The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-02-27
IN AND OUT OF SADDLE
DARING AND Skill or THE AUS
IRALIIN RoUGH RIDERS.

Interesting Things Concerning Feats OF
Antipodean aforementioned to be
Superior in Knowledge of bareback
Riding to the Cowboys of This Country,
or the Riders on South American Plains
Having followed the profession OF
rough rider in the colonies for some
years, take the liberty to give to the
readers of THE Field" a few partlou-
lars of q life which has Its features OF
interest l trust a horse-loVing puplle
like the readers of these pages VIII not
think stranger presumptuous who at
tempts to give them any information on
the art of riding buckjumpers, for let
them here be assured that the genuine
buckjump is thing very exceptionally
seen. l have known men who nave
broken horses on colonial cattle sta
tons for half lifetime who have never
seen one, and they ought to nave the
chance, of all men.
One reason of this, which one rarely
sees mentioned, is that it is not every
horse that can buck. Only certain
| breeds will do so, whatever the cause is,
and these breeds are commonest III
some ountries-Australia, for example
Horses of other kinds will suffer the
last indignities and never buck The
ignorant commonly class other vices
such as pig-jumping, or kicking, rough
~, under the head of buckJumplnS
which is a motion perfectly distinct
from these. At the same time horse
which really understands kicking is TAI
more difficult to sit than buck jump
er, No amount of balance will keer
you on a horse who stands perpendicu-
larly on his forelegs, while the back OF
your head occasionally hits his hind
quarters ST..
The rough riders life is hardly one
which can be recommended generally
as a recreation (to nervous old gentle
man, for instance), For myself, con-
slider mounting buckjumper one OF
the best tests of nerve. You come into
| the yard and find the colt saddled ur
and ready for you to mount in cold
blood Next moment you may be
killed. Riding at a stiff jump, wher
you are warmed to your work, is child
play compared to this, and requires
half the skill. Most men resort to
couple of glasses of whiskey before
they mount, but getting up Dutch cour-
age of this kind is to be deprecated
l have seen but little riding here al
home, and | am open to correction, but
it appears to me that the amount OF
Rough riding done in these islands is
very small. The result is that the
breaking is better. No "horsey' reader
will think this a paradox. The best
trough rider is by no means the best
breaker. The two qualities are not
contradictory, but rarely go together
The reckless man, who can ride any
thing" will not trouble to MAKE a
hcrse thoroughly quiet, but is rather in
clined to irritate him and get a chance
to show off his riding. Here they seem
largely to use a dummy, or German
rider" as it is called in some places
ard I conclude this answers every pur'
pose, The different methods Of break
ing are the same all over the world, bat
there is one employed in Australia
| which is not seen here, | mean break
ing in a horse to saddle couple OF
hours before he is sold! | am not ro-
mancing, but this is sometimes done
and was common in the last generation
! When man brought his colt up t
town only on the morning of the sale
| The purchaser sees the mark of the
saddle on his back, and thinks it is al
right. The fortunes of mind and body
the poor brute endures while the rough
rider is up must be awful.
Here let me say a word for my
adopted country-Australia. The only
man who can sit a real workmanlikt
tuckjump in a plain saddle is the borr
Australian. He can even do it bare
back The Australians claim to be the
best riders in the world, and at the risk
of offending any readers from Soutf
America I venture to say they are
They sit scientifically under the mos
embarrassing circumstances, and {
frst-class rider would never dream o
doing what South Americans some
times do-trust to hanging on by thu
spurs for firm seat. This is surely
bad form, to say nothing of the cruelty
I have seen rough riders from America
thrown into every possible position OF
the saddle, and satisfied if they car
only keep there by any means.
The cream of the profession will ride
the worst horse in an ordinary saddle
but I have myself always used mechan
zeal helps. The ''buck- jumping saddle
is the most common. 1t has the usua
ltneepads of the colonial saddle in front
only they are larger, and come RICH
over the knees and cover them. There
is also a smaller pad behind the calf O
the leg, which is thus held from slip
ping either fore" or aft" MANY
writer's on hunting disapprove of large
pads at all, as there is some chance o
strain to the thigh when the hors,
piunges, for the leg cannot give ant
break the force of the shock. However
l shall have more confidence in the ad
vice of such writer's when l have seci
them sit a buckjump without pads. !
large surcingle is also commonly used
1t passes over the top of the saddle ant
around outside the girth, and i
strained by a kind of double purchas
AS tight as it will go. This hinders TIL
horses contortions good deal and in
terferes with his breathing so mucl
that he soon tires.
] have often used the colonial "swag'
with advantage-a bundle bound acros
the saddle above the knees Whel