Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-01-05
copyrighted 1891

AND IN ENGLISH CRoSS-coCNTRY HUNTS-H0w
TO RIDE HORSE ON TRor.
tcopyrishted 1891
When Buffalo Bill came back from his sue
| cessful ventures in England one of his first re-
ported remarks was. 1--WE have reyolutionized
their style Of riding" and the writer, having
known Mr.. Cody many a long year and GAL
loped with him over many q long mile Of q
wilder west than was ever portrayed at Eras-
tina, Is quite ready to believe that his old
friend and scout believed what he said. Mr..
Theodore Roosevelt whom the writer first met
when babe in arms in New York city, and
next as a ranchman in Dakota, is 80 good as to
say that the West Pointers are probably the
finest riders he has met, and he has seen them
a AUSTRIAN ran Ia1chman cowboy, English.
English "cross-country" hunters; English swell
on Rotton Row with his park hack; Newport
polo experts; Long island and Washington
drag hunts, and Central park equestrians Of all
styles from the Anglomanic to the 'tongs-on-
the-walr' Of the ultra school. Possibly Mr..
Roosevelt has yet to see the ''sancho" Of the
South American pampas, or the "vaquero" OF
Southern California and Mexico. but with the
addition of grace that is foreign to the aver
age cowboy, the seat and general style OF these
renowned horsemcn do not differ materially
from those of the ranchmen of our wide west
ern plains. 1t is not that this accomplished
observer and author means that in all points
he prefers the horsemanship Of the graduates
of our military academy to that Of any compe-
titors, but that, admitting that each school may
have its merits and dement's, he considers the
West Point training the best "all around" sys-
tenn he has seen.
HUNTING FIELD AND RANCH.
Every one Of them is the result of years Of
study, experience and trial in the particular
field for which it has been selected. The
natty hunting bride and London-made ''pig
skim" which SO thoroughly become the Eng
lish Thoroughbred" and which are doubtless
the very best device for easing and raising"
the steed over ploughed fields and stubborn
hedge-rows, giving the rider the long, fiat
seat; the knee grip, the high lift in the STIR
rups-would all be out Of place in the cattle
business; and the Englishman, were he boldest
| and sturdiest Of riders at home, who would at
tempt to lasso Texan two-year-old from such
q saddle and such q seat would come the
''nastiest Of choppers" as the result Of his ex-
pertinent"
On the other hand, the massive ranch saddle
with its fore-and-after cinchas and ponderous
stirrups would be manifestly out of place going
full-cry after a Berkshire fox. In such a sad
die the rider sits with his thighs gripping the
ribs of his steed, and almost stands straight
from the stirrups; yet sits for all the appear
ance OF standing and sits so firmly that no
bucking or plunging can unseat him-provided
he be experienced, and the saddle itself is 80
firmly dashed to the 'broncho's" back that when
that wiry steed braces himself for the shock
and the rider takes two turns of the tighten
ing lasso about the "knob" of the pommel,
down comes the heaviest steer in the widest
herd, and the rider has not been ''phased" .
hairs breath.
EACH HAS HIS OWN.
What is appropriate in style and equipment
on the English hunting-feld would be no less
absurd on the ranch than would the "calzo-
neros" appear at the Quorn or Pytchley. The
funniest sight I ever saw was the crack light
rider OF an Austrian hussar regiment the first
time he rode out in a McClelland saddle, going
after jack-rabbits with lot of American cav
airy officers. The oldest thing l ever heard
of-ln this lne-Of course, was that SO noted
rider as our old cNief of scouts. Buffalo Bill"
aforementioned, was endorsed the first time he
went fox chasing in England. Bare backed he
could have cleared that hedge easy as winking,
but he couldn't get the hang of that queer,
long, fat-seated hunting saddle and those
| short stirrups hung way out in front of him.
An English rider who attempted to go ''cross
country" on one OF our army Mcclellan trees
| would be ruptured in less than five minutes.
| Such things have happened to infantry officers
| Of our own service who had not been taught
| the seat. AWest Pointer who had never learned
the fat seat and the utterly different "grip" Of
| the English pig-skin. would be as unhappy as
| he was at his first squad drill, were he sud-
| denly to take his place among lot of old fox
hunters. The easy, natural, proper thing to
do when one uses the English saddle, or any
thing akin to it, is to rise in the stirrups at the
trot The rise need only be a slight and gentle
| accommodation of the body-leaning forward
| at the moment to the motion of the horse.
Like mercy
at is twice blessed
1t blesseth him that gives and him that takes"
| the latter being the quadruped beneath,
who will be grateful to be thus aided. The
| man who clamps a saddle Of such pattern and
attempts to sit firm will only shake himself
into misery; but this rule is only for the square
| trot-the s'trot out" as we soldiers are taught
to call it. and to see man slowly and painfully
| rising and falling like the walking beam Of an
| old-fashoned engine, while the steed is at q
mere jog, is something bordering on the ridicu-
| lous. Yet it can be seen, and frequently, too,
| and is inexcusable as the squared elbows of
| the imitator of Heaven knows what English
| fad or fashion.
On the other hand we often see when our
| national guardsmen are on parade. very pictur
esque young staff officers slowly trotting up
| and down the Avenue while the line is form
| ing, and trying to rise in the stirrups Of the
American army saddle-a practice which is
just as wrong in this case as it is right in the
| other.
| THE ARMY SADDLE
whether it be for the officers or of rank and
| fle-whether it be the old Grimsley, the later
Mcclellan or the modern Whitman-is an elab-
| grafton or modification of the Texas tree" of
many years ago. In the Mcclellan of the
original pattern as we'll as in the Grimsley the
stirrups were hung SO far back under the rider
that, as quoted from the Prussian tactics of Al,
] "a plumb line from the shoulder of the rider
would fall two inches behind the heel" or
| words to that effect. In other words the legs
were almost as straight. not quite, as in the
| Texas saddle, and the seat instead of
being the fat, is the forked seattle
| fiat, under surface of the thighs gripping
(when necessary the barrel of the horse.
| It is totally unnecessary and we'll nigh i'm
possible to ''rise" at the trot from such a seat,
especially if the stirrups be Of proper length,
and the body is SO much further forward as a
consequence of the pattern of the saddle that
the ''shock" of the trot is less noticeable than
in the English seat. All that is necessary is to
relax the pressure of the thighs; relax the
muscles of the legs; do not attempt to grip the
horse unless he shy or swerve, and sit well
down in the saddle taking little spring
of the weight on the foot ankle and
| stirrup, but not rising at all. 1t is a
knack soon learned and can be carried
| out for some time without fatigue to either
horse OF man unless the animal happen to be
like ''Barebones'' of famous memory in the
war days at West Point, the possessor of trot
| harder than the cider of the original 'Tippe-
| canoe" campaign.
| The Whitman saddle, however, slings the
atirrun a trif1a farther To the front and adn,ita