Page:Natural History (1848).djvu/177

Rh with a heavy shock, and while struggling on the ground, the Gaucho, holding the lazo tight, makes a circle so as to catch one of the hind legs just beneath the fetlock, and draws it close to the two front. He then hitches the lazo so that the three legs 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 throng, fastened by a slip knot. The lazo which bound the three together being then loosened, 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 while the first puts on the horse-cloths and the saddle, and girths the whole together. During this operation, the horse, from dread and astonishment at being thus 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 he throws his leg over the animal’s back, he pulls the slip knot, and the beast is free. Some domidors pull the knot while the animal is lying on the ground, and, standing over the saddle, allow it to rise be- neath them; the horse, wild with dread, gives a