The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1902-10-03
Chr Aeyal1 and MewS
u, SOUTHERN hOKsEnANSRlP.
The Southern People the Best horseme" In
the worId-DecGine OF the Noble
Art in the North.
New Orleans Picsyune.

&NO"
Not many years ago electricity
was made the moving power OF street
cars in cities, and when the bicy Gle
was seen on every street and road 1t
was declared that there would soon
be little use for horses as means OF
transportation, while the military
cities declared that the long-range
guns had made the use of mounted
troops impossible, and the romantic
picture of the war horse rushing with
his rider into battle would soon be-
come q mere memory.
The experience of the Confederate
war for independence, supplemented
by those of England's war with the
Beers, have demonstrated that mount,
ed troops are Of greater value than
ever. As the American people are
going to be called on many times to
prove their proves in battle, and IS
. volunteers will continue for q long
time to make up a great part of the
United States army in time of war,
it becomes of the greatest value that
the Americans should be good horse
men.
The superiority in Workmanship
Of the people Of the Southern States
of the Union has been frequently
commented on, but it appears that
this superiority in past years has
grown decidedly more marked. In
the Northern States It seems that the
people no longer ride horses, but have
abandoned the saddle for the wheeled
conveyance. In a recent issue of the
New York Country Gentleman, a Pc
riodieal devoted to rural interests,
MI. Ernest 3. Crosby, of Duchess
County, in that State, writes as fol
lows:
"Visitors of the South usually find
much to criticise, but during a recent
trip through Georgia and the Caro-
linss, 1 noticed one thing in which
the South is far ahead of Us at the
North, and that is horsemsnship. In
any Southern town on any day of the
yea& you will see q dozen men on
horseback, who have come in from
the neighboring country and are
transscting their business there, and
it is not uncommon to see a string of
saddle horses tied up before a church
door during service. Every man who
owns q horse or keeps a horse in the
South knows how to sit on his back,
and as riding is a fine manly exer-
else, conducive to vigorous health
and self respect, the habit is a clear
advantage to the community.
SIN the North, as We all know, our
farmers have forgotten that the horse
can bear q ma on his back, and they
would as soon think of riding a COW.
I doubt, if on an average, there is
one saddle to fifty farms IN the State
of New York, and our boys are
brought up in the stable without
aver getting astride of a horse. 1t
is a very great pity and distinct loss
to the character of our people. The
buggy is no substitute for the saddle.
With it's comfortable seat. and high
back, saddle invites BID erect and vi.
rile attitude. On a large farm it is
far more convenient to superintend
operations from a saddle than from a
wagon or on foot, and there is q good
deal of business in town, not inyolV-
ing large packages, which can also
be well attended to on horseback,
and the saving in wear and tear on
wheels would be worth considering,
too.
"We are usually told that people
ride in the South because the roads
are too bad for wagons. If good
roads meal the neglect Of this e1er
else, I would go slow in urging the
improvement of them. But in the
North we seem to fall between two
stools, for We have neither the good
roads nor the horsemanship. As a
matter of fact, the good roads excuse
is no excuse at all, for in England,
where the roads are excellent, every
body rides, and the farmer spends a
-..aIr oort of b;e life in the saddle.