152 WAITING IN THE WILDERNESS 



bred horse in the way of grace of line, of colour, 

 of ease of action, of pride and head poise, could 

 be said of Black Diamond. In addition, he had 

 exceptional endurance and alertness. After all, 

 he was a thoroughbred a full-blooded Arabian. 

 The Spanish conquerors of Mexico had brought 

 in a number of thoroughbred Arabian horses. 

 A few escaped and quickly produced herds of 

 wild horses. They scattered northward and 

 were assisted in rapid, wider distribution by the 

 Indians. In a few decades there were thousands 

 of wild horses in the Southwest. 



These horses possessed all the good qualities 

 of the original stock plus the additional devel- 

 opment of a peculiar environment. The grasses 

 of the plateaus were nourishing the year round. 

 The high altitude gave increased lung develop- 

 ment. There were carnivorous animal enemies 

 and trying weather conditions which exacted 

 great physical endurance and mental alertness. 

 These horses may be said to have been raised 

 under conditions, though different, as helpful for 

 best results as man could have given them. 

 Black Diamond had generations of these Nature- 

 trained horses behind him, and possessed the 

 transmitted triumphant traits. 



The first drive for Black Diamond brought in 

 sixty wild horses. Before they could be cor- 

 ralled, Black Diamond broke away and led all 



