There,
of course, I had to go slowly. But as soon as the trail
was smooth again, the horses would fall back into their
stride without being urged. They had, as I said, caught
the infection. My yearning for speed was satisfied at last.
Four sights stand out.
The first is of just such bunches of horses that were
being brought through the winter with practically no yard
feeding at all; and consequently their healthy outdoor
looks, and their velvety rumps were very conspicuous as
they scattered away from the trail on our approach.
Several times we dashed right in among them, and I had
to shout in order to clear the road. They did not like
to leave the firm footing on the trail, where they fed
by pawing away the snow on both sides and baring the
weeds. Sometimes a whole bunch of them would thunder
along in a stampede ahead of us till they came to a
cross-trail or to a farmyard; there we left them behind.
Sometimes only one of them would thus try to keep in
front, while the rest jumped off into the drifts; but,
being separated from his mates, he would stop at last
and ponder how to get back to them till we were right on
him again.
Pages:
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208