6 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER 



to speak, 011 his hind legs. Scarcely does he touch 

 the ground with his fere-feet than he rises again. 

 One hand, in concert with the legs, soon trains to 

 this exercise a horse of fair intelligence. 



El Gueteua, ' the bucking.' The horse springs 

 up with all fours off the ground, the horseman at the 

 same time throwing up his gun into the air and 

 cleverly catching it. To obtain this action, the rider 

 marks certain intervals of rest, and works with his 

 legs. He gives with the animal as it rises, in order 

 to hold him up when he comes down again. Nothing 

 can be more picturesque than this movement. The 

 horses quit the earth, the guns fly into the air, and 

 the ample folds of the burnous float and unroll them- 

 selves in the wind, thrown back by the vigorous arms 

 of the children of the desert. 



Lastly, El BerraJca, ' the kneeling.' The rider, 

 remaining on his saddle, causes his horse to kneel 

 down. This is the ne plus ultra of the horse and 

 the animal. Not every horse is fit for this exercise. 

 The colt is trained to it by tickling him on the 

 coronet, pinching him on the legs, and forcing him 

 to bend the knee. After a time the horseman will 

 reap the benefit of these preliminary steps. He need 

 only clear his feet of the stirrups, stretch his legs 

 forward, turn out the points of his toes, touch with 

 his long spurs the animal's forearm, and then, as his 

 piece is fired at marriage-feasts and other rejoicings, 

 his horse will kneel down, amid the applause of the 



