234 



HORSES BREAKING LOOSE. 



and thrown his rider. We merely mention the matter 

 here, without any intention at present of giving an 

 exhaustive account of the various stratagems which are 

 employed to meet this eventuality. 



Prudence however will always dictate the necessity 

 of invariably tying a horse up securely, when about 

 to leave him and go off to take a shot at game, unless 

 he is left in charge of a trusty after-rider. We have 

 the keenest recollection of the inconvenience and labour 

 which results from a failure to prevent a horse breaking 

 loose, on such occasions, in our own person; it is no 

 joke to see one's horse go trotting jauntily off, in the 

 middle of a wide plain, far from all help; while the 

 rider toils painfully after him, trying to coax him " to 

 come and be caught " without success. Some horses 

 have a fashion of waiting till you are getting near, 

 and then suddenly bolting away again; and many 

 animals have been lost altogether on the plains in this 

 sort of way ; especially so if the rider is thrown when 

 in pursuit of a herd of game : the thunder of innumer- 

 able hoofs, the dust and excitement, make some horses 

 crazy at such times; and as soon as they regain their 

 feet they go galloping off with the rest, and are soon 

 lost to view, perhaps for ever. 



In the important matter of purchasing horses for the 

 field we would say here just a word to caution inex- 

 perienced travellers against being induced to purchase 

 corn-fed animals. If one is going out some consider- 

 able distance from the settlements, it is seldom prac- 

 ticable to carry oats, etc., on account of their bulk and 

 weight; and all experience shows that corn-fed horses 

 fall off very rapidly when put upon wilderness fare; 

 their fodder will then consist of what grass, etc., they 



