THE MUSTANG. 581 
by permitting it to become sour, and then stirring the curd and milk violently with a large 
stick until it is forced into a homogeneous mass. From the same substance the Tartars make 
a fermented liquid. These Horses are very strong and hardy, and the breed is preserved in 
good condition by the custom which prevails among the Tartars of killing and eating the 
defective or weak foals, and preserving the strong and healthy for use. Being brought up 
with the family, the Tartar Horse is very gentle and familiar with its owners. When they are 
only a few months of age they are ridden by the children, but never backed by a man until 
they are five or six years old. They are then, however, severely treated, being forced to travel 
for several consecutive days, and to endure great privations of hunger and thirst. 
MUSTANG, 
AnoTuer well-known example of the Wild Horse is the Mustane of the American 
prairies. 
This animal is congregated into vast herds, which are always under the guardianship of 
a single leader, who is able, in some wonderful manner, to convey his orders to all his sub- 
jects simultaneously. Although surrounded by various enemies, such as the puma, the 
wolf, and the jaguar, they care little for these ravenous and powerful carnivora, trusting in 
their united strength to save them from harm. There is no animal that will dare to face a 
troop of Wild Horses, which often entice the domesticated animals into their ranks, and 
rarry them exultingly into the free plains. 
The Mustang is always a strong and a useful animal, and is much sought after as a 
saddle-horse. To capture these wild creatures is a very difficult matter, and is generally 
managed by the help of the lasso, although the rifle is sometimes called into requisition in 
difficult cases. This latter plan, technically called ‘‘ creasing,’ is never employed but by 
very accurate marksmen, as the difference of half an inch in the line of fire is sufficient 
either to miss the animal or to kill it on the spot. In ‘‘creasing’’ a Horse, the hunter aims 
so as to graze the skull just behind the ear, the sudden blow stunning the horse for a few 
seconds, during which time the hunter pounces on the bewildered animal, and secures it 
before it has fairly recovered its senses, 
