HOW TO SWIM A HORSE ACROSS A STREAM.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 129, 28 July 1870, Page 7

HOW TO SWIM A HORSE ACROSS A STREAM.

The following hints, particulary useful at the present time, as to the manner in which a horse should be taken through a stream, are given by the Darling correspondent of the Pastoral Times : — It is astonishing how foolhardy most men are in venturing into deep water on horse-back. Many a man has been years in the colonj without having had occasion to attempt swimming a horse, but hearing it spoken of as a trifling matter, he fancies it

it comes as naturally for a horse to to swim with a man on his back, as to walk or gallop. On the contrary, not above two or three horses in a hundred can carry a man safely over a river op stream of any width, and very few men have the nerve, coolness, and presence of mind, to leave a horse alone and let him swim- A horse, with a man's weight upon his back naturally sinks deep in the water, and many horses, before they attempt swimming, keep feeling for bottom with their hind legs. Unless a man is accustomed to swimming a horse, he gets nervous, begins pulling at the reins, and then it is all up with him. The horse gets frightened struggles, rolls over on his side, or comes right backwards, and probably gives his rider a kick that puts an end to all his chances of getting ashore. In my opinion, no man should go into deep water of any width who cannot swim, and a swimmer should take off his clothes, put them in front of his saddle, unbuckle his reins, and then heis ready for any contingency. The neglect of this latter precaution generally drowns the horse, as his foot gets caught in the bridle. I have, however, seen many a man who could not swim get safely across a river by driving his horse in and catching hold of his tail.

The Madrid journals publish accounts of an extraordinary murder at Teruel (Aragon). An inhabitant of that town went out shooting with his son, aged eight, but returned alone> and told his wife that the boy had pro* bably been devoured by wolves, as he had lost him. The authorities having heard of the disappearance, instituted a search, and the body was found in a field, in which it had been buried alive by the father. Thß exasperation of the people on hearing of the discovery was so great that the police had much, difficulty in preventing the man from, being torn to pieces. The motive foe the crime remains a mystery.