The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1900-06-27

particularly. There are plenty more
bronchos-thousands. Of them. No
body stops to consider one broncho
more or less.
Before the half-stunncd pony has
tried to rise other men slip to lis side
and place upon his head queer ar
rangcmcnt Of ropes called hacka-
more. 1t is so arranged that 4 strong
pull upon it Will press the pony's
nostrils aud stop hi, breathing.
Then to tic lackainorc there is
fastened a long rope called the stake
rope. and with this the broncho is
Iicke,c' out for fcw day, in the
. open saee-brush Whenever he tries
to run lie gets half chokcd Whenever
he struggles he gets tangled up in the
rope and scrapc; the hide from his
heels. In three days he is chastcned
pony and man can so near him; but
he cant ride him. Not yet.
There comes day when the bron:
cho buster, with couple of assist
ants, walks up to the indignant bron-
cho and throws blanket over his
back. The pony promptly bucks it
off again and plungcs wildly against
the rope. 1t doesn't do him much
good, for one Of the cowboys looscns
the scarf from his neck and binds it
over the broncho's eyes, whcrcupon
he stands helpless and trembling, not
knowing what may happen next.
Not much time is given for consid-
Grafton, for almost at once there falls
upon his back the weight of a big COW
saddle. 1t is a poor broncho that
does not buck the saddle off again,
not once, but dozen times, but the
men who are holding him have limit
less paticnce-and they know their
work very we'll.
Very gingerly the chief broncho
buster reaches under the pony and
gets hold of the cinch, or girth, and
very swiftly does he pull it taut.
Never before has the broncho felt
anything like this, and he fights with
the terror of trapped wild beast 1t
is all in vain, though, for soon enough
ne has to bear worse indignity-thc
tightening Of the back cinch, and once
moro he plupges and bucks to be free.
And then comes the crucial part Of
the work. The binding neck scarf is
slipped from the broncho's eyes and
he looks out, redcycd and wild, upon
his captors. The broncho buster has
coiled up the long stake rope and
holds it in his hand; the two other
men are han 5ing to the broncho's head
and twisting it sideways. Quietly
and cautiously the broncho buster
slips to :the side of the pony, talking
to him meanwhile in terms that are
decidedly not those Of endearment.
Then there come run, jump and
pull combined and-the cowboy is in
the saddle for keeps.
With yell like that of the coyotes
the men who had been holding the
broncho's head let go, and away goes
the PONY in series of stiff-legged
bucks that would send any ordinary
rider on trip to the moon. The
broncho- buster, however. is no ordi-
nary rider, and to this fact he has
! added some Of the advantages of equip
ment. On the upper part of his
spurs, for instance, are two strong,
blunt hooks. Then he catches in the
braided girths Of the saddle, :cd, held
by these, he can no more be dislodged
than the broncho's skin. It must not
be supposed, however, that the main
reliance Of the Cluster" is placed
upon these appliances, because it en-
phatically isn't. A festive cowboy
has been known to playfully insert
one Of his spurs in the broncho's ear
while the other toyed with its hind
leg without disturbing the riders seat
to any appreciable extent.
Even if the pony does get rid of his
rider, he has not won the battle-not
by lot. However far, and however
hard he may be thrown, it is praoti-
cal certainty that he still retains hold
of the long stake rope, and this quick
ly uDcoils from his hand as the pony
dashes wildly away. Springing quick.
ly to his feet, the broncho buster runs
out sideways from the course Of the
pony, for he knows that straight
pull would send him end over end.
Holding one end Of the rope close to
his side, he settles down upon his
heels. and'th"n; inst aa the .cre soSs
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