Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-03-14
HORSES AND RIDERS.
The Kind Of Animal for General
Riding and for Hunting.
THE ALLEGED ENGLISH STYLE
How One should Ride in the Park snd How
on . Hunt-Some General Directions for
Cross Country Work-Ths Different Patterns
Of Saddle.
Written for The Evening Star.

~ a
4 observe that hyphen in his name, will you,
please, and accept it as guarantee Of the as
sertion that he is one Of the select hundred Of
our glorious four hundred-Mr. Rideweli-
Snaffle has recently got horse, a purchase
which was prompted by the delightful spring
weather that we have been having recently.
Before proceeding to talk of his horse let Us
dwell a moment on the Rentlenan's name.
Everybody remembers old Snaffie, RIdewell-
Snafile's father. He was an unassuming man,
who pursued his course in life modestly and
respectfully. So did his son Ridewell, but in an
evil moment the latter came in for some prop
erty. His name had been James R. Snaffie. He
visited his friends under this designation, and
he left his card around, and it proclaimed the
fact to the world. As soon as he had recovered
from the profound grief into which he had
been plunged by the death Of the uncle who
left him the money he began to write his name
out in full-James Ridewell Snaffie. This only
lasted for six months, however, for he began to
discover that he was great deal bigger man
than any Of the Snafdes who had preceded
him in the world and, as he had become such
a swell himself, he saw no reason why his name
should not swell likewise. So day when
the weather was fine he put lot of visiting
cards In his pocket, took u hack and went
calling. The result of his days industry was
II.
James Rideweli-Snaffle for the first time the
same being an immortal phoenix that had risen
from the ashes of the recently incinerated ]. r.
Snaf1e.
HE BUYS A HUNTER.
Having gained some slight knowledge of the
rider you will understand that the horse he has
bought is a hunter. You will also gather some
notion of the way he rides him. When he was
youth he learned how to ride and rode
I Is.al
moderately long stirrup he used the ball of
his foot to rest upon and he held himself quite
erect. That was well enough for J. Il. Snafie
but it won't do for a hyphened Snaffie. Now
he thrusts his whole foot in the stirrups. uses
them so short that his thigh and shin bones are
at right angles to one another. and curves his
body to the shape OF pot hook In selecting
a hunter for a saddle horse he is right and
wrong, and SO he is in the method he adopts in
riding.
4 hunter is, narrowly speaking. an English
saddle horse, especially trained for riding be-
hind the hounds and for jumping. To jump
well is his main use. Consequently he is a pow
full nag. heavily built behind. A fine hunter is
thoroughbred, but in horse lore there is a diff
ference between a thoroughbred and hunter.
the former term being used exclusively to des-
lgnate horses that are bred for racing, and
hunter is never a horse and is seldom
really fast. Fox hunting or following the trail
of the anise seed bag is not racing. 1t is not
4ulluCuit W htep up Win MOUNDS, SO 1ar
speed goes. The difficulty lies in following
where they go, and in following as long as they
60 If you are hunting real fox you may run
him down in short order, but you may be in
the saddle for hours and in the end may not
get him, for he may go and the dogs may fol-
low into places that no horse on earth can pen
citrate
THE GREENHoRN AMI THE VETERAN.
In this case you will have days hard riding
and no fox for your pains. But the artificial
scent can be laid over any course Of any
length, and you are reasonably sure of a salts
factory conclusion to your ride. The green
horn when he hunts rides hard and Jumps
everything that comes in his way, and the re-
suit is that, when the race at the finish comes
his horse Is played out and he loses the brush
The veteran never rides hard when he can help
1t. never jumps if it can be avoided and saves
his horse 80 that there is some strength left in
him when the end Is reached. 1t requires
cool head and strong hand to ride a hunt we'll.
II you get excited or If you permit your horse
to race from the beginnings he will be sure
to do if you don't check him-you are lost The
writer has seen q bunch Of youngsters start on
a hunt and race up long steep hill 1t is to
be hoped that the young man who reached the
top o. the hrst hill received some satisfaction at
his achievement for It'll all he accomplished that
day. His nag was winded before the fun had
begun.
FEW GENERAL RULES.
These general rules should be observed in
hunting: Trot up hill, lope on q level, pick
your way down hill. When you come to q Jump
that must be taken, unless you afe positive Of
the ability OF your horse, ease up and let the
other fellows take it first The probability is
that some one of them will knock a portion Of
the fence down and you can go through or over
IT with certainty. When it comes to the race at
the finish. If You are well forward and feel that
your horse Is equal to it, don't be modest but sail
inand win. Sit well and stand in the stir
rups and gallop up hill, jockey on q level sit
well back and give the horse his head and let
him stretch it out and run down hill. You are
in some danger, but to win the brush is worth
risk. When you come to that final jump,
which is usually hard one, ease up a bit, feel
at 1t ON gailop but never rush HIM at it. I'm
less it is low jump horse can't get over 1t on
run. He will plunge into it head first and
hurt you or himself, or both. II the lump is
under four feet six inches high a good hunter
can take 1t on moderate lope. II il is over
that it is too high for anything but an excep.
tional hunter. Some horses in taking a high
jump do it better when they are permitted to
trot up to it. They then stop just before the
hurdle, change the gait, give rear into the air
and carry their hind feet over like u cat. The
writer is under the Impression that Mr.. How
lands great leaper, Ontario, jumps in this way,
but this is jumping in the ring and is not sp,
plicable to jumping in the field.
THE BEST HORSES FOR ORDINARY USE.
Now, if our friend, Mr.. Ridewell- Snaffie, be-
longs to the hunt club and really intends to
ride with the hounds he has done well to buy
a hunter. but If, as is more probable, he intends
to hunt about twice in year and to ride about