170 RAMBLES AFTER SPORT. 



A capataz of an hacienda up norths wlio had occasion to 

 send several proijrios (couriers) a day, told me that ten 

 leagues or twenty-eight miles a day was all that could be 

 got out of an average horse for a continuance, say of one 

 week. The price of a horse varies; in the northern pro- 

 vinces, where there are scarcely any railways, a good horse 

 is frequently worth from SOL to 40L ; down south, in the 

 haciendas, a very fair horse may be bought for 101. up to 

 201., and at this latter price you ought to get a superior 

 animal. Horses are usually allowed to run loose till they 

 are three to four years old, and, I believe, in fact it must 

 be, that it is owing to this that they keep sound so much 

 longer than they do in England. A horse nine or ten years 

 old is considered young in Chile, and I have repeatedly 

 known instances of horses running races at seventeen 

 and eighteen years old. Guacho, the property of Mr. 

 Garland, won the Valparaiso Cup, for South American- 

 bred horses only, two years in succession, at the age of 

 nineteen and twenty years, with 9st. odd on his back. 

 If a horse is only required for farm work, or is intended 

 to be ridden by ijeons only, the process of breaking him 

 in is very simple. A man, the domador, mounted on a 

 horse used to the business, rides into a herd of horses, 

 and lassos the one he requires ; he is then dragged to a 

 convenient place for a sharp gallop, a manta is tied 

 round his head, and a manea or strap is passed round his 

 fore legs; a saddle is then strapped on, and i\iQ domador 

 mounts. As often as not, the animal is on the ground 

 all this time, but, however that may be, as soon as the 

 man is in the saddle the majita is torn off his head, the 

 manea removed, and away darts the horse, plunging, 

 kicking, and trying by every means in his power to 

 get rid of his rider. When he is tired of the useless 



