III. THE FAMILY.
We have broken up the family life of our horses, and are apt to forget that they ever had private affairs of their own.
The harem
Twice on the range I have met horse families. On the first occasion the family happened to be grazing near the trail as I passed. The stallion was furious at my intrusion, trotted up to me and stood glaring, pawing the ground, his great neck arched and splendid mane and tail rippling astream in the high wind. My saddle and pack beasts, a pair of gentle geldings, were rather frightened, disposed to halt, even to run away but for my voice keeping them to their duty. The stallion's mares had stopped grazing to admire their master, each with an observant eye cocked at me and an expression of smugness not to be beaten in any Bigotarian chapel. Then, as I laughed, the stallion, with a loud snort of contempt, swung round, lashed dirt in my face for defiance, and trotted off to round up his harem and drive them out of reach lest my evil communications should corrupt their morals.
On the second occasion I took a half-broken pack-train into a pasture on the bench of a cañon, so that the spring grass might cure an epidemic of strangles which had killed seven and sorely weakened the rest. The pasture belonged to a wild stallion who lived there with his family of young mares, colts and foals. He stole my twenty-five mares, added them to his harem, and made off. I was obliged to build a corrall, round up the whole bunch, cut out my mares, and drive the harem out of the district. Meanwhile my stock had lapsed from civilised ways and become wild beasts who had to be broken all over again before it was possible to use them for pack-train work.
They say that a horse family depends in size upon the powers of the strongest stallion, who rises to command by fighting and defeating all competitors, and holds his command by single combat with the leaders of rival families who try to rob him.
The commanding stallion
The commandant stallion is able to hold a family of fifteen to fifty head, but there must be some who by conquest of rival leaders, and stealing of their harems, rise to commands on a much larger scale. Ranging his family between grass and water, he is most particular to close herd his mares, to hold his own pasture which he never leaves except under dire stress, and to have special places where he casts his droppings. In range life the geldings have separate families, and their own private runs.
There is not very much known about the internal arrangements of wild harems, but a good deal can be guessed from watching the Red Indian's pony herd, the Cow outfit's bunch of remounts, the Mexican remuda, the Argentine tropilla, the stock of a horse ranch, or even a herd camp of Mounted Police, all units of horses living more or less the wild life of the range. From these it is known that a feral pony herd keeps a certain military formation while grazing, with the weaker animals ringed by the stronger, and a few vedettes and flankers thrown out to watch for danger. At the assault of a wolf pack the formation closes, the fighting horses and mares making an outer ring, close-set and facing outwards. When a wolf comes within range, the nearest horse swings round and lashes out with the hind feet to kill. As American wolves only pack in winters of famine this event is rare, but in one case an Indian boy who was herder to a Blackfoot tribal camp, was, with his mount, placed by the fighting herd at their centre for his defence, and was able to watch the whole battle until his people came out to the rescue.
In breeding and fighting the Commandant stallion is sole authority, but it has been noticed that some wise old mare usually decides the time for moving and leads the marches.