COUNTEY SPOETS AND LIFE IN CHILE. 173 



former practise leaving their saddles^ or, in plain words, 

 being thrown, while the latter think it the greatest 

 disgrace ever to quit the saddle under any circumstances. 

 The reason is that on the Pampas there are so many 

 holes made by owls and other burrowing animals, that a 

 horse putting his foot into one of them invariably comes 

 down ; in fact, the Gauchos for pastime select a piece of 

 ground almost covered with these holes ; they then 

 gallop over it at full speed, and he who, when his horse 

 stumbles, alights on his legs is the best rider. Some 

 of their feats of horsemanship are really wonderful. Rosas 

 would frequently make the following wager : that he 

 would sit astride the cross-beam over the door of the 

 corral into which some hundreds of wild horses had been 

 driven after a rodeo and anyone might then point out 

 any horse he liked ; the door of the corral was opened, 

 and the horses allowed to jump out singly; Rosas then 

 dropped on the back of the selected horse as he rushed 

 out, and galloped, without bridle, reins, or anything but 

 spurs, as far as the horse could go, and he would then 

 ride him haclc to the corral. 



The gear of a Chile horse is one of the most curious- 

 looking arrangements in the world. The bit is composed 

 of a long flat piece of iron, which rests on the horse^s 

 tongue and against the roof of his mouth ; at the end of 

 this is a hole, through which is passed a massive iron 

 ring about four inches in diameter, which encircles the 

 lower jaw ; in front of the mouth another flat iron ring 

 is placed, to which the reins are fastened. The whole 

 afiair weighs about 51b., and is sufficiently powerful to 

 break a horse's jaw with a sudden jerk. The reins are 

 formed of finely-plaited hide, and are of about the thick- 

 ness of a forefinger; there are only two, and they are 



