The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1895-05-27
TOUGH POLO PONY.
HOW THE HARDY ANIMAL FARES
AMONG coLoRADo'S FOOTHILLS.

AMONG coLoRADo'S FOOTHILLS.
The Transformation In Appearance and
value That Takes Place After the Little
Brute L. Fitted For Approval by New
ports Heavy Swelis.
The sun Is beating pitilessly down on the
brown foothills Of Colorado, for IL is high
poun. and the month is August
A pony mare, dun IN color and only just
n hands in height, is moving about UNI
EASILY. evidently weary, anxious md watch
full Her coat Is rough, her ribs show
gauntly, and her hoofs are innocent Of
shoes Altogether the little mare is not an
attractive animal, yet were horsemnn to
pnss by and cast. rs he undoubtedly would,
second glance at the pony, he would be
sure to see some rare good points in her
makeup.
| She has a good, intelligent head, fair
shoulders. n roomy middle piece and most
excellent legs-hard, clean and without the
least sign of splint or SPAWN. Her mean
rst point is n poor quarter. she is also
somewhat goose rumped Although it
might be difficult to prove il, for stud books
are not kept very carefully ON the ranches,
she has a drop of the desert blood, her
uraudsire being half bred, imported by an
| English ranchman somewhere in the los
The air is growing hotter each minute.
Far as the eye can reach is the same sun
baked, rolling eNpanse OF dried buffalo
grass. The mare moves toward II stunted
match of sage bush scrub, and in a second
or two has come to where n little foal,
scarcely more than few hours old, Is lying
painting in the shade She dares not 20
very far away, for the lean wolf and hungry
coyote would soon make short work OF her
offspring did they not know that kick
from even an unshod hoof will puNerize the
stouteSt wolf that ever prowled the plains
The Door little immature thing would,
were it born in the east instead of in the
west, be the object Of tender solicitude to
numerous stablemen, and its every want
would be supplied, but here, among the
foothills, it will have to be built of pretty
good timber to stand the strain of exist
ence. The nearest water Is five miles away,
and yet that distance will have to he trav-
ersed every time the dam has to drink, and
even now she cannot resist the temptation
much longer.
with a low whinny the gentle creature
calls the youugster, and as il comes gam
boiling up she starts in direction which
her instinct tells her will be a bee line &c
the nearest spring-a dirty, muddy pool
rolled by cattle, and favorite haunt of lie
hungry coyote.
The mare and foal reach their destination
In safety, and each day the same dreary
path has to be traverspd and retraversed.
Is 1t any wonder that the western pony is
cough and endurngY Muscles of steel and
bones of iron. When in after life the gal
liant little beast has to carry a heavy foot
rider in some cup match at Newport, Cedar
hurst or Wenham, it is mere child's play
compared with the daily struggle for ex'
istence when a foal.
In due season the fOal becomes a colt and
is taken into the corals of the ranch 10
which it belongs. Naturally docile, though
spirited, it happily gets broken without be-
coming mean" though, seeing that Sin
gleshot Mike did the breaking after his
, usual rough and ready fashion, this is some.
thing to be wondered at.
Ridden at the annual roundup, and also
at the usual routine work of the ranch by
= one of the boys, the dun colt, or rs it is now
called, buckskin, eventually becomes one
of the handiest ponies owned by the outfit
i, and being naturally gifted with very fair
turn of speed, owing to the diluted but
still potent drop of desert blood inherited
from the imported great-grandsire, finally
comes his own especial favorite mount
The dun pony is now just years old, Il
hands high, and just the stamp to catch q
polo players eye. One fine day Cutaway
the noted horse dealer, comes along, on the
lookout for anything that will sell for q
good price at Newport. He has All almost
unlimited order for really good geldings
but cannot sell more than half a dozen
81 mares during the season, as the eastern
players will have nothing to do with them
as rule, much to the bewilderment of the
:. COW punchers, who consider, and rightly
= enough, too, that the mare is usually mort
enduring, quicker and handler than the
horse or gelding
Getaway notes the buckskin at glance
v and although he is far too astute to let OF
inwardly determines to have the little beg
gar. Well he knows that he will be amply
able to give any sum likely to be demanded
by the boss, and still make handsom,
profit on the transaction when he gets t,
Newport.
The scene now shiftR Il couple of thousan,
V. miles to the eastward The dun was pur
chased for $50. and IL cost another SO t.
n. put him where he is--in "a comfortable bu
unpretentious stable in the rear of tn
Ocean House. a probable purchaser is ex
pected; the litter in the stall is changed
the pony given a final rundown, his tail la
been docked before starting for the east
and in the sleek, neatly groomed little MAJ
Ell no one would recognize the shaggy, ill KEEP
brute of two months before.
r A dogcart stops at the stable door, n dap
per groom jumps to the cob's head, an,
!. Charley Heavyswell alights to have lool
at Getaways latest bit of equine perfet
tion. OF all the swagger Newport mel
fc hv- lnpu odd ~
most gorgeous. His appearance on thi
fine June morning is thing of chastene,
beauty, but to give him his due he also is
most finished horseman and absolutel
fearless. No man in the country can "hus
tie a sticker-a fier can spare"-quite S
well as Charley Heayyswel!.
He is languidly pleased at the dun pom
and directs that it be sent down to the pol
field about 3 p. m, so that he may nave
chance to throw a leg over it before tn
:, match begins.
The pony acquits himself So creditab
for green un that Getaway sets the pric
at $3.50 and gets a check for that amour
before the week Is Out-something tina
does not always happen when Newpor
man is the buyer, but Charley Heavyswell
pocketbook is a capacious one, and for
man who controls two or three railroads h
:, is uncommonly free with his money.
After this the dun pony existence is liz
, that of hundreds of other western ponie
that have been brought east to play rolc
His counterparts may be seen three times
week at Wenhan, bingham, Newport q
Rockaway. They are always good, hardy
little beasts and rarely sick or sorry.-Bo.
ton Herald.
Pay More and Get Less.
1t is one of the anomalies of modern hote
life that the more you pay the less you ex
pect in return. III tic huge caravansarie
" of the large American cities, where MAJ
pays SO week for room without board
ir he never thinks of asking any seryicn of LII.