F. Cuvier has observed that all animals that readily
enter into domestication consider man as a member of their own
society, and thus fulfil their instinct of association. In the
above case the shepherd-dog ranks the sheep as its fellow-brethren,
and thus gains confidence; and the wild dogs, though knowing that
the individual sheep are not dogs, but are good to eat, yet partly
consent to this view when seeing them in a flock with a
shepherd-dog at their head.
One evening a "domidor" (a subduer of horses) came for the purpose
of breaking-in some colts. I will describe the preparatory steps,
for I believe they have not been mentioned by other travellers. A
troop of wild young horses is driven into the corral, or large
enclosure of stakes, and the door is shut. We will suppose that one
man alone has to catch and mount a horse, which as yet had never
felt bridle or saddle. I conceive, except by a Gaucho, such a feat
would be utterly impracticable. The Gaucho picks out a full-grown
colt; and as the beast rushes round the circus, he throws his lazo
so as to catch both the front legs. Instantly the horse rolls over
with a heavy shock, and whilst 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 legs: he then hitches the lazo, so that the three are
bound together.
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