The age-herald., 1898-01-30

accuracy, the horse must travel at one even speed: for if he were to make a start or slacken his pace the rider would come to the ground. He must also be well ac- customed to the business of the ring, for neither the music of the band, the action of the clown, nor as the case of the jockey act. the running up to him of the rider. must cause him to alter his speed; and it may surprise some people to learn that a horse Is seldom perfect for the ring until he has had about three years experience. The ring horse is, perhaps, entitled to our sympathy, for the continuous canter must become very monotonous. and not only have horses to appear once or twice in the day at public exhibitions, but they are also requisitioned for rehearsa1s. in order that new tricks may be practiced and fresh hands taught their business, while in bare back acts their coats are freely rubbed with rosln in order that the performer may have good foothold
 It is perhaps somewhat of a feather in the cap of military equitation that Philip Astley-who was probably the most suc- cessful of the early trainers-learned much of his business while trooper in a cavalry regiment so that even in those days (some- where about the year 1770) the cavalry rid-
 
 more conversant than other people with the breaking and training of horses.
 During recent years the greatest advance has perhaps been in the training of what are called liberty horses; that is to say, horses which are .introduced'' instead of being ridden. Within the memory of peo- pie who are scarcely more than middle aged, more than one horse. was seldom, if ever, seen in the ring at once. He was brought in, and went through his perform ance to the great delight of the assem- bled spectators, whereas now we find fifty or sixty horses in the ring at one time. and their performance must be regarded a triumph of the trainers art Herr Wulff, in his earlier visits to this coun- try, considerably astonished his visitors by the introduction of something like fifty horses in the ring at one time, and he made no secret of the fact that one of the most difficult tasks was to make the ponies trot along the ring fence while the bigger horses were going through their evolutions inside the ring. The ponies used to tum- be off, they became frightened, and even tually had to be held up but patience at last proved victorious, and the tout en- sembe was extremely good. It Is univer- sally admitted that memory is horses strong point, and it is on this that train- CTS work. A remarkable example of a horses memory occurred in the case of a pony once owned by the late MT. Will liam Cooke, who for many years was at Astley's In the early days of his career he owned a small pony. which he sold when his establishment increased Nearly dozen years later he was tenting near Bristol when 8 man came to him to ask whether he was open to buy small pony He said that he was, and. on inquir1ng now old the pony might be. was told five years. On the steed being brought to him, he at once recognized it as the old pony. and suggested to the man that it was little more than five years old The would-be vendor was indignant at his words being doubted Well" said MT. Cooke, "I had this pony something like ten or twelve years ago, and I think can prove it to you' He then gave the pony his cues and the little fellow went through the per- formances as though he had been doing them daily. though possibly in the interval he had never been asked to perform.