328 INDIANS. 



His seat and carriage are particularly ungraceful. The 

 short stirrups force him to sit almost on the small of his 

 back, and the back itself is rounded into an unseemly 

 curve. His head is carried forward as far as the length 

 of his neck will allow. His left hand holds the reins ; 

 his right is armed with a short stick, to which is attached 

 a thong of the inevitable raw hide, and with a light blow 

 of this he marks every step of his horse. He uses no 

 spurs ; but his heels are constantly drumming on the 

 horse's ribs, with a nervous motion difficult to account 

 for. He scarcely ever turns his head or moves his body, 

 and, even when most watchful, appears to see nothing. 

 He looks stiff, constrained, and uncomfortable on horse- 

 back, and yet this uncouth object will perform feats of 

 horsemanship actually incredible to one who has seen 

 only civilised riding. 



With his horse at full speed he will pick up from the 

 ground a small piece of coin. He will throw himself on 

 the side of his horse in such a position that only a small 

 part of an arm and leg can be seen from the other side. 



One method of racing is to start from a line and 

 rush full speed at a tree, the one who first touches 

 it being winner. Another is to rush at a heavy pole 

 placed horizontally about six feet from the ground, 

 resting on forks firmly set. If the rider stops his horse 

 a moment too soon he fails of touching the pole ; if a 

 moment too late the horse passes under the pole, leaving 

 the rider dangling to it or thrown to the ground. 



A third method is to fasten to the ground two strips 

 of buffalo hide from six to ten feet apart. The starting 

 point is some 200 yards from these strips, and the 

 game is to run at full speed, jump the horse between the 

 strips, turn him in his tracks, and return to the starting 

 point. The horse which fails to get beyond the first 

 strip with all four of his feet, or which gets a single foot 

 beyond the second strip, is beaten, even though he makes 

 the best time. 



