VICE. 131 



Buck-jumping and Plunging. 



Though none of our home-bred horses get the length, as 

 do the Australians, of bucking the saddle right off, over 

 head and forelegs, without breaking the girths, yet some of 

 them are very awkward customers when they are determined 

 not to be ridden. A " double-hrst," at the art of buck- 

 jumping will, at the shortest notice " sling" any man short 

 of an Australian stock-rider. Good sound girths, man, 

 saddle and bridle, if stuck to, are all " slung " of a heap by 

 the mighty efforts of the horse. He will bound straight up 

 into the air — not a long bound, but a buck, tuck his head 

 between his fore legs, so that his face looks right on the 

 ground, roach his back like a hedge-hog, spin half round in 

 the air and come down with all four legs stiff and unyield- 

 ing as bars of cast-iron, landing with a "prop," the con- 

 cussion of which makes his rider's ja^v's crack. Without 

 changing his ground, this delightful saltatory performance, 

 with a few wriggles and rapid lateral jerks thrown in, is re- 

 peated with surprising rapidity ; buck follows buck in rapid 

 succession, interspersed with certain spinnings round on the 

 hind legs, till the rider's sticking-on powers are tested to 

 the fullest, his teeth feel pretty well loosened and his spine 

 rather the worse for wear. The wind-up of such a bout is 

 that the rider suddenly finds himself cleaving the air as if 

 hurled from a catapult, and if he can quietly endure, as 

 depicted in this wood-cut, he will overcome the most deter- 

 mined performer. 



During these vagaries the horseman is absolutely power- 

 less ; all he can do is to stick to the saddle if he can. A 

 soft sheepskin or numnah under the saddle has been known 

 to cure some buck-jumpers. As compared with this energetic 



