Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-03-26

| ASS&1Ne r this that probably
| 1[y,Ns!. prompted one of the
| ,-t> - visitors who has now
| NsaslN5|1A13 decided to make Wash
| S2>cI~> ~ ington his home to send
] north for all his horses,
SO that he might enjoy plenty of horseback
riding for the next ten weeks. To a writer for
The STAR, who asked him about it, he said he
had found thus far that Washington is better
adapted for horseback riding than any other
large city, and this was one of the reasons why
he had determined to cease being visitor and
to become a resident.
This gentleman keeps a saddle horse for Or
! binary riding in the parks and large hunter
| for following the hounds. besides a polo pony
and a thoroughbred that he sometimes runs in
gentleman-rider races. He was questioned
/ about their qualities and gave an interesting
talk as result of pretty wide experience.
| FAvoRs THE POLO PONY.
He said he thought for a short spin Of an
afternoon that the polo pony was the best fun.
These little nags are not necessarily very small
and the best ones average over thirteen hands
| IN height. They are strong and active, and if
they are well bred and spirited rider has his
hands full when he rides one For one thing
take their method Of shying. large horse, as
a general thing, swerves or goes to one side,
with some warning to his rider, but the little
| horse when he SHES does it quick as q flash,
and being SO light himself often jumps across
! the road. II the rider is not on his guard he
finds himself and the pony have parted COM
| pany. When this latter calamity befals there
comes some fun-for the pony. How to catch
horse after he has thrown you is quite a SCI
! ence. Like chasing your hat when the wind
has blown 1t of your head, il you are pre-
cipitate, You are lost You must be cool and
patient, but in the case Of the horse it becomes
quite trying to the temper to walk after him,
getting within few feet of him only to have
him shake his head and trot on a little further.
Don't run after him, whatever you do The
| result will be that he will get frightened, kick
up his heels and run away, and then he is gone.
unless good Samaritan coming along the road
happens to catch him. If you are riding in
company don't let your friend run after the
horse that is loose. 1t will result in q race and
the horse without any weight to carry will win.
1t Is, in truth, a great deal easier to tell you
what not to do than it is to say what Is best
| to do.
THESE GENERAL RULES
had better be observed. however: Try coaxing
first; hold out your hand as though you had
| sugar in it; whistle gently and serve out lib
eral amount Of fiattery. Walk very gently and
slowly toward the horse in the meantime and
II he comes within reach of the arm catch him
and hang on to him. If he is proof against
your Establishments try by skillful maneuvering
| to get him up near fence. Then he may think
he Is penned In and may allow you to capture
him. If all this fails and he trots away when
ever you come near him and stops every few
moments to nibble the grass why just follow
him and try to keep him in sight and trust to
somebody on the road catching him and hold
! ing him until you come up. There is always a
good chance of this in thickly settled region,
but fancy the position OF a man out on the
prairles when his horse gets away from him.
ON THE PRAIRIE.
The writer onca canine dnvru xhn Hf;s
souri, river by Ioat in Montana, and as the boat
passed through an Indian reservation there
came to the waters edge an Indian chief on one
OF the little cayuse ponies that they ride. He
dismc united and stood watching the boat az it
steamed past, and as he looked the pony sud-
denly ierked his head up, broke loose and went
scampering of across the prairie. To exhibit
surprise or annoyance. or indeed any sudden
emotion, would be beneath the dignity Of an
Indian CHIEF, so this gallant redskin simply
glanced carelessly at the flying pony and then
resumed his inspection of the steamboat
There was not habitation Of any, kind in
sight, the country is one OF the most sparsely
settled In all America. To attempt to find the
pony would have been like searching for one
particular mosquito in the desert of Sahara
Big chief probably had a walk OF at least fifty
miles ahead of him, and all because he had been
careless and allowed his pony to escape
HOW TO FALL
Having said few words about catching a
horse after he has thrown you it will not come
amiss to give some hints on the subject Of how
to fall so as not to damage yourself. To fall off
OF horse-or to be thrOwn-or to 60 down
with q horse-all these are pleasures which
almost every rider who has ridden much has
undergone. Whenever You hear a rider boast
that he has never been thrown you may be
pretty certain that he has never done much
riding, or at any rate has never done any diff
cult riding. The best rider, too, may be taken
unawares when he is lounging in the saddle, if
the expression may be used and a sudden shy
and jump may send HIM to the grass, or worse
still, to make acquaintance with the stony bed of
a country road. Now, how should he fall? The
hrst principle is, strain every to fail away
from the horse. The danger Of striking the
earth Is not to be despised. but a greater dam
ger is that the horse will fall on you or step on
YOU Having sustained no damage get up in
stantly and catch your horse before be has had
time to recover from his surprise at your acct
dent, otherwise the interesting and prolonged
horse chase described above may ensue.
IN JUMPING.
II you are riding in hunt and your horse
goes down with you in making . jump, or any
thing OF that sort, there is not much good in
giving you any directions to follow. II you
fall away from the horse in soft
place you gre all right, generally.
but il you and the horse fall on one
another you arc both in a bad way You are
y
where you can do much for yourself in case Of
an accident The wisest thing is never to jump
your horse if you can help it. An experienced
rider observes this rule always and prefers a
gate to fence. But If jump you must, and il
you want TO win you have to do it sometimes
why keep your wits about you and don't let
your horse rush at the fence as though it was q
paper-covered hoop that you can plunge
through without damage to yourself or your
horse. II your horse has got beyond your
control and is running for fence give his
head q sharp pull 30 that it will be up in the
air. II his head is down he will plunge into q
stone wall He must see where he is going and
then you are, comparatively speaking. SAFE
Sitting at home in a rocking chair is safer than
fox hunting-there is no doubt Of tbat-but it
is not half as much fun, and probably one Of
the greatest pleasures Of the chase u that it in
wolves personal risk.
ABOUT HUNTERS. coBs AND HAcKNFYs.
The authority who has been quoted about
ponies had . few words to say about hunters
and as they are undoubtedly the horses most
sought after by acertain class Of people. it may
be we'll to say few words about them. In
fashionable horse circles at the present day,
where, it may be psrentheticaily remarked,
English fashions rule the day, the three horses
most talked about are cObs, hackneys and
hunters. Anything that looks chunky ID called
cob, anything that il big and jumps is called
a huu III Al. Hos. hat ,ok