Page:Don Coronado through Kansas.djvu/229

216 216 PLAINS HORSES LIKE TIGfESKS that they could break and ride any horse, and so the ifun comiQeiitied, as thtee animals Trerehke tigerti. They resie'ntfed ill treatment, a known fact, for tho brutal young men beat the poor things urith the view of Subduing them, but the more severe the usa^ the mor& vicious became the nags, and finally they were su^ terrors ^rith their kie&s from behind, strtkmg with their front feet as well as biting, that after one or two of the boys got hurt they were compelled to acknowledge being beaten; but out of the same herd a man purchased one just as vicious, but he got it home, tkd it sugar and finally was able to pat it on the neck, until the animal discovered it was not going to be hurt, submitted to the saddle and harness, maMng an ideal cattle horse from which no cow or steer could dodge or outrun. So the fact of our six young Indians' first horse- race being witnessed by thousands of natives, and be- cause of the stirring experiences of the lucky six, naturally fired these children of nature to hanker for such an animal; and thus it was that the plains In- dians became so notorious for their fine horseman- ship and love of the useful animal. The natives of the prairies had the advantage of their eastern ene- mies because of their superiority in covering distances on their ponies, but the Sioux and dwellers of the Great Lakes had the advantage of coming in contact with the French-Canadian traders, from whom they procured fire-arms and steel implements 'of warfare, by which they were able to more than outweigh the advantages the western Indians had because of their horses. After the excitement and fun created by the