PART II 



CHAPTER IV 



BUSH HORSES 



In order to make a striking contrast between 

 half-wild horses — such as are common in our 

 English colonies or on the prairies in North and 

 South America — and the well-eroomed and well- 

 corned horses in our best stables at home, I will 

 give a short sketch of Bush Life in Northern 

 Queensland, afterwards giving in detail the 

 routine of stable-manao^ement in a hioh-class 

 stud. 



Without understanding the leading features of 

 the locality in which semi-wild horses are bred in, 

 it is almost impossible to comprehend how and 

 why they are treated so casually. But their value 

 is comparatively very little, and they are treated 

 accordingly. 



The Bush, as it is known to squatters and station 

 hands, varies considerably. Roughly speaking, 

 Australian scenery is divided into thick scrub and 

 open plain, both stretching immense distances, 

 and overpowering the brain of the new arrival 

 with a sense of the vastness of Nature. The 

 runs are usually partitioned by barbed wire 

 fencing, and the only other indications of civilisa- 

 tion are the rails of the wooden stock-yard of the 



