From: firstinitiallastname@texas.net   
      
   May O. Naise wrote:   
   > In article <2cKcg.5732$x4.2823@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net>,   
   > Khonakong@hotmail.com says...   
   >   
   >   
   >>   A lot of information. Thanks!  Now another question - are donkeys as   
   >>fragile as horses when it comes to legs and ankles and such?   
   >   
   >   
   > You've surely heard the term, "sure footed."   
   > That term is usually applied to mules, donkeys and burros.   
   > I presume they are more "sure footed" than other   
   > beasts of burden because they don't like to run.   
   > They're walkers, and left to their own devices,   
   > slow walkers at that. Especially burros.   
   >   
      
   I'm late reading the group, so I'll just tag on here.   
      
   Mules are indeed what you could call sure-footed and quite capable of   
   running well. And will walk most horses into the ground, besides not   
   being prone to panic and not nearly so demanding of diet. Popular   
   especially in rough hilly and mountain areas. I'll take a good mule   
   anytime, in spite of the prejudice against them, at least around here.   
   Festus was right.   
      
   Re the original questions:   
      
   While horses were not pets, it's misleading from today's perspective to   
   say they were 100 percent work. Yes, they were for work, but there was   
   often a lot of affection for a man's personal or regular working horse.   
   Remember that the man working the horse was also "all work." But it's   
   true that when a man was assigned five horses for his string, working   
   them in rotation and keeping the one with best sense and night vision   
   standing by at night, he wasn't going to make pet of any of them. Some   
   of the most moving stories from the trail driving days aren't about   
   horses but about favorite lead steers.   
      
   It's hard to make general statements about the lot of Indian horses.   
   Essentially stone-age folks often seem cruel. It was said that an   
   American could ride a horse until it was played out. A Mexican could get   
   on the horse and and get many more miles out of him. When it played out   
   under the Mexican, a Indian could then get a bunch more out of it. Then   
   he'd eat it.   
      
   For a considerable period, the working horse of the old west was a   
   Spanish pony, tamed from the wild. Cost nothing but effort. The old   
   saying was "a forty-dollar saddle on a ten-dollar horse." They were   
   small and tough and could thrive on grass. A lot of hard working old   
   Smanish ponies never tasted grain. "Tamed" was relative. Broke might   
   mean that the horse no longer tried to kill you each time. Lots of well   
   thought of trail horses bucked every morning. Some cowboys held that if   
   they didn't do some bucking first thing, they weren't likely much good.   
      
   How smart are horses? Well, it's not how smart they are - it's how they   
   are smart. Like people and dogs, some are dumb as toast. Some are pretty   
   bright. A horse can be pretty smart about getting past the latches on   
   the door behind which lies his store of feed. Many learned to apparently   
   enjoy their work. Newbees in the old days in the South Texas brush   
   country might well have their clothes torn off, along with much of their   
   own skin, when riding an experienced horse that gave every sign of   
   loving brush popping, tearing threw trees and thorns when the chase was   
   on. And some number of cutting horses need no more guidance than to be   
   shown which animal to cut out. (Tales of cutting horses that could read   
   brands are probably just that.) I lots of ways, horse seem stupid. A lot   
   of that is because of their old prey instincts that lead them to panic.   
   Considering that dogs evolved purely as man partners, horses that were   
   forced into unnatural work and do well at it can't be all that stupid.   
      
   --   
                          Gerald Clough   
       "Nothing has any value, unless you know you can give it up."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)