R76 



THE MODERN SYSTEM 



of their work ; for the poor creatures had been 

 so scared there that they were uiiwiUing to 

 return to the place. It was amusing to see 

 the antics of the Horses — they were jumping 

 and dancing in different ways, while the right 

 arm of the Gauchos was seen flogging them. 

 At last they brought the Horses back, appa- 

 rently subdued, and broken in. The saddles 

 and bridles were taken off", and the young 

 Horses trotted off towards the corral, neighing 

 to one another. 



When the Gaucho wishes to take a wild 

 Horse, he mounts one that has been used to 

 the sport, and gallops over the plain. As soon 

 as he comes sufficiently near his prey, " the 

 lasso is thrown round the two hind legs, and 

 as the Gaucho rides a little on one side, the 

 jerk pulls the entangled Horse's feet laterally, 

 so as to throw him on his side, without en- 

 dangering his knees or his face. Before the 

 Horse can recover the shock, the rider dis- 

 mounts, and snatching his poncho or cloak 

 from his shoulders, wraps it round the pros- 

 trate animal's head. He then forces into his 

 mouth one of the powerful bridles of the 

 country, straps a saddle on his back, and 

 bestriding him, removes the poncho; upon 

 which the astonished Horse springs on his 

 legs, and endeavours by a thousand vain efforts 

 to disencumber himself of his new master, who 

 sits quite composedly on his back, and, by a 

 discipline which never fails, reduces the Horse 

 to such complete obedience, that he is soon 

 trained to lend his whole speed and strength 

 to the capture of his companions." 



These animals possess much of the form of 

 the Spanish Horse, from which they sprung ; 

 (hey are tamed, as has been seen, with far less 

 difficulty than could be thought possible ; and, 

 akhough theirs is the obedience of fear, and 



enforced at first by the whip and spur, ther* 

 are no Horses who so soon and so perfectly 

 exert their sagacity and their power in the 

 service of man. They are possessed of no ex- 

 traordinary speed, but they are capable of 

 enduring immense fatigue. They are fre- 

 quently ridden fifty or sixty miles without 

 drawing bit, and have been urged on by the 

 cruel spur of the Gaucho, more than a hundred 

 miles, and at the rate of twelve miles in the 

 hour. 



Like the Arab Horses, they know no inter- 

 mediate pace between the walk and the gallop. 

 Although at the end of a day so hard, their 

 sides are horribly mangled, and they com- 

 pletely exhausted, there is this consolation for 

 them — they are immediately turned loose on 

 the plains, and it will be, their own fault if 

 they are speedily caught again. The mare 

 is occasionally killed for food, and especially 

 on occasions of unusual festivity. General 

 San Martin, during the war for independence, 

 gave a feast to the Indian allies attached to 

 his army ; and mares' flesh, and the blood 

 mixed with gin, formed the whole of the 

 entertainment. 



On such dry and sultry plains the supply of 

 water is often scanty ; and then a species of 

 madness seizes on the Horses, and their gene- 

 rous and docile qualities are no longer recog- 

 nized. They rush violently into every pond 

 and lake, savagely mangling and trampling 

 upon one another ; and the carcases of many 

 thousands of them, destroyed by their fellows, 

 have occasionally been seen in and around a 

 considerable pool. This is one of the means 

 by which the too rapid increase of this quad- 

 ruped is, by the ordinance of Nature, there 

 prevented. 



The wild Horses of Tartary, although easily 



