Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-13
THE KINGS. HORSES
Royal Stables Of Spain and
Their ooefo1ants.
ALL SPLENDID ANIMALS
CURIOUS COLLECTION OF COACHES
AND CARRIAGES.
Customs as to Procession on State DC.
casions Some Elaborate and
Unique Vehicles Described.
BY WILLIAM e. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star and
Chicago Record Herald.

BY WILLIAM e. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star ant
Chicago Record Herald.
MADRID, November 3, 1903.
The kings horses are quite as in
teresting as the kings men, and his
collection Of carriages even more SO
The Reale Caballerizas Cochera. ol
royal stables. which occupy an enormous
row Of buildings north Of the palace. shelter
about 200 horses and mules belonging to his
majesty, among them more than forty fine
Cr glish hunters and French coach horses
he has purchased since he was crowned
The stables occupy an extensive area upon
steep slope, SO that the fourth floor is
level with the street. The coachmen.
grcoms and stablemen all live in the es.
tablishment. making altogether about 20o
families. They have hereditary rights. for
most Of them are the sons and grandsons,
even for several generations. Of men who
have served in the same capacity to the
previous kings Of Spain. Some Of the
ccachmen can trace their pedigrees back
almost as far as their royal master, for a
coachman to the king is seldom discharged
and his eldest son Is almost sure to find a
place in the stables where he was born, and
finally to succeed his father. They have
their own peculiar customs, regulations and
etiquette, their own chapel their own
priest, their own doctor, their own under
taker and are a community by themselves.
The stables are we'll arranged and well
kept, most of the animals are of ancient
Spanish stock, bred from the Arab horses
that were used by the Moors. The official
horses. those which draw the chariot of the
king and other members of the royal fam
lily on occasions of ceremony, are Of cream
color, like those Of the royal stables of
England. and all Of them were bred at a
royal rancho at Aranguez. a chateau like
the Trianons near Paris, where Charles V
had shooting lodge and his successors
used to go for recreation. Formerly camels
from Arabia, llamas from South America,
Shetland ponies and other foreign stock
were kept there for breeding purposes, but
ago, and now the breeders devote their en-
tire attention to producing miniature mules
and queer colored horses. Some of the
mule ponies. called 'jaquitas," bred at
Aranguez, are as small as goats, and rose
colored horses with coats of a rich pink
have been produced. There Is a team of
four Colour de rose Stations in the royal
stables which were used 'to-haul the chariot
OF the king at the recent coronation.
The dwarf mules, which are very different
from donkeys in shape and style, were
driven by the king to little pony carriage
when he was a child. and are now being
kept for the children of, the Princess of
AsturiaS. The king has team of splendid
great Andalusian mules almost as large as
camels. The queen has a similar team
which she uses nearly every day for pleas
ure driving. Four-mule teams are quite
fashionable. You see many of them about
the city, The finest horse in the stable is
stallion presented to the king by Spaniards
living in the Argentine Republic, splendid
chestnut. The queen has a saddle horse of
the same color and each of the kings sis
tiers and aunts have theiE, own horses both
for saddle and for carriage, and mules for
hard service because the sandy soil is very
trying upon well-bred horsehesh.
The Royal Coaches.
The coach house contains 124 vehicles of
all sizes, ages. designs and uses, from the
cumbersome old coach in which the kings
and queens of long ago made their Journeys
across the dreary plains and mountains
drawn by eight, twelve and sometimes by
sixteen mules. They are enormously heavy,
capable of carrying ten persons and fitted
up in a most ingenious way with all sorts
Of contrivances for comfort and conven-
fence. Under the floor is sort of boiler
room, where tanks of water can be kept
hot by Oil lamps; on the roof is a series of
chests or packing cases in which luggage
and other belongings can be stored away.
On one side is full equipment of crockery,
other table ware and kitchen utensils, and
under the boot Is an oil stove upon which
the servants could cook a hasty dinner
These coaches were in use for more than
a century, so strongly were they built, even
down to the reign of Queen Isabella II, for
railways were not introduced into Spain
until all the rest of Europe had them.
There is a great gloomy hearse used for
royal funerals The last time was about a
year ago, when the body of Don Francisco
de Azziz, the modest husband of Isabella II,
was brought from Paris, where he died, to
be slowed away in the Escurial. This hearse
was used for the funeral of Queen Mer-
cedes also and for that of Alfonso XII, and
is strong enough to outlast the dynasty
When it is needed they send it out to the
Escurial by railway train, and after the
funeral they bring it back again to the city,
which seems an unnecessary lot Of trouble,
although it is none of our business.
Another interesting vehicle, which looks
like a circus chariot, is used to carried the
Atocha image of the Virgin in professions
on her anniversary. This image is famous
and is closely associated with the royal
family of Spain / will tell you about it
in another letter. The carriage represents
a golden moon rising out Of silver clouds,
most notwithstanding affair." but is very
highly regarded as a work of art as well
as for it's sacred associations
Modern Carriages
The modern carriages include all sorts of
patterns obtained in half a dozen different
landaus. broughams. victorias.
phaetons, dog carts, runabouts and traps of
every description. There Is a miniature
victoria in which Alfonso rode about drawn
by jaqutas when he was child, and a cart
in which he drove his ponies, with straps to
fasten him to the seat. Near it we find
dozen other miniature vehicles that were
made for his childish pleasure, and count
ed twenty-five landaus, all alike, winch are
used by the ladies in waiting and the gen.
tlemen of the household. There are hunt
ing wagons fitted up to carry guns and
dogs and game, servants carriages and ON
baggage wagons, cars made for
breaking horses and several very elegant
vehicles which have been received as pres
ents from time to time. Two carriages "a
landau and a victoria), both In excellent
taste, were presented by Queen Victoria to
Queen Christina twelve or fifteen years ago.
In a prominent place is the dog cart in
which the late King Alfonso and Queen
were driving when an attempt
was made to assassnate him, and she en-
deavored to protect her husband at the risk
of her own life. She saw the assassin, who
stood on her side of the cart, and as he
lowered his revolver to fire she leaned for
ward to receive the bullet in her own body
1t was a narrow escape The ball grazed
her forehead and carried her frizzes away,
and yet 1t is said that-she did not love her
husband.
State Equipages.
The state carriages are beautiful and in