38 FOREIGN BREEDS OF HORSES. 



the centre, tliey form themselves into a circle and welcome him witli their 

 heels. In the attack, their leader is the first to face the danger, and when 

 prudence demands a retreat, they follow his rapid flight. 



In the thinly inhabited parts of South Axnerica it is dangerous to fall 

 in wiili any of these troops. The wild horses approach as near as they 

 dare ; they call to the loaded horse with the greatest eagerness, and if the 

 rider is not on the alert, and has not considerable streng-th of arm and 

 sharpness of spur, his beast will divest himself of his burden, take to his 

 heels, and be gone for ever. Byron beautifully describes this in his 

 Mazeppa : — 



A trampling troop: I see them come : 

 In one vast squadron tliey advance ! 

 I strove to cry — my lips were dumb. 

 The steeds rush on in plunging pride, 

 Bat where ai'e they the reins who guide ? 

 A thousand horse and none to ride! 

 With flowing tail and flj'ing mane, 

 Wide nostrils — never stretch'd by pain- 

 Mouths bloodless to the bit or rein, 

 And feet that iron never shod, 

 And flanks unscarr'd by spur or rod — 

 A thousand horse, the wild, the free, 

 Like waves that follow o'er the sea. 

 On came the troop .... 

 They stop — they start — they snuff the air, 

 Gallop a moment here and there. 

 Approach, retire, wheel round and round. 

 Then plunging back with sudden bound ; 

 They snort, they foam, neigh, sweiwe aside, 

 And backward to the forest fly. 



Captain Head gives the following account of a meeting with a troop 

 of wild horses, where the country is more thickly inliabited. Some poor 

 captured animals are supposed to be forced along by their rideis at theu- 

 very utmost speed : — ' As they are thus galloping along, urged by the 

 spur, it is interesting to see the gToups of wild horses one passes. The 

 mares, which are never ridden in South America, seem not to understand 

 what makes the poor horse carry his head so low and look so weary. 

 The little innocent colts come running to meet him, and then start away 

 frightened ; while the old horses, whose white marks on the flanks and 

 backs betray their acquaintance with the spur and saddle, walk slowly 

 away for some distance, then breaking into a trot as they seek their safety, 

 snort and look behind them, first with one eye and then with the other, 

 turning their noses from right to left, and carrying their long tails high 

 in the air.' 



The same pleasing writer describes the system of horse-management 

 among the rude inhabitants of the plains of South America. They have 

 no stables, no fenced pastures. One horse is usually kept tied at the door 

 of the hut, fed scantily at night on maize ; or at other tiines several may 

 be enclosed in the corral, which is a circular space surrounded by rough 

 posts, driven firmly into the ground. The mares are never ridden, or 

 attempted to be tamed, but wander with their foals wherever they please. 



"When the Gaucho, the native inhabitant of the plains, wants horses for 

 himself or for the supply of a traveller, he either goes gith his lasso to 

 tlie corral, and selects those possibly who on the preceding day had for 

 the first time been backed, or he scampers across the plain, and presently 

 returns with an unwilling, straggling, or subdued captive. When the 

 services of the animals have been exacted, he either takes them to the 

 ooiral and feeds them with a small quantity of maize, if he thinks he 



