36 The Rough Riders 



Meanwhile we were purchasing horses. Judg- 

 ing from what I saw I do not think that we got 

 heavy enough animals, and of those purchased cer- 

 tainly a half were nearly unbroken. It was no easy 

 matter to handle them on the picket-lines, and to 

 provide for feeding and watering; and the efforts 

 to shoe and ride them were at first productive of 

 much vigorous excitement. Of course, those that 

 were wild from the range had to be thrown and tied 

 down before they could be shod. Half the horses 

 of the regiment bucked, or possessed some other of 

 the amiable weaknesses incident to horse life on the 

 great ranches; but we had abundance of men who 

 were utterly unmoved by any antic a horse might 

 commit. Every animal was speedily mastered, 

 though a large number remained to the end mounts 

 upon which an ordinary rider would have felt very 

 uncomfortable. 



My own horses were purchased for me by a Texas 

 friend, John Moore, with whom I had once hunted 

 peccaries on the Nueces. I only paid fifty dollars 

 apiece, and the animals were not showy; but they 

 were tough and hardy, and answered my purpose 

 well. 



Mounted drill with such horses and men bade 

 fair to offer opportunities for excitement; yet it 

 usually went off smoothly enough. Before drilling 

 the men on horseback they had all been drilled on 



