I14 Life in the Open 



herders who round up sheep in the steep caftons of 

 Santa Catalina and Santa Rosa islands. The secret was 

 that the wiry horses were as sure-footed as goats, even 

 when running at full speed along the side of some 

 cafion. 



The country may be dangerous for indiscriminate 

 hard riding, but not for those who know and are fond 

 of it ; and in ten or more years of cross-country riding 

 with a large field, the Valley Hunt had no serious acci- 

 dents, and few of any kind. One is worth mentioning 

 for its extraordinary nature. 



The hounds were chasing a coyote near this place 

 one morning, possibly twenty ladies and gentlemen fol- 

 lowing, nearly all going at full speed ; by that I mean 

 many of the horses were almost beyond control. It 

 happened that I was with the master of the hounds 

 in the lead when we turned into a lane, which came out 

 on to a new road which we supposed led to open coun- 

 try ; but the barb-wire fence fiend had arrived unex- 

 pectedly, and we came on to his handiwork with a rush. 

 I saw it and shouted back, and the hunt succeeded in 

 stopping their horses ; but the coyote squeezed under 

 the lower wire, not ten feet from us. The master of 

 the hounds could not stop his horse which struck the 

 fence, which bent and threw him completely over. I had 

 taken the left rein in both hands, exerting all my strength 

 to either turn my horse or throw him, and the clever 

 animal, seeing the extraordinary flight of his companion 

 through the air, turned, settled back, as a cow horse will 



