Page:Don Coronado through Kansas.djvu/224

A LAUGHABIiE SPECTACLE. 211 but b^ Ysopete coming in contact with the Spaniarda some of the vrebs had been removed from bis brain, so he does not hesitate to hng the young vietor, and scrape the beads of perspiration from his body; in fact, being a professional runner of his clan, he ia an ideal trainer, and knowing from e^pe^enee the strain which such an ordeal puts Txpon the body he uses e^- ery known means .to fit the young fellow for his maiden ride on horseback. The soldiers hare con- ceived the idea of taking off the saddles so as to make it more difficult for the novices. And now the six horses are ready for the start. It would make a Tod Sloan, Johnny Eeece or Danny Maher crack their sides with laughter to have seen the ludicrous appen,ranoe of these six jockeys; but after most of them losing their balance they finally get started. They are supposed to go toward a pole, to ride around it, then to return to the starting place. But, Lord bless you! owing to the reins being jerked and the wrong Lin3 pulled the poor animals did not know what to do; soma stopped, and in doing so, came down from a gallop to a trot. Those who understand this know how easy it is to ride on a lope, but to be brought up suddenly to a trot causes one to either lose his balance and slide off, or else the next thing is to grab around the horse's neck, thus losing control of the horse's head, which usually gets an amateur into trouble. Finally one reaches the pole, and being so tickled he gives a yell of satisfaction which so scares his steed that it gathers the bit in its mouth and makes a bolt that is a race indeed. And now this rider can easily keep his seat, for just so long as a