Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-04-20


imagine that the saddle stock must be
as high spirited and as mettlesome as
a stable fed racehorse, There are such
horses in Nevada. but they are not
desirable In the mustang work. for
they wear out themselves and their
riders before accomplishing the end
sought. Give a mustanger his choice
between one of these prancing. bow
necked, impatient beauties and a
homely. lazy. Indifferent old plug that
cAA be made to run. and he will choose
the latter. .s,s., 4,
Put an average rider ON some OF
these veterans and start him out
across country, and before he has rid
den a half dozen miles he will swear
he could walk backward faster and
farther than this horse could carry
him. Let him ride in sight of band
of mustangs, feeding away OF In the
distance. The old horse win see them
long before his master" dreams OF
their presence possibly the first hint
the rider receives will be when the
old horse points his ears forward and
perceptibly increases his gait. When
that band of wild horses starts. look
out, for that old horse, that paid no
attention to whip or spur few mo
ments ago. will now give you ride
that will make the hair stand on end.
The way he will just miss that big
badger hole, skim over a fallen log
or leap among the brush and rocks,
especially down hill, will cause the
memory of all previous rides to be
banished from the mind forever.
Hard to Run Down.
Mount a man unacquainted with
this work upon the best horse In this
or any other state and tell him to run
down q band of Wild horses and he
will fail. He may be fearless rider
possess wonderful endurance; he may
pursue the band until they become
30 worn out that It is an effort to trot
II that stage be reached, In ninety.
nine cases out of one hundred the be-
ginner's horse is down TO a walk, and
after a nerve raclfing.. body exhaust
Ing ride, covering many hours. and an
almost unbelievable number of miles.
he sees his quarry slowly disappear
over a ridge which his horse is unable
to climb.
The men who best understand how
to save their horses bring In the great
est number of mustangs. 1t is by go
ing around the mountain that the wild
horses are climbing. else making a
slow diagonal ascent then picking up
the trail and following it,at top speed
down hill, that the mustanger wears
out the horses he is pursuing. Knowi
edge of a range is a valuable aid. for
many times one may save his horse
lust that little that is necessary to win
the next heat by making short cut
to known trail.
But when riding in new country a
mustanger almost invariably follows
the trail of the wild horses. although
their route may seem to twist and
turn unnecessarily and be SO rough
that II seems foolhardy for human
being to ride over It even at walk
yet IL you leave that trail and try
to pick out straighter or smoother
path. you will find that although the
mustang trail is rough. the rest OF the
country is rougher, for the mustangs
always take the best.
To start fresh bunch OF Wild
horses and actually run all OF them
down generally requires two or three
days. time, and Is attempted only
when It is desired to capture some ex
ceptional individual or band.
All horses are turned loose upon the
open range In the fall. When these
horses become thoroughly rested and
regain a good coat Of fat upon their
RIBS some Of them are much harder to
catch than the wild mustangs No
matter how gentle horse may have
been, when free upon these boundless
areas he may use some Of the tricks
to evade being caught which he has
seen and helped the mustanger per
form. 7a