A CHILEAN RONDEO 121 



The inside of this corral was well padded with 

 poles, making a somewhat springy wall, a 

 feature I have never seen in any corrals in our 

 own ranch country, but essential where the 

 horses are trained to jam the cattle against the 

 corral side. 



Most of the sports took place inside this 

 big corral. Gates led into it from opposite 

 ends. Some thirty or forty feet in front of 

 one of the gates, and just about that distance 

 from the middle of the corral, was a short, 

 crescent-shaped fence which served to keep the 

 stock that had yet to be worked separate 

 from those that had been worked. Proceed 

 ings were begun by some thirty riders and a 

 mob of cattle coming through one of the doors 

 of the corral. A glance at the cattle was enough 

 to show that the old days of the wild ranches 

 had passed. These were not longhorns, staring, 

 vicious creatures, shy and fleet as deer; they 

 were graded stock, domestic in their ways, 

 and rather reluctant to run. Among the riders, 

 however, there was not the slightest falling off 

 from the old dash and skill, and their very air, 

 as they rode quietly in, and the way they sat 

 every sudden, quick move of their horses 

 showed their complete ease and self-confidence. 



In addition to the huasos, the peasants-on- 



