The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1901-12-27
Il HOME in a SADDLE.
\ yscs.ern woman who Ha. Made

= Western Woman Who Has Made
wide Reputation ON Ranges.
aIIs. Minni.. Austen. n typical wom-
J. an of the plains, has recently been CIV
ing. exhibitions of eQuestrianisnn Mt
Portland, Or. and has astonished
Many. even among the experienced
piaihsmen. by her daring feats. says
4 the Baltimore Sun. She Is an absolute
: Iy fearless horsewOman who delights
Y In feats that seem hazardous aud In
lssks that appear dangerous. The
crowd Of cowboys who were perform
Ing at the carnival during the horse
show were 80 confident of Mrs. Aus
tens ability that they were willing to
hack her to the extent of 500 to ride
snny four footed animal sent to the
grounds During the week Mrs. Aus
ten nightly did Il tandem hurdle act
that proved Immensely popular with
the carnival visitors. With two sptr-
tied horses going ut the utmost speed
that vigorous whiplashing could get
/, out Of them she went tearing around
the track, taking the three hurdles as
clean rs ever any famous hunter clear.
ed a brush or fence.
Mrs. Austen explains that her love
for horses and her ability to handle
them comes from the environment Of
her early childhood. Her father was
Thomas Thorpe of southern Oregon,
well known throughout the state as
one Of the largest dealers in horses in
the west. In speaking Of her experi-
epces to reporter Mrs. Austen said:
sFrom fodder have been used to
riding, and presume that It is my
constant association with horses that
has given line the confidence that makes
mo believe can STICK to any horse
that can be brought % ma At home
I soon learned the hle10 that count
the most In subduing the Vicious range
horses and COW ponies. and at no time
can remember feeling my degree Of
fear In handling them. 1t is exciting
and perhaps dangerous, but no horse
has yet thrown me, and have had
X sufficient experience to assure me that
! can tame the worst Ct them.
.For over three yearsfI worked for
Portland cattle dealers and did the
same work that was given to the men.
would go into the country, get a
drove of wild cattle and bring them In
to the city without losing u single one.
III did this sort of work month after
month and always had plenty Of en-
gagemcnts ahead, which ought to ar
que that did the work well. But the
part Tat most enjoy is breaking wild
pc:.ies. There are an excitement aud
d thrill III the work that compensate
for the exertions and dangers. ! have
worked alongside some Of the best
cowboys In the state and have stuck to
my saddle until the wild horse became
tame one and could be handled by
I any one
TN breaking horse prefer mans
saddle, but in other work | use the con-
ventlonal sldesaddle. The tandem hur-
de act Is full OF excitement. but have
never met with serious accident.
The other night the horn Of the saddle
broke. and for a moment. until ! re-
4 covered my balance. didn't know
what was going to happen. But the
spectators never knew that anything
was wrong, and sent the ponies over
the timbers as fast us they could 60.
j have abandoned the cattle driving
and broncho breaking ana expect to
get int the show business In the fu-
ture. have trained one OF my tan
dem ponies TO tnke the hurdle through
a ring Of fire and other feats that are
rather out of the ordinary