on him, the Joven tugging at the string-girths until the unfortunate
grass-fed animal looked like a wasp. The lassoes were tautened, and the
youngster thrown over on his side. The Joven, grinning cheerfully, then
forced a thong of raw hide into his unwilling pupil's mouth, whilst the
young horse, half-mad with terror, rolled his eyes impotently. The
Joven, standing astride over the fallen animal, half-dancing on his
toes in his canvas shoes, would shout to the men to slacken the heel-
rope, and then to let go the head-rope. As the terrified animal
struggled to his feet, the Joven slipped nimbly on to the _recado_.
Then came a brief pause, as the horse puzzled over the unaccustomed
weight on his back, and those abominable girths that were cutting him
in two, till, with his head between his knees, and his back arched like
a bow, up he went vertically into the air, landing on all four feet.
That irksome weight was still there, and he had received a sharp cut
with some unknown instrument, but it might be worth while trying it
again. So up he went a second time, the Joven grinning from ear to ear,
but sitting like a rock, then, as it was as well to teach a young horse
that bucking entailed punishment, the _revenque_ descended smartly two
or three times, and a _revenque_ hurts. The puzzled youngster did
not like it, and thought that he would try rolling for a change. The
Joven slipped off with the dexterity of an acrobat, and dancing about
on his toes, chose his moment, and was again on the horse's back as he
rose. Then came a real contest and trial of skill between the
four-legged and two-legged youngsters, as the horse began kicking
furiously, and then reared, but do what he would that tiresome weight
was still on his back, and there was an unaccustomed pressure on his
sides. The Joven, his sun-baked round face wreathed in grins, as
though he were having the time of his life, was now using his
_revenque_ in earnest, and the young horse decided that he would
prefer to try a gallop at full speed. Off he went like an arrow from a