THE-:- HORSE 



waste, a veritable battle of the stallions. One 

 day when we were returning to camp near the 

 Walker River, while hunting Fuzztail, the 

 wild horse of Nevada, we halted at the edge 

 of a rock barrier, and there, several hundred 

 yards before us, were two great stallions, 

 leaders of rival bands, engaged in a battle to 

 the death, as it shortly proved. 



With screams of rage and ripping teeth 

 they fought until one, gashed in the throat, 

 was left convulsed in its death struggles on 

 the alkali waste that it long had called its 

 own. 



The big Jacks of the mule-breeding 

 ranches are more terrible with their teeth 

 than the horse. They have the tenacity of 

 the bulldog in combat, and fortunate is the 

 fighting stallion that has steered clear from 

 such an issue. 



Cinch-binding. — Cinch-binding is a habit 

 generally founded upon predisposition. It 

 is manifested by the horse cringing when 

 cinched and rearing with legs stiff. Un- 

 usually fine hair and delicate skin are the 

 commonest causes of this habit. 



If a horse is inclined this way he should 

 be cinched carefully, the cinch being tight- 

 ened by degrees, and then the animal should 

 be led around several steps before being 

 mounted. Many cinch-binders have fallen 

 over backward with a too-impatient rider. 



62 



