THE COMMANDING STALLION 67 



of reach lest my evil communications should 

 corrupt their morals. 



On the second occasion I took a half-broken 

 pack-train into a pasture on the bench of a 

 canon, so that the spring grass might cure an 

 epidemic of strangles which had killed seven 

 and sorely weakened the rest. The pasture 

 belonged to a wild stallion who lived there with 

 his family of young mares, colts and foals. 

 He stole my twenty-five mares, added them to 

 his harem, and made off. I was obliged to 

 build a corrall, round up the whole bunch, cut 

 out my mares, and drive the harem out of the 

 district. Meanwhile my stock had lapsed 

 from civilised ways and become wild beasts 

 who had to be broken all over again before it 

 was possible to use them for pack-train work. 



They say that a horse family depends in size 

 upon the powers of the strongest stallion, who 

 rises to com^mand by fighting and defeating all 

 competitors, and holds his command by single 

 combat with the leaders of rival families who 

 try to rob him. 



The commandant stallion is able to hold a 

 family of fifteen to fifty head, but there must be 

 some who by conquest of rival leaders, and 

 stealing of their harems, rise to commands on 

 a much larger scale. Ranging his family 



