The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-11-29
SOUTHERN HORsEMEN.
Their RecIIessness on Green Horses
AstOnIshes Northern Hunters.
From the Century Magazine.

From the Century Magazine.
1t is hard to fathom the spirit of reck-
lessness that most sharply differentates
the southern hunter from his northern
brother, and that runs him amuck when
he comes into contact with a horse,
whether riding driving, or betting on him.
] a thing has to be done in a hunting
field or can be done there is little differ
ence 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 a
green horse look little short of criminal.
In certain counties of Virginia, where hun
tiers 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 thir-
ty: Il give my horse a chanceH' In other
words, he had stopped eXacting of him
the impossible. In Georgia they follow
hounds at a fast galiop through wooded
boys and swamps at night, and 1 have
seen a horse go down twice within a dis
lance Of thirty yards and the rider never
leave his back. The same is true of Ken
lucky, and 1 suppose of other southern
states.
l have known one of my friends in the
bluegrass to amuse himself by getting
into his buggy an unsuspecting friend,
who was as sedate then as he is now land
he is a judge now) and driving him at
fun 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 a creek,
his companion still sedate and fearless,
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
masters gate.
A northern visitor was irritated by the
apparently reckless driving of his host,
who is a famous horseman 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.
II WILL" was the grave answer. and he
did.
This is the Kentuckian in a buggy.
Imagine him on horseback, with no la
dies present to check the spirit or the
spirits of the OCCASION and we can believe
that the Thanksgiving hunt or the lro-
quois Club is perhaps a little more serious
business than playing polo. or riding after
anise-seed. And yet there is hardly a
member of this club who could sit in his
saddle over the course at Meadowbrook
or Chevy Chase, for the reason that he
has never practiced jumping a horse in
his stride, and because when he goes fast
he takes the jockey seat. which is not, I
believe, a good seat Cor five-foot fence;
at the same time, there is hardly a coun-
try-bred rider in the blue grass. man or
woman, who would not try 1t. Still, ac-
cidents are rare, and 1t is yet a 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 several feet in the air and catches
II when it falls, the place is seen by ALL
and there is a mad rush for that one
| spot. The hunters crash together and
often knock one another down. l have
known two fallen horses and their riders
| to be cleared in a leap by two hunters
who were close behind them. One of the
men was struck by hoof flying over
| him.
II saw shoe glsten." he said. and
then it was darkness for a while"