The daily gazette., 1877-12-07
The Horse and His Rider.
TRAINING AND RIDING IN THE
CIRCUS RING-THE EXPERI-
ENCE OF AN EXPERT.

ClRCUS RlNG-IH II EA AFEhl-
ENCE OF AN EXPERT.
"Tve been in the business as long as 1
can remember" Robert Stickney SAID in
can remember, for when L was only a
year old Edwin Forrest carried me on
the stage wnen he was playing 'Rolla.'
My father, s. p. Stickney, was the first
man in the world who ever set foot over
four horses in the ring, SO you see came
of riding stock.
"My appearance in 'Rolla' can hardly
be said to be the commencement of my
career as a rider, but 1 date that from the
time when in my eighth year, In the old
theatre, at Eighth and Walnut streets,
Philadelphia, L made my debut before
the public IN the character of "The Cour-
ier of st. Petersburg" In those days L
rode with pad-did until I was ten years
old, when L began to do bareback acts.
and ever Since have always discarded
the pad"
"1s there much difference between pad
riding and bareback riding, that is as to
its ditficulty?"
"Any bareback rider can ride with the
pad, but not every pad rider can ride
bareback. began bareback riding early,
but 1 had the advantage of my fathers
advice and of watching him ride. Pretty
soon after began bareback riding, and
| while was yet mere boy L began two
horse acts, and finally was able to ride
| the four horses with as little effort as one.
| OF course have been all through the
! varies branches of tumbling as part of
my riding education, for if could mt
tumble and turn somersaults onthe ground
| could mt do it on the horse. As to the
ordinary Jumping through the banners
and all that sort of work, that's the plain
sailing of the rider. Jumping through
the banners while in the act of evolving
somersault doesn't add to the difficulty
of the task, though people think so. One
of the difficalt things about it Is that you
must regulate the velocity of your somer-
sault by the speed of your horse, and that
is why an even, steady-going horse is a
treasure to any rider"
"You ask me if can take any horse
| and teach him his part of the ring busi-
ness. Certainly, for horses are exceed
ingly Intelligent, more so than many men,
as any old cavalry or artillery officer will
tell you. OF course, some horses are
more easily taught than others, and the
purer horses blood is, rs a general rule,
the easier he is to teach. But horse
that SHES is worthless to us. When We
make flip-fop we must find the horse
under us, and we must know where our
feet are going to be when we come down.
1 was seriously hurt once. Just as was
in mid air, whllo throwing somersault,
a cannon was fired near the building. The
horse was taken by surprise, shred off in
| voluntarily, and when l ought to have
J come right side up with care, there was
no horse there. fell fiat on my back on
the tan, and burt myself a good deal.
Yes, the horse is very intelligent, and if
he can only understand what you want
him to do, he will generally try to do it
, to the best of his ability"
about slipping? Yes, one has to
look out for this. You know of course
that we rosln our slippers thoroughly
but do you know that the horses back is
literally rosined, too? If that wasn't
done the horses perspiration would very
soon make the bit of rosin on the Slip
pers useless, and even, as II is, when the
night is warm and the horse perspires
freely, digging the toes In for grip will
bunch up the hair into little balls, max
: ing the hold uneven, or the hair coming
out will make the horses back so slippery
that it becomes very difficult to hold on.
Down South the darkeys think there is
loadstone put on the horses back"
Gas to riding more than four horses at
time, unless one was very tall and had
pair of Indian-rubber legs, l think 1t
would be impossible, as it is now for a
very short-legged man to ride four. There
: is limit to the compass properties of the
human leg"
"The horse has to learn his part as well
i
the rider when he is on his back as the
ancient's tabled Centaur. He must learn
to keep his gait even and steady, and to
: obey even the pressure of the foot in GER
tain ways. The rider mustn't put his foot
, down on any and every part of the ami
mails back, or he will destroy the mutual
equilibrium. If horse feels your foot
two or three inches out of the way, and
: in different place from where he ex-
poets it when you light on him, it is apt
, to discompose HIM. AS to what kind of
, treatment give my horses, can only
, say that have a horse that knows my
voice before he sees me, and whinnies
with delight l have always an apple or
bit of carrot or lump of sugar about me
when L go near where he is, and we are
. on the best of terms. Don't sometimes
have to conquer horse if he gets Stub
born or sulky fit on? Certainly and If 1
don't do iUit will render the horse worth
less. The cruelty is only apparent, how
ever. A little temporary severity is
real kindness to the horse. Some of the
trick horses are very dangerous and
vicious, especially the piebald ones. This
, mostly comes of teasing them during
, their training to make them bright and
, lively but it is not really necessary, and
some trick horses are as gentle as lambs.
A horse gets to know his business and to
like 1T the same as q rider does"