146 The Book of the Hokse. 



River Plate States. Bays, blacks, and browns, are the prevailing and most esteemed colours. 

 The origin of this breed is identical with that of the Argentine horses, and their superiority 

 may be traced to more careful selection and breeding. In height they vary from 14.3 to 15.2, 

 but their chief superiority consists in their fine action and perfect education. 



As far as my experience goes, no pleasanter or more perfect hack exists ; for what better 

 qualities are to be looked for in a hack than an exquisite mouth, easy paces, good up action 

 that renders stumbling an almost impossibility, fine courage, high mettle, and extraordinary 

 tractability. I speak here of the superior and not general class of horses in Chili. The Chilian 

 horses have usually high action, but the trotting pace is twofold ; some being trained to 

 throw their feet outwards towards their arms ; these are called " brazeadores," from " brazas," 

 Anglice " arms " ; others have straight, high action (much preferable to the former), and are 

 called " pisadores," steppers. Their high action is partly natural, inherent to the breed according 

 to some, and the result, according to others, of the nature of the land on which they have been 

 reared, which is stony, rugged, and intersected by numerous watercourses. Their natural 

 high action is increased and improved during the process of breaking by means of bolitos (wooden 

 balls about an inch and half in diameter, loosely beaded into a string, and tied round the 

 pasterns of the fore-legs, which have the effect of causing them to throw their legs high). 

 The high action towards the arms {hra::cadores) is produced by tying strong strips of raw hide 

 round the pastern, and which are allowed to trail on the ground to the length of six or seven 

 jnches. To avoid treading on them, the horse throws his legs outwards, and in process of 

 time this becomes a second nature, and clings to him through life. A Chilian horsebreaker 

 is a breaker in the best acceptation of the word ; he is a perfect master of his art, and quite 

 at the top of the tree as an educator. The Argentine, on the other hand, is a breaker in the 

 worst meaning of the word, and the best among them cannot turn out a horse with perfect 

 manners. The Chilian requires a much longer time to educate a horse, but the delay is amply 

 compensated for by the accomplished manner in which he does his work. 



I have ridden hacks by the score, both in England and South America, and the pleasantest 

 one I ever crossed was a Chileno. He had extraordinary mettle, but was so gentle and 

 tractable that a girl seven years of age has frequently ridden him ; his mouth, paces, and 

 manners were perfection, and I never remembered him to have committed a fault either in 

 the stable or in the saddle. He would have been an invaluable horse for a timid lady to 

 ride in the Row ; I don't think he would have gone wrong in a crowd with the reins thrown 

 loose over his neck. 



The bit in use in Chili is, I believe, similar to the Moorish bit introduced by the Spaniards 

 300 years ago. It is very severe, and requires good hands, especially with young horses. 

 My friend, Mr. Downes, rode a thoroughbred mare regularly in Hyde Park with a bit of 

 this description, contrary to the advice of his friends, who said she would rear and fall backwards 

 with such a thing in her mouth. He made her wonderfully handy in two or three weeks, 

 and she was much admired; but her rider was one in a thousand as far as regards "hands." 



For polo I consider the riding horses of Chili much superior to anj-thing I have yet seen ; 

 but I must confess that my experience is limited, having only seen some dozen games. They 

 are, however, much quicker on their legs, and can be brought up in a much smaller space 

 than any of the polo ponies I have seen ; and were I fond of the game I should not be long 

 before I had one brought over. 



The curiosity of the American horse tribes is the Mustang, or Indum pon)-, described 

 in the following passages from the most recent authorities 



