat on the flying
pair. Looking back, Thompson saw
the beast not more than thirty or
thirty-five yards behind him, and
thinking the beast almost upon him,
lashed the mustang into run that
male the ground seem to spin be-
meath his nimble feet and was rapid
ly Outdistancing his pursuer when he
felt the girth about his steed give
way and checked him only in time to
save himself hard fall.
The saddle slid of the mustang S
back, and Thompson. with his feet
still in the stirrups, fell easily to the
ground. He picked himself up and
scanned the prairie with anxious
eyes for help of some sort. and to
his relief he saw a horseman riding
across the plain a quarter of a mile
away. and standing up he halloed to
this person But, at first his cries
seemed incapable OF reaching the
man, who directed his course in an
oblique line from where Thompson
stood shouting to him.
At last, however. his attention ap-