Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-01-13

| II NNSSzdEN Roosevelt, to whom
| II TASS&F~ allusion was made In
NNASx L the previous paper, 9
| m wv N NXD friend and a good
| 5GS&N4l lAIS1 horseman, pondered
before giving utterance to his own senti.
ments.
"Well," said he st last. "I presume Mr..
Roosevelt is right. He has had ample op-
portunities for observation, and, although
it had not occurred to me before, do not
know why, with his advantages, the West
Pointer should not be the best all round
rider"
Now what are his advantages?
To begin with no young man ever enters
the Military Academy as full fedged
cadet until he has been stripped to the
skin and most searchingly examined by
three experienced surgeons Every test
that science has devised-every e1pedient
their professional knowledge can suggest
is resorted to in order to detect any possible
flaw in the physical condition of the can
didate. If accepted, it is prima facie evil
dence that the young fellow is sound in
every bodily point and can stand no end of
knocking about.
YEAR OF ROUTINE.
Then follows a year of incessant routine.
year in which admirable gymnastic and
calisthenic training is combined with sold
iery drill. Of course he has his studies, his
regular hours for sleep, recreation, recita-
t;on raAa,fion afn huf bo oopnot rb;rl, /; 4.
physical training. 1t goes on day by day
under men who know their business, and at
the end of his first year at the Point the
young man is erect as flagstaff, but springy,
active and sinewy as cat. Then he is in
condition to learn how to ride, and until
then he may never have bestridden
horse.
The instruction begins in the gymnasium
in the autumn of his second year. He is
placed alongside big wooden horse; he is
taught how to mount without the aid of
stirrups; he is made to vault on and off from
either side, from the rear (over the croup)
and every way, except probably over the
head, which is an abnormal and involun-
tary method of dismountIng that, in the
case Of an officer srd live horse, never in
old cavalry days cost the rider less than O
basket of champagne. When he has learned
to vault on, off and completely over his
wooden steed with perfect ease, then the
cadet is marched to the riding hall and in
troduced to his mount. There in rank
aligned are some 80 cavalry horses equipped
with watering bridles," blankets and
surcingles. The class silently take the
positions taught them in the gymnasium,
and at the command of the in
ct nafn hnI
another movement in column of fles' the
young fellows are noiselessly pacing around
on the tanbark track. In few words the in
structor explains how the simple snaf1e
rein should be held and how the legs and
feet should be allowed to fall at the different
turns or at the change of gait. Then after
a few minutes quiet walking, to enable each
neophyte to gain little confidence in his
new position, and to enable the instructor to
correct any errors in seat or style or position
OF hand or elbow-the backs and shoulders
give him no trouble as they do our riding
masters in the big cities; that is all attended
to beforehand-then comes the command,
trot, and the youngster who has never before
the English saddle with the aid of stirrups
and the "rise," has no adequate conception
of the sensations awaiting him.
The system must have changed in some
respects, but the basis of West Point in
struction in equitation has always been |
to make the rider at home on horseback, |
without saddle or stirrups, at any and |
every gait; and to this end nothing was
surer to settle the cadet down into "seat;"
nothing better calculated to develop the
muscles Of the thigh-the riding muscles
than the devotion of some 40 minutes of
each lesson for the first eight or ten weeks
10 the remorseless and uncompromising trot
Civilians simply wouldn't stand it. Cadets
have to-and bethink me at this moment
,fmore than one now fast grizzling Captain
If cavalry whom have seen jogging around
hat quadrilateral of reddish brown with
the tanbark dust on his boyish face fur
owed by tears he could neither repress
Tor wipe away-wrung from his eyes by
he pain and soreness of the third or fourth
esson-yet doggedly and pluckily sticking to
t, sure to triumph in the end. Indeed, was
t not for years tradition at the Point that
me chubby young fastener, who never un-
il that memorable November had straddled
lis suffering and begged the instructor to
Take me off this horse?" But these were
are and exceptional instances. For the
irst three weeks after riding begins for the
'yearling" class there are always dozen
'oung fellows so sore and lame that they
annot attend drills. But they have to go
IN with the riding. 1t is the hair of the.
log that cures the bite; and after the first
month the flesh of the inner thighs, hitherto
oft, becomes tough and firm, and in three
months of this sort of work "sole leather
wouldn't be a circumstance, was the way
ne of them expressed it.
Day after day in the big, gloomy old
iding hall, the lessons go on, and gradually,
IS elasticity and confidence are gained, the
ymnastics begin that add to the grace and
Use of the rider. First while at the walk,
hen at the trot, the instructor requires his
upils to practice such movements as the
ollowing: Raise both feet until at height
f the knees, bending leg to rear. Throw
light leg over horses neck, and sit side
rays. Throw left leg over horses neck, etc.
lifting in the natural position bend back
Iard until the head and shoulders rest on
he horse. Of course the natural position is
esumed after riding few minutes in each
osition, but only at the command of the in
tructor.
NO INDIVIDUAL voLITIoN.
There can be no individual volition in the
latter. Unless excused by the surgeon on
ccount of some temporarily severe disabil-
" every member OF the class must do his
,vel best to accomplish every one of the
exercises. Then follow others:
.eap from the horse on the left side and
ault on again without checking him: Do
he same on right side. Leap to the ground
n either side and then vault completely
YER him to the other. Vault again into
Eat. In all these exercises the reins must {
ever be lost. and, if the instructor be very !
atchful, never unduly lightened. That is !
matter wherein many riders, in and out of
Vest Point, require constant coaching.
hen in course of the spring months comes
lie leaping of the bar and the hurdle, all
.ught with the snafle bit and without the
lddle. Also few lessons in wrestling on =
picking up caps and handker- /
NETS from the ground, and finally before t
lie cadet goes on his long-anticipated fur
ugh when half through the course, les !
IN or two with the saddle and ''curb" I
ridle, SO as to enable the young gentleman '
know something of those items in case he t
,ould be invited to ride. =
Two more years of drill and instruction /
llow, but these are more devoted to caval-