REAL HORSE-SENSE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21144, 30 September 1930, Page 16

REAL HORSE-SENSE.

Indian horses—shabby, scrubby, unkempt and often lame—which roam the highways and sagebrush' country of the Yakima Indian reservation, often show remarkable ingenuity in foraging for a living. Although the Indians themselves know which horses are theirs, *' ey make no pretence of providing for them, and leave the animals to shift for themselves. If the horse dies there is always another to be had from the wild bands which pasture around Mount Adams, and on the horse heaven range. As a result of the jwncrs’ neglect large herds congregate around the transport points on the reservation, especially when snow covers the ground and the mercury sinks low. At Parker, Bench, Ashue, and White Swan the animals gather whore they can approach the freight cars being loaded with baled alfalfa, potatoes, or wheat. The horses are shrewd. They watch the ranchers loading the care, and when the men are near keep at a distance. However, after the farm wagons or trucks leave the car doors the horses approach. Stretching their necks inside the cars, the animals snake out a bale of hoy, a sack of potatoes, or a sack of wheat. Once the forage is out of the car the horses make a rush for it, the older and stronger ones using their teeth and heels to clear their approach to the feed.