Page:Hunting and trapping stories; a book for boys (IA huntingtrappings00pric).pdf/231

 bull-fights, and chariot racing was popular until the fall of the Empire. It is carried on in a modified fashion to-day.

England has raised famous horses for various uses, but they probably all came from the original Arab stock. Throughout Russia and Asia the most popular beasts are the little, untidy, shaggy horses of Tartary. The Cossacks have trained them to a wonderful extent, but above all they stand the terrible cold of Siberia. They are not much to look at but are remarkably strong and enduring.

In the United States we have seen cavalrymen train their horses to do wonderful things, such as to sit on their haunches and to lie down flat so as to form a breastwork behind which their riders shoot. In all the western Indian wars the horse has played a great part. Soldiers stand in their saddles, ride backward, sideways and, in fact, in every possible way, with or without saddles. The West Pointers become the most expert horsemen in the world and they equal western horseman at their own tactics.

Circus horses have to be specially trained and well treated, for they have to understand quickly and obey the slighest word spoken to them. A mistep on the part of a circus horse would instantly cause the death of a rider if he were doing some very difficult feat such as turning a double sommersault on its back. Again the horse must be taught to stand the glare of the lamps and the noise of the bands and shouting people. It is not an uncommon thing to hear of a troupe of educated horses doing such tricks as holding bouquets of flowers, smoking pipes, ringing bells and shooting off pistols.

Buffalo Bill's show has traveled all over the world showing how the American Indians and cowboys ride wild horses. When the show was in England a gentleman exhibited a pony upon which a saddle had never been put. Two grooms had lost their lives in attempting to break the little beast. The owner jokingly dared a cowboy to try his hand at taming the pony. The cowboy was not dismayed; he quietly took his saddle, bridle, lasso and spurs, and went to work. In less than half an hour he had saddled the untamable one and ridden it around the field.

Every boy has seen the wonderful fire-engine horses, now common in every American city. How they stand unhitched, and the instant the alarm rings spring into their places and in a second or two are harnessed up and off to the fire with a two ton engine rattling behind them.

The race horse seems to be a distinct creature, long legged, lean and lanky, but with muscles of iron. This horse has been slowly envolved and