Arizona republican., 1901-12-09
A dispatch from Boise City. Idaho.

states that recent order of the Brit
 ish government for 75,- BRITONS co more range horses has BUYING sent the agents of King BRONCHOS. Edw ward rying
 through the Rocky Mountains in search of cavalry mounts. This fond desire on the part of Great Britain to make war horses out of ca yuse ponies has created no end of amusement among the cowboys. It is a we'll known fact that a cowboy holds in derision the characteristics of a broncho. He likens him in disposition to only one other animal in all crea- tion. and that is the coyote A bron- enc can never be depended upon to do anything twice the same way Kind treatment, the cowboy says, has no a rattlesnake. He carries his rider sullenly all day and often stops to at tempt to dislodge him.
 But it appears that the British gov ernment wants these ponies for sev- eral reasons. First of all they are tough and hardy, not being subject to the diseases that affiict an ordinary horse. They are easily acclimated and, above all, they can be bought for much less than domestic horses that have some pride of ancestry. Agents of King Edward are paying s30 apiece for cayuse ponies that weigh from 800 to LOO pounds each. It is said that when these war horses get to South Africa they will have cost about s7O aIsece. The manner of buying them has some interesting features. The English emissary first passes through the coun- try and posts printed bills that he will be at a certain point on specified day to buy wild range horses. He notifies everybody to bring in stock. Far and near the cowboy dresses himself for the occasion in his fanciest clothes.
 He rides a sinuous course. gathering the wild horses into a compact herd and hurrying them on. These horses have never known the restraint of a Sridle nor the clasp of a saddle girth. They are the products of the noun tains and valleys, the same as the
 
 long over the sagebrush plains toward the point where the British agent awaits their coming
 At the upper end of the narrow val ley selected as a rendezvous is a high corral made of logs. It will hold per hape five hundred animals, and is di- vided into three apartments, the open
 
 gates. The different bands are held in compact punches while those nearest the corral are brought inside the gate of the high log fence.
 It is a festival day for the "broncho busters and they have been riding for miles around to witness the sport. The wild horses in the corral are punched as fantastically caparisoned "buc- caroo'' rides in swinging a lariat. He picks out some particular animal and hurls the rope with unerring precision. The horse is thrown and the saddle is put on while the animal is helpless on the ground. When the horse rises to his feet there is cowboy on his back and the gate is opened to allow the rlOer 10 leave the corral II IS then that the old cowboys, sitting on the logs, tip back their sombrero hats and pre- pare to do the handsome thing in the way of applause. With a wild plunge the untamed broncho leaps through the gate. and there is an exhibition of horsemanship seen nowhere but in the west. The horse may turn a complete somersault, {but before he can rise to his feet his rider is back again in the saddle and rises with him. Not con- quered, but mildly subdued. the un- tanned broncho is brought back again, and the representative of the English king makes a careful examination of the animal. He appears to be solici- tous of only one thing, and that is the horses lungs. The more the broncho bucks the better he is, but he must have good wind or there is no purchase. Being tough enough to pass muster, a red-hot branding iron is applied to the right side of the neck, and the wild horse is the property of the British government after check for s30 has been given.