86 SHANDROVKA 



were mounted, were evidently waiting for this turn of affairs ; 

 for they started off in hot pursuit without delay. The chase 

 lasted for about a quarter of an hour and then the truant was 

 brought back with some of the fight left in him ; for he 

 succeeded in putting down the second man who got on him. 

 Another pursuit, another capture, and the now tired horse 

 failed to get his rider off. The Kalmouks enjoyed the sport 

 immensely. I need hardly say that horses broken in this 

 manner, rarely if ever forget the fact that when they were 

 fresh, they had been able to throw their man. Besides, the 

 method of catching them with a lasso, as I have already said, 

 and the plan of hanging on to their ears, naturally renders 

 them shy of being handled about the head, which as we all 

 know is a detestable vice. It goes almost without saying, 

 that the process of making a horse quiet to be handled and 

 mounted is only the first step in breaking, the grand principle 

 of which lies in the axiom that a horse with a crood mouth 



o 



can do no wrong. 



I spent an enjoyable evening after all my hard work, 

 which I did without coat or waistcoat with the perspiration 

 streaming off me, while the thermometer stood at many 

 degrees below zero. The General was full of what he had 

 seen, and went over every detail and explanation with such 

 accuracy that I knew he had followed me with interest and 

 appreciation, which was very gratifying to me, especially as I 

 felt sure he would send a favourable report about me to 

 the Grand Duke. The General had the head man of the 

 Cossacks up to the house of the colonel with whom we were 

 staying, and we kept discussing the question of catching wild 

 horses and making halters till it was very late. Before we 

 retired for the night, I laughingly said that the chestnut had 

 a wonderful mouth for a three and a half year old ; for when 

 I opened it, I found that he had not a single colt's tooth in 

 his head. "We got a devil for you, and you conquered 



