However, if you go into the Centre, be warned - if you are challenged by another herdy then you must accept or face the test.

"Your day ends when the moon appears on the plane's horizon, except for clear skied new moons when the night is used for testing your abilities in scouting exercises, and on those days you will train in the morning, have an extended break, a short free time and several hours to sleep before the work. Have you got all of that?"

Spuro nodded, knowing that he had missed a few things, but he could ask the group later on. He shreiked in surprise and pain as something seemed to stab his shoulder, and he set about itching it. "Ticks," James laughed, "that's why you wash. Now get yourself clean before you're sucked dry!"

By sunrise Spuro's coat was the cleanest it had been in years, and the rest of the group joined him for a drink at the pool. James told the others to practice defencive and offencive moves in turns while he began Spuro's training. They began with choosing a comfortable fighting style.

"Defence is the basis of fighting, so here are the main postures," James told him, demonstrating, "low, quick-footed, alert and strong. When using the low posture your enemy can't get at your neck, belly or legs, but it's compromised because you can't move very far. If you are using the quick-footed one then you can step aside easily, just like you did yesterday. Alert is a very open stance, since you expose your neck and chest but you have all your senses pinned on what your opponent is doing. I don't reccomend it, personally. Fianlly, strong, where you hold your own and could take the weight of the other animal even if they slammed their bodyweight into you. But that one comes with training. Find one that you like and we'll focus on it." Spuro tried a few of them out with James trotting towards him, and decided to stick with quick-footed.

"The quick-foot defence means that you have to stay on your toes, so your attacks have to be fast and supple. To fight the low defence, attack the lower back repeatedly and stay behind where they can't reach you. Try it on me, I'll go easy on you," James said, smiling and moving into position.

Spuro circled him in a canter and pawed at the stallion's back while continuing to move with him. "Good," James said, standing up. "Now then, when two horses have the same fighting techniques things start to come down to practice, endurance and luck. You have to be an expert in your own field because the other horse will know it as well as you do. In quick-foot double, don't make darting moves. Instead, keep your position and strike out with your legs. If you can back them up against the barrier you've got them."

Again, they tried it out, as well as the first. "An alert horse will be one step ahead of you every time, since they tend to be the intelligent ones for the scout squad. But that doesn't mean that they are good fighters. Work them out, if they are weak, go for the attack in any other style. If they are strong, take up your defencive position until they are in the open, then dodge around them and find their weak spot, every horse has one. Those fights take time but they are a work out fot the mind as well as the body. We wont practice that one, you can try it out with Leon and sometimes Harris will try it too."

"Could you tell me the styles of the rest of the group?" Spuro asked.

James laughed. "You'll learn soon enough, that comes with experience, like everything else here. You're not just going to get it thrown at you. Now, then, strong. Stay well back from them and always be defencive. There are few horses who opt for this technique but they do exist. They will not move unless they are fighting back. Your best bet is to know their weak spot from sight or memory or you'll loose every battle. Keep attacking that spot, and make sure you defend yourself properly. Now, try it with me. Let's say my shoulder is the weak spot - it's awkwardly close to my head and legs, but it's a simple exercise."

Spuro tried it a few times before giving up. James told him that it was a difficult one to master, but at least he could train with Ghost. "No," Spuro replied, "absolutely not! He'll kill me without a second thought!"

"All the more reason why he's my star pupil," James chuckled. "You could be like him one day, if you worked hard enough. I know he's a bully, but just because you can fight it doesn't make you a bad person. Look at me! I've killed horses in my time but they're giving me youngsters to train."

Spuro went quiet. "And what does it feel like, killing I mean?"

James looked down. "You feel sick," he murmured, "but you would rather kill another than suffer their fate. The will to survive is strong, and only the best will succeed, that's one of our mottos here."

Over the day Spuro began building up his experience and skill in the arena and was eager to have a friendly fight with one of the others. When they had their longest break he asked Harris if he wanted to have a practice at it. The appaloosa shrugged and said, "Why not?", so they walked over to the dusty patch in the corner.

Spuro could see from first glances that Harris was a quick-footer like himself. The slim stallion was a good runner and bended easily round corners, but he didn't seem as strong as Spuro. The opponent didn't move, so it was clear that he was defending. Spuro walked closer to him, and tried going around him, but the horse kept moving too. Finally Spuro saw what he was looking for.

The back leg was slightly lame, the hip was the weak spot. So he dived the other way around the horse and started knocking into the hind quarter with his shoulder. Harris spun round, but Spuro followed, continuing to beat at him.

"Ok, Spuro, you win," Harris said.

"Really? Just like that?"

"Well, no, not just like that in propper training or a battle, but we don't want to hurt each other just yet. You found my weakness like you would with a quick-foot, so I would have lost if you were really having a good go at me! But hey, if James knows I'm weak he'll rank me down soor all time's sake, could we keep this quiet?" he said.

Spuro agreed then began rolling in the grass. It had been days since he'd rolled in soft, moist grass, and he'd missed this piece of freedom. Freedom. He sighed and sat back up. He had set out to live as a rougue, but here he was in a batchelor herd with a cruel, unbeatable system and the toughest horses in the West. That thing called freedom seemed so far away now, and his home's rules for safety and fairness felt like a paradise compared to the brutality of the Band. But if he could get to the top, prove hisself, he could run free, and even though he wasn't interested in mares fully yet, one day he would want a small herd of his own.

He figured that things might not be that bad if he really knuckled down to get to a higher position. It would be worth his while if he stuck with it, but that didn't mean that he'd break his promise to Denver and Jupiter, he would get them out by the end of the circuit, and that was twelve months away - plenty of time to think up a plan.

Four months passed as Spuro built himself up in the Band. His basic skills were up to scratch and James had taught him other moves including types of kicks, rears and dodges. He had caught up so fast that he could join in the practice fights in the dusty circle, which was much easier for everyone since there were now six of them battling it out for glory.

Spuro's main opponents included Harris, Leon and Denver, and he often won. He made mistakes along the way, such as missing an oppotunity or not watching where his enemy's mouth or legs were while attacking, but generally he excelled. The two horses he had to really work at was Jupiter and Ghost.

The red and champagne horses trained against each other, sometimes stretching their fights out for hours on end. Ghost was by far the best of the young stallions, but Jupiter's sheer size and weight kpet him in the game. He was never injured in his life because he was so strong, so he had no known weakspot.

The other horses would admire their fighting as they enjoyed their break, but the warriors never gave in until one of them surrendered. They didn't play fight, either. They truely kicked, bit and bruised each other in the name of honour.

A new moon was nearing with no clouds and the training began for tracking, scouting and survivaly skills. Denver warned Spuro that it was every horse for himself, and it was used as another way to separate the able from the worthless. If you got lost, or hurt or were attacked - you were on your own.

"It's the perfect oppotunity for you to escape!" Spuro whispered to him one break. They were grazing together under the shade of a fir tree. Over the months they had grown closer than the other horses. Ghost was as steely as ever, Leon felt out of place and Harris was exhuasting himself by over training, but he was still falling behind. Jupiter would sometimes join in the talk, but overall he had become dedicated to training. The roan was determined to beat Ghost in a fight by the end of the winter. But now the autumn was coming to a close, the barren planes looked grey and stretched, and he felt that his deadline was impossible to reach.

Denver shook his head. "Have you seen it out there? It would take days of running to find cover, and at this time of the year there's little food and the weather is