62 BAD GROUND 



leading the horses and quartering the slope in 

 zigzags. I was much more frightened than 

 they were. 



Many times I have ridden along the rim rock 

 of cliffs of any height up to a mile sheer, and so 

 far from being afraid, I found some horses pre- 

 ferred the very edge. One may ride slack rein 

 where one would never dare to venture afoot. 



But although range horses like cliffs, they are 

 poor climbers. One may ride them up any 

 place where a man can chmb without using his 

 hands, but they will never face a step above 

 knee high. Sometimes I have been obliged 

 to pass my rope round a tree and pull my horse 

 down walls that he dared not jump. Even 

 then he would argue the point. 



American railway bridges have no pathway, 

 and when one leads a horse, stepping from tie 

 to tie, he thinks he has five legs. With two 

 legs down, and a train expected or a bear 

 sauntering ahead, he looks so damned patient 

 that one begins to reahse an obscure trait in 

 his character which needs explaining. It is 

 easier to take him across bridges than to ride 

 or lead him through a waterfall. He prefers 

 a waterfall to a corduroy-timbered swamp road 

 when it happens to be flooded and afloat. I 

 have tried him with quicksands and moss 



