The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1894-02-17
GOOD TRAITS or rHk eRoNoo.

aooD TRAITS or the BRONCO /
Hardy and Endufing, when OAcs BfUken
He Proves Dociie and fnte1li9ents
When broncos broken to the sad. |
die" are offered for sale IN the east it IL
well for the tenderfoot purchaser to
learn the exact signidcance of the /
The bronco, as he is known !
in the high valleys Of western Colo
RADIO, is beast of strange qualities. !
He often roams the mountain pastures |
until he is three or four years old.
nearly as wild as the elks that find |
pasture in the higher and more diff
ficult parts Of the same region. Then
somebody catches him with lassO
and fetches him home. After that comes
the breaking process. and when done
by hired professional horse breaker
it is simplicity itself. The phrase
"broken'' implies that the breaker has
saddled and ridden the bronco three
times. The theory Is that after =
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
any Rocky mountain rider.
The western Coloradoan performs
marvels with broncos scarcely better
broken than this indicates An eastern
hunter was accompanied by guide
riding q freshly-brokcn bronco, and
that half-wild creature was made to
carry him over miles of the toughest
imaginable mountain wilderness After
the newly broken 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 inexplicablc
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 UNI
hitched, sure o finding them on the
return, perhaps six or eight hours
later. This is done with horses only .
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 1.-THE breaker waits until the
. bronco moves. The movement is usu'
ally sudden and impetuoua The
! breaker, with equal suddenness places
his foot hard upon the dragging end
of the rein, and the spade is driven in
to the roof of the bronco's mouth. II
is stubborn beast that does not stoT
short when he fee Is the spade.
| This discipline is repeated again and
again, until the beast learns that t.
move while his rein hangs over hi,
head and trails on the ground is to stu
the spade into activity. When tn
breaker is sure that the bronco hai
learned his lesson it is pretty safe Il
turn the beast loose with the rein ovei
| his head. Should the bronco attemp
to leave the place where he is left, h
must sooner or later tread on tn
dragging rein and drive the spade up
ward into the roof of his mouth
When left to himself. therefore. he 1
extremely careful how he moves about
and he seldom attempts to trot ava.
lest he incur the cruel retribution Q
the spade.
The bronco as broken to the pacl
saddle is most intelligent creature
If there be q party Of two or more &C
companied by pack horse, at leas
one rides behind him so rs to watcl
his movements The pack horse as
rule patiently follows his leader
scrambling mp the rough mountai
sides, and carefully picking his wa
J through difficult places II the pac
horse hesitates at an unusually larg
fallen tree, the man behind him give
J him an admonitory stroke and over h
goes. If there be two such trees nea
together the pack horse calculates t
a nicely how he sha II best land beyOn
) the one in order to take the othe
} ; to best advantage. Thus he gos
all day. hating when his lcade
halts, steadfast, obedient, almos
tireless. doing his work If need be Q
, scant food, too busy to exhibit the '
cious traits with which the tenderfcs
: imagination has invested him. H
comes from an ancestry accustomed
short fare and bred to hardness fro
the fact that the weaklings Of the raa
. have persisted. The consequences
: that the bronco is tough, strong for b
> size, enduring more than better brs
4 horses. and surprisingly exempt fro
the diseases Of pampcred equine civil
a xation. He has the same right to b
. vices that the neat housewife has TO b
little acerbitics of temper; they are Il
licensed failings of rare and consciol
virtue.-N. Y. Sun.
Sawed the Head on.
In 1888 Commodore Elliott order'
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