42 Horse and Hound. 



well-known fact that some sportsmen never out- 

 grow favorite fancies, whether right or wrong. 



It is difficult to get an Englishman to try rid- 

 ing by balance even on the flat, and as for timber 

 topping with balance seat, such a suggestion 

 would cause him to doubt your sanity, and this 

 in view of the fact that none of the many Eng- 

 lishmen who essayed riding Buffalo Bill's buck- 

 ing bronchos succeeded, while the balance seat 

 cowboys rode them with ease, rolling and light- 

 ing cigarettes and fanning themselves through- 

 out the pitching and bucking. 



I recall my own first experience in riding a 

 bucking broncho. I had gone West upon a hunt- 

 ing trip to Colorado when a youth of seventeen, 

 and in selecting a horse from the band for my 

 own use, I decided upon a sleek, round-looking 

 ''Cayuse" in preference to the many thin, wiry, 

 run-down-looking ones in the band, not knowing 

 at the time that his condition was positive evi- 

 dence that he was a "bucker." Being asked if 

 I had ever ridden a "bucker," I remarked that I 

 had been raised on horseback in Kentucky and 

 could ride anything that wore hair. In a few 

 moments I regretted my remark, when I found 

 myself piled up in a corner of the adobe wall sur- 

 rounding the corral and the onlookers giving me 

 the laugh. I had hardly seated myself when he 

 commenced as fine an exhibition of bucking as 

 ever was seen. Not having taken the precau- 



