TAMING HORSES. 29 



handle him with as much ease as they could 

 handle the gentlest plough-horse. Being put into a 

 large yard, he ate with the rest of the wild horses, 

 his companions, and in going a second time to 

 catch him, there was no need of throwing the rope 

 upon him, he letting any one come up before him 

 and put the halter upon him. The third day, he 

 w^as rode down from the mine to this city, where he 

 was shod all around, standing perfectly still when 

 the blacksmith took up his feet, and never flinching 

 at the stroke of the hammer. Being shod and led 

 out before a great number of people, the servant 

 threw the saddle over his head, then let it fall over 

 his heels and on either side, and under his belly, 

 without frightening him in the least. To the above 

 relation I was an eye-witness, since I was present 

 from the begiiming to the end, without any inter- 

 ruption to all the simple and jDrogressive operations 

 used in breaking this fiery, wild and hitherto un- 

 tameable animal : being astonished above all to see, 

 that in them this dexterous manager made no use of 

 spurs, whip, clamor or exclamation ; but, on the con- 

 trary, gentleness and caresses were the only means 

 he put in practice to bring, as it w^ere by enchant- 

 ment to obedience, this wild animal, whose tracta- 

 bility, even at this time, is doubtless much greater 

 than that which is observed in horses of a gentle 

 nature, tamed at the end of a year or more, with 



