The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1891-06-20
TRAINING CIRCUS HORSES.
Green Animals Broken Into the Tricks
Of the Ring with Dlmculty.

0Foon animals Broken AntO INC 1E1ORo
Of tho Ring with Dlmculty.
"Yes, sir" said Dan Leon, the celebrated
four horse rider of Robinson's show, Gin
my time l have ridden hundreds Of horses
in the ring but none the least OF my work
is the training of green animals"
Mr.. Leon then explained that the break
ing in of green horses is a hard job and
sorely tries the grit" Of the riders. "As a
rule we turn the horses into the ring
loose. after first teaching them to gallop
under the saddle. The next thing Is to
get them accustomed to lady riders. This
they learn in a few hours, and now a
tedious process of training is started and
kept up until the animals acquire a
smooth, easy gait, that will keep up for
half all hour. It is hard work for Il horse
at first, but they soon grow accustomed to
it and gallop from the start.
"These bales of hay that you see sur
rounding the entire ring are placed there
to keep the horses in the ring. The trainer
stands in the center of the ring with his
whip. and hence the horse is compelled to
keep in a certain track unless he wants to
try to climb over the barrier of the hay
bales. AS fast as the horse learns to keep
in the track the bales of hay are removed,
one ut a time, until none are left, and the
horse is running in a plain, open track
which he never thinks of leaving. AS I
said, only the best riders are allowed to
ride green horses, owing to the great dan
ger it entails.
"That mechanic or pulleylike arrange
ment, you see, is used to keep, the riders
from getting hard falls. It is necessary to
their safety. Suppose Il rider, even an ex-
pert one, wants to learn q new trick. The
horse in all probability will shy every time
the trick is tried. One of the great objects
in training is to keep the attention engaged
on the track and entirely off the rider.
When the horse learns to run regardless of
everything that may happen, then he is
trained. If by accident the rider falls, the
horse must stop at once. This the animal
is taught by having the rider leap off when
the exercise is over, and when the horse is
fatigued and wants to stop. OF course, we
only choose intelligent horses, and we go
to great trouble and expense in getting the
best the market Affords"
By this time n pair of horses were
brought into the ring for a jaunt together.
The rider ON this occasion was Dan Leon
himself. The two horses mentioned above
WCIo 6AcCIiCS, duu hepo CIOWu1uS cSSu
other as they ambled round the track,
while the rider would step from one ami
NAL to the other in his efforts to keep them
together. Occasionally he would get a few
good strides in before they either stopped
or separated or else broke his foothold.
On such occasions, in order to a " him
self, the rider would drop skillfully to tho
back of one of the horses, and a moment
later would be on his feet again trying the
same act. In this way he kept going for
half an hour, until thoroughly tired out,
when he dismounted and the horses were
led out. They were replaced by a magnil-
cent gray animal with long, flowing tail
and name. For half IN hour the horse was
put through the course and acquitted him
self reasonably well, according to Mr.. Leon.
The last horse on the track was q cream
colored PAGER. who would persist in stick
ing to his natural gait, and it required con-
siderable urging on the part of his rider,
Jessie Leon, the wife of Dan, to bring him
into the required gallop. According to the
reporters view of the matter the exercises
seemed to fatigue the horses very quickly,
but after each animal was led out of the
ring a blanket was thrown over him, and
then he was rubbed down and walked by
the stable boys until all danger of catching
cold was over. The reporter was assured
by the fair equestrienne that the training
of green horses was q laborious task, in
comparison with which "riding on the
road" was a recreation and adelight.-Cin-
cinnati Times-Star.