228 HANDS AND LEGS (AIDS). 



expense of the staying power of the horse, by making him too 

 heavy in front. When a stockman on a trained stock horse, 

 attempts to bring in stray and half-wild cattle, his mount, 

 acting with intelligence almost equal to that of a shepherd's 

 dog, gallops down the marked-out beast, turns as it turns, with 

 the quickness of a coursed hare, and accomplishes his part of 

 the driving-in with but the slightest indication of his rider's 

 wishes. While this exciting chase is going on, the man 

 restricts himself to the use of his long stock-whip on the beast 

 as may be required, sits still, lets the reins slack, and watches 

 the object of his pursuit and not the horse, so that he may be 

 prepared for any twist, turn, or sudden stop made by the 

 latter, whose movements he is well aware, will correspond to 

 similar ones made by the former. It would be almost im- 

 possible for him, if he kept his eyes on the horse, to tell what 

 the animal was going to do under such circumstances. Out 

 pig-sticking over the black cotton soil in the Central Provinces 

 of India, which has numberless holes and fissures on its surface, 

 and across ground covered with large loose stones, such as at 

 Paunchgawn near Nagpore, and over the low hills close to 

 Allahabad, a rider cannot avoid a fall, if he goes straight, 

 unless he is on an experienced pig-sticker and allows perfect 

 freedom to its head. If he does this, the clever animal will 

 pick its way, almost at racing pace, over holes and stones 

 without making a mistake. Here also, the rider has to watch 

 the pursued one, so as to be prepared for every "jink." It is 

 evident that when a horse has to gallop over ground such 

 as I have described, or after cattle out stock-driving, no rider 

 who keeps a tight hold of the reins could possibly avoid inter- 

 fering with his horse's mouth, and consequently bringing them 

 both to grief ; for the animal, when picking its way, would have 

 to lengthen or shorten its stride, turn or stop, quicker than its 

 rider could foresee. The old school of hunting men in Ireland 

 used to ride with slack reins. The hounds ran slow, and the 



