64 HUNTING TRIPS 



mit himself to be caught without difficulty. 

 Add to these virtues the fact that he will let 

 any dead beast or thing be packed on him, 

 and will allow a man to shoot off his back 

 or right by him without moving, and it is 

 evident that he is as nearly perfect as can 

 be the case with hunting-horseflesh. There 

 is a little sorrel mare on the ranch, a per- 

 fect little pet, that is almost as good, but 

 too small. We have some other horses we 

 frequently use, but all have faults. Some 

 of the quiet ones are slow, lazy, or tire easily ; 

 others are gun shy; while others plunge and 

 buck if we try to pack any game on their 

 backs. Others cannot be left standing un- 

 tied, as they run away; and I can imagine 

 few forms of exercise so soul-harrowing 

 as that of spending an hour or two in run- 

 ning, in shaps, top boots, and spurs over a 

 broken prairie, with the thermometer at 

 90, after an escaped horse. Most of the 

 hunting-horses used by my friends have one 

 or more of these tricks, and it is rare to 

 find one, like Manitou, who has none of them. 



