From: eggness@dontemailme.com   
      
   In article , firstinitiallastname@texas.net   
   says...   
      
      
   >I suppose a lot of them did wear out. There was little hesitation to   
   >take a chance on ruining a cheap horse.   
      
   Today as I was riding my bike IN TOWN, I was surrounded   
   by about 10 or 12 mule deer on stampede, being chased by   
   an Australian sheep dog, who I presume was trying to "round   
   'em up." A loud "HEY" from me got the dog to stop and   
   turn back. But I got to thinking about this discussion of   
   horses and injury to their ankles. I presume that like   
   deer, antelope and other "fleet footed" wild animals, there   
   are horse breeds that can run with wild abandon too without   
   much risk of injury. Certainly it's pretty common to see   
   film footage of huge herds of African animals stampeding   
   just as the N.A. buffalo did once upon a time.   
      
   As for ass kin, when I was a kid growing up in west   
   Texas, the desert was literally my playground and we kids   
   used to catch wild burros - the little Mexican kind - and   
   lead them home to a corral to "try" and ride. More often   
   than not trying to ride them got us tossed into a prickly   
   pear patch or something as dire. It taught me why mules   
   and their kin are notoriously accused of being "stubborn."   
   Those burros were able to live easily in the Chihuahuan desert   
   where there is nothing but sharp rocks and cactus and   
   no standing water. And these were not shoed - they trod   
   through the sharp rocks continuously without seeming care   
   or wear.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)