TRAINING, AND GENERAL MANAGEMENT. 1 69 



was a Spring where all the stock, wild and tame, came 

 to get water. Within the ring fence which enclosed 

 the run were hundreds of horses, and the manager set 

 to work to secure as many of them as possible. With 

 this end in view he had high posts and rails put round 

 the water. Near the gateway and outside the enclo- 

 sure a hole was dug large enough to hide one man. 

 This was covered over with boughs, and the trap was 

 complete. It was determined not to make any 

 attempt at capturing horses until they were well used 

 to going in and out of the yard. At first they would 

 not enter, but on seeing the yard would gallop back to 

 the scrub. After a few days, however, thirst brought 

 large mobs of them to the spring, and some of the less 

 cautious soon led the way to the gate ; after a week 

 they thought nothing of entering to get water. A 

 time was then chosen, and a man hid himself under the 

 boughs. After sundown a mob came out of the scrub 

 and made for the spring. The look-out man quickly 

 closed the gate, thus securing some fifty horses for the 

 rough riders to start work upon. 



On the following morning the work of hobbling, 

 branding, and breaking-in commenced. The fence 

 round the water had been made both strong and high. 

 Some of the wilder ones, however, became mad with 

 fear, and broke out. The first thing to be done was 

 to drive a few of the horses into a smaller and stronger 

 yard within the fence to commence work upon. The 



