The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1896-12-03
SOUTHERN HORSEMEN.
Their Recilessrcss on Green Horses 81
tonisIles Northern Hunters

|
| 1t is hard to fathom the spirit of
recklessness that most sharply diff
ferentiates the southern hunter from
his northern brother and that runs
him amuck when he comes into con-
tact with a horse, whether riding,
driving or betting on him. If thing
has to be done in a hunting field, or
can be done, there is little difference
between the two. Only the thing
must, with the northerner, be a
matter of skill and Judgment, and
he likes to know his horse. To him
or to an Englishman the southern
hunters performances on q green
horse look little short of criminal.
In certain counties of Virginia.
where hunters follow the hounds
after the English fashion, the main
point seems to be for each man to
"hang up" the man behind him, and
desperate risks are run. 81 have
stopped that boyish foolishness,
though" said an aged hunter under
80. 81 give my horse a chance. " In
other words, he had stopped exact
ing of him the impossible. In Geor
| gia they follow hounds at a fast gal
lop through wooded boys and
swamps at night, and I have seen a
horse go down twice within dis
tanoe of 80 yards and the rider new
er leave his back. The same is true
of Kentucky, and suppose of other
southern states.
have known one of my friends
in the Blue Grass to amuse himself
by getting into his buggy an unsus-
pecting friend, who was as sedate
then as he is now (and he is a Judge
now and driving him at full speed
through an open gate, then whizzing
through the woods and seeing how
near he could Craze the trunks of
trees in his course and how sharply
he could turn, and ending up the
circuit by dashing, still at full
speed, into creek, his companion
still sedate and fearless, but swear
ing helplessly. Being bantered by an
equally reckless friend one dark
midnight while going home, this
same man threw both reins out on
his horses back and gave the high
strung beast smart cut with his
whip. He ran four miles, kept the
pike by some mercy of Providence
and stopped exhausted at his mas,
ter's gate.
A northern visitor was irritated
by the apparently reckless driving
of his host, who is a famous horse.
man in the Blue Grass.
| "You lunatic," he said, "you'd
better drive over those stone piles, ;
meaning heap of unbroken rocks
that lay On one side of the turnpike
81 will, was the grave answer
and he did.
This is the Kentuckian in a buggy
| Imagine him on horseback, will
no ladies present to check the spirit
or the spirits of the occasion, anG
we can believe that the Thanksgiv
ing hunt of the Iroquois club is per
haps a little more serious business
than playing polo or riding after
aniseed. And yet there is hardly a
member of this club who could sit
in his saddle over the course OF
Meadowbrook or Chevy Chase, for
the reason that he has never prac.
tioed jumping horse in his stride,
and because when he goes fast he
takes the jockey seat, which is not,
believe, a good seat for five foot
fence. At the same time there is
hardly country bred rider in the
Blue Grass, man Or woman, who
would not try it. Still, accidents are
rare, and it is yet tenet in the
creed of the southern hunter that
the safer plan is to take no care. On
the chase with greyhounds the dogs
run, of course, by sight, and the
point with the huntsman is to be
the first at the place of the kill. AS
the greyhound losses the rabbit sew.
eral feet in the air and catches il
when it falls, the place is seen by
all, and thure is a mad rush for that
one spot. The hunters crash togeth.
er and often knock one another
down. I have known two fallen
horses and their riders to be cleared
in leap by two hunters who were
close behind them. One of the men
was struck by hoof flying over
him.
81 saw shoe glisten," he said,
land then it was darkness for
awhile. John Fox, Jr., in Cen
fury.
A Gold Colored Diamond.
One of the most beautiful Ola.