12G SWIMMIXG ESSENTIALS. 



of a good understanding with a horse so much as when alternately 

 swimming and fording one of these rivers ; and when our life at 

 one time depends upon his perfect obedience to our will, and at 

 another upon our perfectly understanding the admonitions of his 

 superior instincts. Here practice is of great importance, to both 

 horse and man, neither of them must be timid, neither of them 

 must be rash, each of them must feel confidence in the other. It 

 is wonderful to see the confidencs that a horse will acquire at this 

 ■work in a man that has proved that he knows both how to direct 

 him and to understand him. 



262. — Many horses could never be taught this work, and no 

 one should venture into such rivers on an unproved horse. Try 

 the horse first in a clear, quiet river, with large boulders at the 

 bottom, and see how he manages his feet amongst them. If he 

 makes a mess of it you can't teach him to do it properly ; try 

 another, and don't waste time upon him. The same may be said 

 if he walks upon his hind legs when he ought to be swimming, 

 as many horses will do that are not accustomed to deep water. 

 Never take such a horse into a dangerous river. The first horse 

 that served us this trick made us lose both of our stirrups, and 

 we had to finish our journey without any. He was the last horse 

 that we ever started with on an overland journey without trying 

 him as a swimmer. 



263. — Left to himself a horse will almost always choose to 

 cross a river on a ford, but if you know that the river is too high 

 for fording, you should avoid every shallow, and go at once to a 

 deep quiet part of the river, where you can see a good landing 

 far enough below you on the other side. Be sure that you 

 allow enough for current, as it will not matter if you reach the 

 other side half a mile above your landing place, but it may matter 

 a good deal if you reach it half a yard too low. "\7e have 

 sometimes been washed a mile down whilst crossin": a flooded 

 river not a furlong wide. Never allow your horse to waste his 

 strength by trying to swim up a rapid river. If you have 

 missed your landing place you must seek another below, however 

 far that may be, and your horse should be kept in deep water 

 for that purpose, with a sharp look out for logs, or rocks, that 



