CAMARGUE, COWBOY COUNTRY OF SOUTHERN FRANCE 



21 



THE SPECTATORS FORM THE WALES OF THE ARENA IN CAMARGUE BUEL-FlGHTS 



The mayor and the members of the city council of Le Cailar sit in a high gallery, but 

 most of the spectators prefer ringside places. When the bull rushes his antagonists and 

 charges toward the encircling crowds, it is a case of every man for himself. 



Camargue pony. Some say he is de- 

 scended from the Numidian horses 

 brought over by the Roman cavalry; 

 others ascribe his ancestry to the horses 

 left in the Rhone delta by the Saracens. 

 He resembles the long-haired horse of 

 Tibet and the Siberian pony. 



By a perfect adaptation to his environ- 

 ment, he has the same flat type of foot 

 and hard hoof that distinguishes the 

 horses of other marshy lands. He is 

 bold, powerful, and sure of foot. 



Rustic and sober in appearance, he has 

 an iron endurance and is so self-reliant 

 that he needs little care. When the rider 

 dismounts after the day's work is done, 

 the Camargue horse prefers to graze in 

 freedom on the sparse moor rather than 

 be well fed in a stable. The first time an 

 outsider rides one he ascribes its ancestry 

 to the hounds of hell. At the end of a 

 month he feels like kissing his trust- 

 worthy little steed each time he parts 

 from him. 



Before the advent of the modern 

 threshing-machine, the horses which run 

 wild through the barren stretches of Ca- 

 margue were employed to thresh wheat 



on the large farms of Provence and 

 Languedoc. Sheaves were spread on the 

 barn floor and the grain trodden out, as 

 is still the custom in many parts of the 

 world. 



AMERICAN ARMY IN FRANCE USED 

 CAMARGUE PONIES 



Camargue horses are never employed 

 in the French cavalry on account of their 

 small size, but the American Expedition- 

 ary Force recognized their good qualities 

 in war. When well broken and well 

 trained, the Camargue horse is the cow- 

 boy's mainstay. He is the only mount 

 with enough strength, suppleness, spirit, 

 and stamina for rough riding on the bar- 

 ren ranges. 



This independent little steed is not only 

 a good worker, but, like his master, when 

 a holiday comes, he delights in play. 

 Trained as is a polo pony to take a full 

 share in the sport, the Camargue cayuse 

 measures up to the demands of the situa- 

 tion. 



At aiguillettes, a contest in which the 

 riders try to impale small wooden rings 

 on their long wooden spears, the horse 



