Evening star., 1896-12-18
SOUTHERN HORSEMEy.
Their Recklessness ON Green Horses
AsfOnishes Northern Hunters.
From the Century.

From the Century.
1t Is hard to fathom the spirit of reckless
ress that most sharply differentiates the
southern hunter from his northern brother
and that runs him amuck when he comes
into contact with horse whether riding
driving or betting on him. Ii 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 north
erner, be a matter of skill and judgment
and he likes to know his horse. To him or
to an Enslishman thu southern hunters
performances on A green horse look little
short of criminal In certain counties of
Virginia, where hunters follow the hounds
after the English fashion, the mein point
seems TO be 1or each man to hang up
the man. behind him. and desperate risks
are run Il have STOPPED that boyish fool
lShneSs. though, said aged hunter un-
der thirty: Il give my horse a chance" In
other words he had stopped exacting of
him the impossible. In Georgia they fol-
low hounds at fast gallop through wood
ed bogS and swamps at night. and | have
seen a horse go down twice within a dis
tance of thirty Yards and the rider never
ieav" his back. The same is true of Ken
lucky and / suppose of other southern
states.
L nave known one of my friends in the
blue grass to amuse himself by getting
INTO MS buggy an unsuspecting friend who
was as Sedate then as he s now (and ne
Is judge now. and driving him at fulI
speed through an open gate then whizzinr
tnrough the woods and seeing how near he
@ oeuru siaze the trunks of trees in his
&C urse, and how sharply he could turn and
sHdlng up the circuit by dashing sliu at
nun speed. into a creek his companion still
sedate and fearless. but swearing HELPLESS
~: 6elng bantered by an equally reckless
friend one dark midnight while going bon,e
THIS same man threw both reins out ON bis
morse back. and gave the high-str,Ine
@ peas1 smart cut with his whip. He ran
fha nil y,
his masters gate g.
A northern visitor was irritated by the
apparently reckless driving of bis bas.
who is famous horsemsn in tb. bI1r
grass. " e D'u,
You lunatic," he said, you'd better
Ve IrVe over those stone piles"' meaning q
neap or unbroken rocks that Law ON ONE
side OF the turnpike
did. answer ahd he
THIS is the Kentuckian i'm a buggy
Imagine him on horseback. with no ladies
present TO check the spirit or the spirits
VI tms OCCASION and we can beliey. tha,
10 iHe arh aIhankssiving hunt of the Iroquois Club
20 -. perhaPs little more serious business
than playing polo. or riding after snise
seeu. And Yet there is hardly a member of
! .h .hls cluo WHO could sit in his saddle over
the course at Meadowbrook or Cbs,,,,
Chase. for the reason that he has na,,o,.
pracuced jumping horse in his STRIFE
ana because when he goes fast he takes
- - Joehes seat, which is not I believe n
sood ., seat for a five-foot fence ut the same
time; there Is hardly a country-bred rider
In the blue grass man or woman who
Wouin not try 1t. Still. accidents are rare
ana II Is yet tenet in TIE creed of the
soLthern hunter that the safer plan is to
,ake no care. On the chase with grew
MOUNDS the dogs run. Of course, by sight
aud the point with the huntsman is To he
the nrst at the place of the kill AS the
greyhound tosses the rabbit several fee, i'm
me ar and catches 1t when it falls. the
pace is seen by all, and there is a mao rush
Ior that one spot The hunters crash TO-
1 have known two fallen horses and tbsir
Iiuers to be cleared In a leap By two
hunters who We're close behinl them One
ever him. i ny hs
saw shoe Glisten," he said. land then
1t was darkness for q while ~