8o MAN KILLING 



is, and they will all leap clear. They dread 

 placing a foot on anything which might col- 

 lapse or roll, and so cause a dangerous fall. 



There remain extreme cases in which horses 

 are guilty of deliberate, planned murder. 



Savaging is practised by civilised as well as 

 by range horses. It is a sudden, and often un- 

 provoked, wide-eyed staring rush with teeth 

 bared, an attempt either to inflict a dangerous 

 bite or to get a man down and trample him to 

 death. 



Holding wind. The only case I know of 

 was that of a fine buckskin gelding for whom 

 I paid a rifle, a suit of clothes and ten dollars 

 in trade with an Indian. It seemed impossible 

 to get the girth properly tight until, after three 

 days, I concluded that my suspicion of his 

 holding wind was merely foolishness. All the 

 same I used to regirth a mile or two out on each 

 march. I had regirthed at the top of a moun- 

 tain pass, and was mounting, when he suddenly 

 let out all his wind and bolted over rock heaps. 

 The saddle came down with me on the off side, 

 I was dragged, and afterwards woke up to find 

 myself maimed for life. Then we had a fight, 

 which he won. It turned out afterwards that 

 holding wind until he could catch out and kill 

 his rider was an old accomplishment for which 



