Spanish spurs, which jingle like a string of little bells, riding on a fiery little pinto horse, which has the artificial paseár gait, trotting with the fore legs and galloping with the hind ones, so much prized by gay caballeros who daily ride out on the paséo in his native city of the Montezuma. The headstall is of fine braided hair, and consists of a single strap passing from the bit on either side up to the ears, where it is split to pass on both sides of those organs, to keep it from slipping off,—no forehead-band, curb-strap or throat-latch being used,—and united by a broad silver button at the top of the head. The terrible Spanish bit, at which the high-spirited little steed chafes and champs incessantly until the foam flies right and left from his quivering mouth, is plated with silver; and silver chains attach it to the long, braided hair rein, terminating in a whip, which the rider whirls carelessly around in the air as he rides gayly along with affected indifference to the sensation he is creating. The high pommel of the Spanish saddle is covered with silver; the long tapaderos, which cover and depend from the stirrups, are tipped with the same metal, and the whole saddle is elaborately embossed and ornamented. Behind the crupper is an embroidered baquerillo, with sides of llama skin with long, glossy, black wool hanging down almost to the ground. It is "an outfit" which would make a sensation in Hyde Park or the Central, and always attracts the admiring attention of strangers as it passes along the streets of San Francisco.
Early on a week-day morning you may see another of the specialties of San Francisco,—the
