BUCK-JUMPING. 45 



Buck-jumping. — This vice, which is practically un- 

 known in England, is very common among Australian 

 horses, which, I believe, have inherited it from the South 

 American mustangs that were imported into the colony 

 during its early years. I have heard of instances of 

 English, Indian, and even Arab horses " bucking," but 

 I have never met with a case of the sort in my own ex- 

 perience. The buck-jumper, with the quickness of 

 thought, throws his head down between his fore legs : 

 at the same moment he arches his back, bounds in 

 the air with all four feet close together, either forwards, 

 to one side, to the other, or, at times, even back- 

 wards, till he dislodges his rider, breaks the girths, gets 

 through his saddle, or tires himself out. I have had a 

 horse— aptly called Euclid — after throwing me, buck for 

 quite five minutes all round and even over me, in the 

 vain attempt to get rid of his saddle, while I lay pros- 

 trate on the ground longing for him to go to some 

 more suitable place in which to show off his antics. If 

 the rider be unaccustomed to buck-jumpers, he will, gene- 

 rally, from the suddenness of the downward movement 

 of the horse's head, he pulled more or less forward on 

 to his neck. The convulsive cant given by the animal's 

 loins will shift the man still more forward, while a few 



