VIII 
BREAKING-IN WILD HORSES 
161 
three are bound together. Then sitting on the horse’s neck, he 
fixes a strong bridle, without a bit, to the lower jaw : this he 
does by passing a narrow thong through the eye-holes at the 
end of the reins, and several times round both jaw and tongue. 
The two front legs are now tied closely together with a strong 
leathern thong, fastened by a slip-knot. The lazo, which bound 
the three together, being then loosed, the horse rises with 
difficulty. The Gaucho, now holding fast the bridle fixed to the 
lower jaw, leads the horse outside the corral. If a second man 
is present (otherwise the trouble is much greater) he holds the 
animal’s head, whilst the first puts on the horsecloths and saddle, 
and girths the whole together. During this operation, the 
horse, from dread and astonishment at thus being bound round 
the waist, throws himself over and over again on the ground, 
and, till beaten, is unwilling to rise. At last, when the saddling 
is finished, the poor animal can hardly breathe from fear, and 
is white with foam and sweat. The man now prepares to 
mount by pressing heavily on the stirrup, so that the horse may 
not lose its balance ; and at the moment that he throws his leg 
over the animal’s back, he pulls the slip-knot binding the front 
legs, and the beast is free. Some “ domidors ” pull the knot 
while the animal is lying on the ground, and, standing over the 
saddle, allow him to rise beneath them. The horse, wild with 
dread, gives a few most violent bounds, and then starts off at 
full gallop : when quite exhausted, the man, by patience, brings 
him back to the corral, where, reeking hot and scarcely alive, 
the poor beast is let free. Those animals which will not gallop 
away, but obstinately throw themselves on the ground, are by 
far the most troublesome. This process is tremendously severe, 
but in two or three trials the horse is tamed. It is not, how¬ 
ever, for some weeks that the animal is ridden with the iron 
bit and solid ring, for it must learn to associate the will of its 
rider with the feel of the rein, before the most powerful bridle 
can be of any service. 
Animals are so abundant in these countries, that humanity 
and self-interest are not closely united ; therefore I fear it is 
that the former is here scarcely known. One day, riding in the 
Pampas with a very respectable “ Estanciero,” my horse, being 
tired, lagged behind. The man often shouted to me to spur 
him. When I remonstrated that it was a pity, for the horse 
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