204 RIDING 



and brought him round again. The colt followed, getting a com- 

 plete wash, which he much needed. They were then taken down 

 the river bed to the gate, where the horses had been first separated, 

 and entered the paddock, after which the old horse was taken 

 away. 



The colt was now half led and half lunged, and was kept mov- 

 ing, not with a whip, but with a tree called a ' gin-tree, 3 which grows 

 twenty feet long without a branch, and not much more than an 

 inch in diameter at the butt, with thick narrow leaves at the end 

 more than a foot long. 



This was first shaken at him, then put on him, then under him, 

 then between his hind legs, and when he would no longer take any 

 notice of it, a short stick was used in the same way, and then the 

 hands. 



The old flax overcoat or cape was again produced and was used 

 in the same way that it had been in the swamp, after which nothing 

 seemed to alarm the colt. A saddle was put on, as easily as on an 

 old horse, the old ugly cape was fastened to it, then a number of 

 other soft materials, and finally one of the barefooted boys that had 

 danced upon him in the swamp. No attempt was made to throw 

 anything off, and we were obliged to confess that we had never 

 seen a wild horse broken so thoroughly and so well in so short a 

 time, and that without a scratch or a single whip mark. 



The same sensible treatment was followed up. All the tribe 

 had something to do with the colt. Small branches were tied to 

 his tail, and then larger ones that dragged on the ground, until it 

 was impossible to frighten him with anything, and we saw at once 

 why Grace Darling had hauled the logs so quietly. 



Another common practice of the Maories is to ride an old 

 horse into a river and lead an unbroken colt after him. As 

 soon as they get into the middle of the river, or say up to 

 the girths, they jump on to the back of the colt, who is unable 

 to get his head down in order to buck, on account of the water. 

 This method is best adapted to summer weather and Maori 

 costume. 



Horses in New Zealand are specially trained to ford rivers. 

 There was a few years ago a noted old horse who could be 

 relied on to convey a man across the Buller River in the highest 

 flood, and who, when released on the other side, would quietly 



