One other cock fight was put on and then we turned to a game much more
suited to our men--a wrestling bout on horseback. Four men on each
side mounted on horses, without saddles or bridles, were drawn up at
opposite sides of the field. The men were dressed in trousers and
shirts only; the horses were guided solely by a halter.
At a given signal the two parties approached one another at a trot,
each man selecting as his antagonist the one opposite him. In the
first crash a couple were dismounted almost instantly, and the battle
resolved itself into several separate encounters.
The horses seemed to enter into the spirit of the thing and backed up,
wheeled, side-stepped and did their best to help their owners win.
Meanwhile the riders, grasping one another by body, arm or leg, did
their utmost to tear one another off their horses. When it became
three against two, the two would tackle one opponent and it was the
task of the single man to try to keep the two others on the same side
so that they could not grasp him on both sides at once. It was
exciting enough to see one man being pulled by one arm from one side,
while another man was trying to throw his opposite leg over the horse.
Even when they succeeded in accomplishing this he clung to the horse's
neck and it was only with the greatest difficulty that his feet were
made to touch the ground and he was thereby put out of the game.
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