Year: 1862

]


A correspondent of the Chicago Times
who has been following the Amy OF the
West, gives an amusing account of.his ex
perience in equine locomotives. Here i
is:


! Speaking of horses reminds me OF some
experience have had in thatsline during
/ my pilgrimage with the army as journalist
| 1t is a matter of some importance that every
/ correspondent shonld have some kind of a
| riding animal al his command otherwise
! he will find himself deficient on emergen.
cies when haste is essential. My first idea
of the proper thing was gallant charger,
gaily caparisoned, prancng high and low
when crowds were about, and always hold
| ing himself in readiness for public exhi-
bi,ion. Tha! is the officer style of doing the
thing, ! found that the article was difficult
TO procure and expensive to keep, having
no soldiers at my command to guard fine
horse Light and day TO prevent his being
cramped and carried off. Before had done
with experience in this line was content
ed with more modest pretensions.


During period of four months ! have
been owner and sold proprietor of Ave hor-
ses. The first Of these was relic of the
Donelson fight He came from somewhere
in the mountains of Tennessee, and from a
habit OF climbing rocks and holding on by
his nose, he was much addicted TO stand
ing on his hind legs, without regard TO who
- 1. III


lie feeding position, and grass being scarce
and hay and oats scarcer, he was accus-
lomed to take his meals in the tops of
small trees, where his cultivatedtasle taught
him to find tender iwigs and juicy buds -
This nutricious food gave him frame like
a clothes horse, and his legs 10 use an apt
phrase, were as tat as rye straw. His back
bone split a new saddle in two, and cut
hair cloth blanket into shreds. ] could have
got along with this, but he constantly
brought me 10 shame and disgrace by going
on his hind legs for browse on state occa-
sions, 10 say nothing of a propensity for
climbing every steep cliff he came TO, aud
sliding me over his tail in the operation.-
He was good horse 10 90 bird-nesting
with, or in case of emergency, 10 ron up
the side of house and get out of danger
but he was so far from my idea of a perfect
horse, that | sold him for $40, as Fl0yd's
veritable war charger. to irophy-seeker
who wore blue speciaces ard carried a
portfolio. As saw him afterward, in COM
Pany with five others as poor as himself,
dragging an army wagon concluded that
the purchaser was not sufficiently vigiIant
TO elude Uncle Sans walchfulness and get
him home My last glimpse of him was
as he stood upon his hind legs, with his fore
feet or rail fence, apparently reaching for
browse in the moon.


Ny next attempt was in the mule line
A friend in the Quartermaster's Department
insisted upon presenting me with superb
riding animal which had come into his pos
session, he didn'tsay how, bnt suppositive-
Iy by the cramp process. The beast had
prePossessing exterior. Ears as long as
my arm, head like butter fTkn, pipe
stem neck, body as comely as sugar hogs
head, and legs not exceeding eighteen
inches IN length. With this inviting exte-
rior, he had disposition still more ouire
and perverse, il possible. The irst time
mounted him he kicked up his heels, and
landed me over his head, some twenty feet
in advance. The next time, he sat on his
launches, and slid saddle and all over his
tail. Then he laid down and rolled over
and over faster than Bengal monkey could
have followed him; and, finally, he resort
&c TO every trick an animal could be guilty
of to show his perverse temper. He had
way OF making great fuss when the sad
dle-girth was buekled-puiting on deplo-
raole countenance, and groaning dismally,
as though his life was being squeezed out.
You might pull and tug for ten minutes,
strainng the girth up to the last notch, and
fairly tiring yourself out with exerion, when
upon stepping back with malicious con-
scionsness OF having brought the brute 10
terms, you would see his body collapse and
The girth hang suddenly limp and loose,
while he looked askance with a cunning
eer, as much as 10 say "How do you like





that, now p He never failed 10 initiate
himself like balloon when the saddle was
put on and then collapse for the satisfac-
ton of having it turn around and unseat
his rider at the first mud-hole he came to
rode him FOR the spite OF the thing for two
long weeks. got pair OF spurs with row.
els an inch and a half long, and fayed his
side with Them whenever he ventured TO
flap his ugly ears at me, and finally had
the satisfaction of seeing him tumble down
bluff hundred feet high and break mis-
neck.


Having had enough of vicious horses,
determined 10 try quiet one next time.
accordingly invested in demure specimen
OF the pony breed. He proved all | could
ask for, for, from that time onward during
my term OF ownership, did no hard work