Page:Don Coronado through Kansas.djvu/62

51 AN ARAB'S SECRET. 51 ■was & wealt^by aristocrat, able and willmg to equip Ms oniy boy sumptuously; tHeref6re,^in.iBe the young fellow's eighteieiithbirthday, be has had his own horse, which4s,n.0T;!r fiyg years old, and it has been trained siiifee it was a tworyear-old t6 obejr the commEindiS of its master. Only those who have been intimately asso- ciated with horses can possibly comprehend the ex- tent of the thinking faculties of a w:ell; bred horse. He, can be .taught to do so many wonderful things iitit it is useless to try to enumerate them. Except the advice of a noted chief of the Moors, whom Aloiiso fiiet athcjir father's and to whomwas imparted the fact of the acquisition of his two-year -old; Alonsp hav- ing been presented with the same about that ti,me by his father. Tlae famous Arab was the highest au- thority on horses, so, having a love for the boy on her account, told the young fellow a secret which was imparted to none except his own immediate relatives. The secret was that the two-year-old should be con- verted into a gelding, giving the reason that it would make the animal so much more tractible, and of greater endurance as well as give it more sagacity. And Alonso, like a broad minded youth, took the advice which turned to his benefit in future years. Alonso, being iii training for a knight, commenced while young to train his steed so that when the time arrived that he was to light the enemies of his country, and espe- cially the Moors, his charger would serve him faith- fully and eJJactively; therefore, this perfect specimen of the fequine family, now five years old, was christ- ened when a colt with a name famous in times of yore, for it was the celebrated Gid's horse, Babieca.