From: firstinitiallastname@texas.net   
      
   May O. Naise wrote:   
   > In article , firstinitiallastname@texas.net   
   > says...   
   >   
   >   
   >>                      Gerald Clough   
   >>   "Nothing has any value, unless you know you can give it up."   
   >   
   >   
   > A good read from you, as usual Gerald. Thanks.   
   >   
   > As for horses and the reasons more of them didn't   
   > wear out, come up lame or die of overwork remains   
   > a puzzle to me. For example: It's a wonder the   
   > famous Pony Express was ever successful at all,   
   > given the way the horses were run the entire way   
   > and the un-tamed terrain they traveled. It's one   
   > thing to see horses at full gallop in movies and   
   > quite another to actually ride one that way over   
   > rough - if not in fact brutal - terrain.   
   >   
      
   I suppose a lot of them did wear out. There was little hesitation to   
   take a chance on ruining a cheap horse. I've never read how they were   
   selected or trained for the Pony Express. It wouldn't have taken much,   
   since all they were asked to do was run hard.   
      
   Of course, on a trail drive, they moved mostly at a slow walk, and as   
   drives matured, each man had a string to rotate. And at the end, they   
   were often sold off, many no doubt to become plow horses or to work on   
   northern ranges.   
      
   But yeah, few would stand up to the constant all-out runs of the movies.   
   How long did mustangers have to keep them moving to "walk down" a wild   
   herd? Three or four days, before they were exhausted?   
      
   --   
                          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)