ENGLISH VS. IRISH HIDING. 47 



Being out of rations wo sent our doubting Thomas on 

 horseback at daylight on Sunday morning up the moun- 

 tains for a sup2)ly, and on his return at four o'clock 

 p. M., he found us lying on the grass, Binnix by our side, 

 and the entire band of wild horses lassoed and haltered 

 inside of the corrall, each horse tied to a post, while we 

 had the famous mule tied by herself to a stake some 

 twenty yards from the corral by way of a triumph and a 

 satisfaction in the face of all we had heard of the history 

 of the band and the ultimate failure of our enterprise. 



There was an understanding among the peoj^le in the 

 country that half the value of the mules and tame horses 

 captured by the band would be paid to any person who 

 would deliver them up to their owners. With one ex- 

 ception this pledge was cheerfully respected, and we sold 

 the wild horses at prices ranging from twenty to two 

 hundred dollars. And we need not say that the gallant 

 black became our favorite saddle-horse. 



HABITS. 



Habits, good or bad, are very readily acquired by 

 horses. A few repetitions of the same thing will teach 

 them to do anything in their way of their own accord. 

 In this respect they are like ourselves. 



" How use doth breed a habit in a man." 



If this were more general, the life of the horse would 

 be stripped of half the terrors that are occasioned by the 

 unnecessary use of the bit in unskillful hands. 



In England, a team of draft-horses, six or eight all in 

 a string, in both wagon and plow, are driven without 

 reins, as oxen are with us, and it would be a reflection 

 upon the instincts, tractability and intelligence of the 

 saddle-horse if he were suspected of being less suscepti- 

 ble of obedience to the voice in his capacity than the 

 more sluggish tenants of the back stables are in theirs. 



