Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1888-06-27

his horse, pounding down upon the poor
animals backbone with the regularity of a
| trip-hammer. There is very little security
In the seat, and the slightest stumble or
balk Of the horse is liable to send the rider
over his horses head. Unless tho rider is
an expert you can see the blue sky between
him and the saddle at every rise. In the
German style, on the contrary, the rider
sits bolt upright and grasps the horse be
tween his knees, never moving from the
saddle.
II is more graceful to look at than the
English style, but it is simple torture to the
rider. An his interior organization is
jounced up into his throat every time his
horse steps, and IL is an absolute impossi-
bility TO keep it up for any length Of time.
The fact that many of our New York swells
have been ranching or hunting in the West
has made the American style more popular
this season, TO the delight of good riders and
the disgust of foreign riding-masters
Any body who has nerve can ride in the
American style without any lessons. l re-
member well the first and only instruction
l ever received when, as youngster, / was
put upon the back of a mustang pony in Cal
fornia. "Don't you git skeered," said the
old plainsman, as he gave me the bride.
" Jest you set still in the saddle. Eff he tries
30 run away, keep on settin' still and you'll
git thar as soon as he does" He did not tell
me any thing about holding the reins be-
tween three fingers of the left hand andkeep-
ing my toes at certain angle, as the riding
master did some years after, but he taught
me how to carry my pony over four-railed
fence without raising hair on my youthful
head-"jist by sittin' still IN the saddle"
The great trouble is that half the men
who ride on horseback have no sympathy
with the animals they bestride. Perhaps
they can't when they ride one one day and
another the next. 1 could never see any
fun riding on a strange horse unless you
use the animal purely as a means for get
ting somewhere. A horse is one of the
most intelligent and sympathetic of dumb
animals. The average horse has twice the
natural intelligence of the average dog.
Treat him well and you can teach your
horse to do almost every thing except to
talk. To really enjoy a horseback ride your
horse should be part of yourself, he should
know your moods, your wishes, almost your
thoughts. That is one reason that women,
as a general rule, ride so much better than
men. Women pet their horses, even If
they are only the hired hacks of riding
school They feed them with candy and
Jumps of sugar, they caress them and the
horses grow into sympathy with and affec-
uOn 1Or tnelr 1ar rlQerS. some OF the
SWEETEST girls in New York who own their
own saddle-horses have their steeds as well
trained as their pet dogs. Miss George
Hicksher, who was one of the most grace
full and daring riders In the city, used to
have horse which would follow her any
where, como when she called, and respond
to her hghtest touch on the rein, showing
that he and his handsome mistress were in
perfect sympathy. They understood each
other
But with hired horses this is hardly prac-
ticable. The poor brutes have all the natural
spirit taken out of them by hard usage at
the hands Of brutal and ignorant stable
bows. And one must be wealthy 10 keep his
own riding horse in the metropolis. Thirty
i've dollars a month Is about as cheap as a
horse can be boarded at a stable, with
shoes, tips to the hostlers and incidental
expenses win amount to fifty dollars a
month or six hundred dollars a year, then
your whips, spurs, riding coats, and boots,