Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-03-23
NATURAL RIDING.
A Protest Against Following English
Race Course Style.


A Protest Against Following English
Race Course Style.
To the Editor of TIE EVENING STAR:
In common with many of the citizens of
Washington I was mortified on Inauguration
day to see Gen. Ordway. the commanding off,
Ger of the District of Columbia militia. mounted
on dude horse-i e., a horse with name
trimmed of and reached SO as to stand up i'm
an arch, and with tail bobbed. all in the ex-
treme English style.
1t is the greatest pity that an officer of our
army or militia will descend to aping most
ridiculous custom OF foreign country. be-
cause, forsooth. few dude" officials and citi-
zens here in Washington recently have dis
figured their horses SO as 10 be thought Eng
lish. you know" and aristocratic.
Let our Americans be Americans Let them
preserve the horse in all his natural graceful
beauty, and then incline them to ride ike
Americans, and not like balloons,
On the English race-course il has long been
the custom to bob" the horses tail and either
braid the name closely to the neck or cut it off.
for the purpose of doing away with everything
possible to catch the wind and retard the speed.
1t certainly was never done to add TO the beauty
OF this most beautiful and noble of all beasts
And the jockeys were made to ride standing in
the strrups so as not to pound the horse by
standing position in the run necessitates short
stirrups, and. also. as standing with the toes
only inserted in the irons would become very
tlresome, the jockeys thrust their feet in up TO
the ankles and thus put the weight of
the body on the middle of the feet
This mode and position may, perhaps an
swer well enough for light riders in the race.
but when on the trot jockeys with the short
stirrups cannot sit down in the saddle with the
firm seat the knee-prcssure only gives, as the
short Stt raic HI ,,an A..
init of gripping the horse with them to obviate
being tossed in the saddle by the sharp concus-
sions OF this severe gait. This is apparent TO
/ TO every man who knows anything at all about
riding horseback. Therefore on the few &C.
caslons the Jockeys do trot their racers for a
few moments. they rise in the stirrups at the
| alternate steps to avoid the shock they (the
| Jockeys would otherwise get. as the rider, in
the jockey style of short strrups. if he sits in
the saddle, is at the mercy of the horses mo-
| ton.
AFTER THE RACE COURSE.
And so, from long habit of seeing the man.
ner the thoroughbreds are ridden on the race
| course. the English gentleman cuts the tail of
his saddle horse off. and reaches the name. and
| from association of ideas. taking the Jockey as
| his ideal rider, he shortens his own stirrups
also. and rides III the ''cross the country hunt
standing up in them. and with both hands at
| the rein and body bent forward like a monkey
| so as to steady his uncertain pose by placing
ms hands on the withers. From this elevated
| position he is easily endorsed at the leaps. or
by the sudden yeering OF his hunter. and. if es-
| Gaping these mishaps. he presents ANYTHING but
graceful or manly figure mounted and on the
| run.
And by the use of the short stirrups for the
run. the Englishman gentleman rider has like
wise been forced to rise from the saddle at the
| alternate steps of his mount while trotting or
himself get terribly pounded. for. with feet
drawn up in that way, his body becomes an un-
manageable dead weight. as it were in the sad
! die. And. while riding thus, and jumping up
| and down to avoid tie shock of the trot what
| spectacle he presents! Comment would be
awful-positiyely shocking.
1t is impossible for the English gentleman
thus handicapped to ride in an erect. graceful
position, becoming. in motion and appearance
"a part of the horse" as il were But the En-
| gilsh gentleman has. from the race course to
| the hunt and from the hunt to the ordinary
riding for pleasure, where speed is not the de-
| slderatum, cultivated the same style of horse
manshlp. The true Briton knows nothing else
and will never learn anything else, no matter
| how much easier. more graceful or better it
may be. He will continue TO shorten his
stirrups and raise his knees to nearly the height
of the saddle-bow; will use saddle with stirrup-
straps depending from underneath the bow or
pommel instead of from the center of the seat
and into the stirrup-iron thrust his feet to the
very ankles. and then turn his toes outward to
an angle OF about forty-fve degrees: will sit
far back on the cantle of the saddle
(his stirrups being too short and hung
too far forward force him backward in the seat)
and will use both hands at the rein, if for no
other purpose, to steady himself in his aYk-
ward and uncertain pOsition-all of which
bends him forward. giving him the appearance
of having round shoulders and bumped back.
In this not graceful not knigntlv stvie of
riding. the horseman has a rolling. swaying
motion of the bent-forward body. not unlike
the effect produced by a man attempting an
exhibition of equestrianism who at the same
time is encompassing too many cups" Those
who have never noticed this please stand di-
rectly behind one of the imitation English
riders when performing this wonderful feat of
contortion.- and merely walking his horse. for
instance, and behold what a helpless object he
appears. Was there anything like it ever seen
in paint or marble? With the exception of the
pictures of the English hunting scenes no such
horsemanship has ever been perpetuated by
painters or sculptors. and it is pretty safe to
say it never will be SO honored.
THE AMERICAN STYLE.
After viewing the exhibition as described
above, then turn to the other picture-one of
our average American riders who has been
properly taught by competent instructor. or
by long experience; and whether walking,
trotting, galloping, or running his mount, nots
how erect and gracefully lie sits his saddle, and
how perfectly he appears part of the horse,
never leaving his seat in the slightest. however
violent or rapid the gait. His stirrups are
long, and leave the saddle at the center of the
seat; his toes only enter the irons, giving him
the elasticity and spring of the whole length
of the feet to assist in overcoming the uneven
ness of the motions of his saddle-beast; the
toes little lower than the heels-(''toes well
pointed" in gymnsstic phrase land feet
held precisely parallel with the
body OF the horse, necessarily SO
because in gripping the sides of the horse
with his knees to make the very essential knee
pressure puts the feet in just that position.
and then with body erect, without stiffness. and
allowed to sway only slightly with the varied
unduiations of his mount. and with the left
hand only at the rein, the other hanging easily
at the side; if the rider has passabie figure and
a little style about him, you have picture
well to be fixed upon the mind of any gentle
man who desires to ride easily, gracefully and
well. This description is good. not only for
short rides and exhibitions but for journeys on
horseback of hundreds of miles, as the writer
can from experience attest.
In the correct American style-(that distinc-
ton is used because We of the United States
the Mexicans and South Americans all follow
the same general rules in riding,l the horse
man never permits himself to be tossed from or
jostled in his seat, unless his mount goes down
under him, and escaping that uncomfortable
episode he is always ready with the disengaged
right hand and arm to do whatever may become
necessary-H in the military service to use the
pistol or saber; or il pleasure riding, and an
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