"Come out, Felix," the Villicus drawled, "you are sow-proof. But how do you do it?"
"I don't know," I replied, "but I have always been able to gentle fierce animals of any kind. No animal ever attacks me."
Thereupon he tried me with three rams famous for butting, two he-goats of even worse reputation and half a score of watch-dogs. I came unscathed from close companionship with the goats and rams, and the dogs behaved as if they had been my pets from their puppyhood.
"Can you do as well with horses?" the Villicus enquired.
"I believe so," I replied; "give me a chance."
"I shall," he asserted. "I'll round up all our colts fit for breaking and try you on them. I'll get in most of the boys to watch the fun. It'll take about ten days to get ready. Meanwhile you can take out another bunch of heifers with new calves. It seems to suit you and the calves and the heifers."
When I returned from my third outing, hard and fit and happy, the Villicus asked me how soon I would be ready for colt-breaking.
"Tomorrow," I said.
The next day was made a sort of festival, with all the horse-herders at the villa paddocks.
First of all four experienced horse-wranglers roped a filly, threw her, bitted and bridled her while one sat on her head, let her get on her feet, hobbled her, held her so while two more saddled her and then held her while one mounted her. When they let her go she reared, bucked, dashed about, bucked again and again, and continued till exhaustion forced her to quiet down and obey her rider, who had kept his seat from the first.