Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1898-08-11
THE HORSE FAVORED.
Popularity Of Equestrianism In.
creased 5y Cycling.
INh@eA
40 Ride IN the open AIT and
row the RtGins Academies
Are ProkperinR.

The hoI;se is not dead yet When the
wheel spun into such favor a few years
ayo, people prophesied that riding
horses would soon lave nothing 10 do
but stand in the stalls and kick their
heels ia Idleness. For & year or two
:lat wee pretty much all that most of
them did co. But at present there 10 a
decided reaction, and the Strse Is pranc--,
ing more gayiy sid more nu-nerousiy
than he eve. cid
managers of the riding academies
e25 that they have never had so prosper
ous winter "a the one just past. The
proprietor Of well-known riding
school near Central Park says that his
books show g business Of $4,000 ir ex-
cess Of the previous year He states
with pleasure that collections are SO
easy that he feels as II he were IN 0
rose -coiored dream and might wake up
70 find that his money had turned to
fairy gold As for the wheel, DO
blesses IL devoutly and says 1t Is At the
root Of all his good fortune.
''The bicycle was O blessing T., dis
guise. as fur as we are concerned" he
said. "I'll admit that 4. was disguised
al erst. But never joined the chorus
OF calamity howiers. predicted from
the start that the horse would stand The
test, and so he has"
@Eo~ las the wheel helped you"
This way: People went crazy over
g. Thousands and hundreds of thou
sands OF people who had never taken
out-of-door exercise learned 10 ride q
wheel. and spent hours every Cay IN the
open or. Vixen man or o woman
fnds out what great thing ii Is 10
have exercise in the open air. IL settles
the thing. The habit once formed. you
aren't going TO coop that man or that
woman M for the rest of his days
THE wheel, SO 7 say, taught this hab-
1t 10 many thousands Of people, ever SO
many wealthy people. Then every body
took to the bicycle. The world
wheeled. Some men and women didn't
want to be In the crowd, go they decided
TO give up wheeling except once In
awhile. But what they couldn't &c was
10 make up their minds 10 give up out
ot-door exercise, and, cohsequently,
people who would never otherwise have
learned to ride horse have taken II ~
now.
"Of course, so late IN the season. .things
are quiet here at the academy. People
have gone - the country and taken
their horses with them. But during
simply rushed. As for next fall, ]
have so many engagements that II
everybody came back at the same time
I wouldn't have enough stalls for the
horses. It 10 astonishing how many
children are learning to ride. The
greatest increase is In that direction.
Children's ponies were never in such
demand.
an past seasons have often had to
take horses in pay for board bills. This
year only one horse was turned In on
me IN that wayfN had TO engage nine
rfdiae masters, more than have ever
had before. People OF IN ages have
been learning; even old ladies have
been taking lessons. Another reason
for the return to the horse 10 that stout
people, who ride TO reduce flesh, found
that the wheel Is not SO efPectUel as
horse. Then. too, a good many physi-
clans prescribe wheel and prescribe
horse"
'sThe trotting horse is stiil the most
popularp"
"Oh, yes The Kentucky-gaited horse
Isn't in demand here In New York ex-
cept for semi-invalids who need some
thing easy. Down In Kentucky it's diff
ferent They ride for hours there. so
they need ar easy gait. Here In New
York people want the horse which gives
them the best exercise in a short time"
DO any New York women ride
aetride?s
"I don't think so. y won't ever be
fashionable in New York. Iwon't allow
any woman to ride astride in my school.
That il, not st present. IF 1t ever be-
comes customary that will be differ
ent; but I am not pioneering. I ber
Neve they ride so little in Chicago and
other pleces.'
"How about cross-country riding
among womerP"
'tOf course there is nothing Of that
sort in the academy now, but we have
had moro pupils In that line during the
winter than ever before. You Sec, I
am justified in saying that the wheel
has proved blessing to us. They
couldn't very we'll ride to hounds onA
wheel, anyway But the love OF being
outdoors, which the wheel instilled into
many people, has reacted amazingly for
the greater popularity OF tine horre."-
". Y. Sun.