162 SAND A ORIENTAL chap. 



was quite exhausted, he cried out, " Why not ? — never mind — 

 spur him — it is my horse." I had then some difficulty in 

 making him comprehend that it was for the horse's sake, and 

 not on his account, that I did not choose to use my spurs. 

 He exclaimed, with a look of great surprise, "Ah, Don Carlos, 

 que cosa ! " It was clear that such an idea had never before 

 entered his head. 



The Gauchos are well known to be perfect riders. The 

 idea of being thrown, let the horse do what it likes, never 

 enters their head. Their criterion of a good rider is, a man 

 who can manage an untamed colt, or who, if his horse falls, 

 alights on his own feet, or can perform other such exploits. I 

 have heard of a man betting that he would throw his horse 

 down twenty times, and that nineteen times he would not fall him- 

 self. I recollect seeing a Gaucho riding a very stubborn horse, 

 which three times successively reared so high as to fall backwards 

 with great violence. The man judged with uncommon cool- 

 ness the proper moment for slipping off, not an instant before 

 or after the right time ; and as soon as the horse got up, the 

 man jumped on his back, and at last they started at a gallop. 

 The Gaucho never appears to exert any muscular force. I was 

 one day watching a good rider, as we were galloping along at a 

 rapid pace, and thought to myself, " Surely if the horse starts, 

 you appear so careless on your seat, you must fall." At this 

 moment a male ostrich sprang from its nest right beneath the 

 horse's nose : the young colt bounded on one side like a stag ; 

 but as for the man, all that could be said was, that he started 

 and took fright with his horse. 



In Chile and Peru more pains are taken with the mouth of 

 the horse than in La Plata, and this is evidently a consequence 

 of the more intricate nature of the country. In Chile a horse 

 is not considered perfectly broken till he can be brought up 

 standing, in the midst of his full speed, on any particular spot, 

 — for instance, on a cloak thrown on the ground : or, again, he 

 will charge a wall, and rearing, scrape the surface with his hoofs. 

 I have seen an animal bounding with spirit, yet merely reined 

 hy a forefinger and thumb, taken at full gallop across a court- 

 yard, and then made to wheel round the post of a verandah with 

 great speed, but at so equal a distance, that the rider, with out- 

 stretched arm, all the while kept one finger rubbing the post. 



