Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 January 1894 — A MYSTERY SOLVED. [ARTICLE]

A MYSTERY SOLVED.

A Great Puzzle to Tenderfeet Simply Explained. One of the greatest mysteries to the minds of the tenderfoot among the cowboys of the western plains and the hunters of the Rockies is how the stubborn little bronco can be taught to stand for hours without being hitched and with the curb rein simply thrown over its head. A rider is never known to dismount without first having thrown the rein over the head of the horse, but what charm lies in this action is unknown to the easterner, and yet the explanation is a most simple one. The secret lies in the fact that the bronco has been broken to a bit with a “spade,” a broad piece of metal so placed in the middle of the bit that when the curb rein is drawn the spade comes hard against the roof of the bronco’s mouth. The rider teaches the bronco the uses of the spade in this fashion: Having dismounted, the breaker throws the curb rein over the bronco’s head bo that the rein lies partly on the ground. Then the breaker waits until the bronco moves. The movement is usually sudden and impetuous. The breaker, with equal suddenness places his foot hard upon the dragging end of the rein, and the spade is driven into the roof of the bronco’s mouth. It is a stubborn beast that does not stop short when he feels the spade. This discipline is repeated again and again, until the beast learns that to move while his rein hangs over his head and trails on the ground is to stir the spade into activity. When the breaker is sure that the bronco haß learned his lesson it is pretty safe to turn the beast loose with the rein over his head.