The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-09-06
SCHOOL FOR POLO PONIES,
cot RISE FOt'R TEARS LONG. LIKE
ANY OTHER COLLEGE,


This Takes Pace On . WysniipS Horse
RaRch-The Ponies Sent To England.
SHERIDAN, Wye, Sept 2.-Ths Training
School for Polo Ponies has just held its
commencement exercises, and the 100
graduates have Lssn slipped to London.
being the largest single shipment OF Vest
ern trained horses ever sent across the
ocean. The ponies will be sold to officers
Of the English A my ard other Lard ridsrs
and will he used for polo playing.
1t takes just about as long to fit pony
for polo playing as it takes to III an American
young man for pract sing law or medicine.
Four years il the course, and for pupu
which il slightly dull five years liz required.
If the animal cannot properly pass his ex-
aminatioEs at the end of the second year
he is cast out.
The curriculum Of this horse school in
cludes training for muscles. bones, lungs.
endurance, speed, agility, jumping, turn
ing quickly. chasing the polo ball. pushing
an opponent, &C., and ends with a years
work at actual polo playing while being
ridden by the cowboys Of the school. who
are probably the most expert polo players
in this or any other country.
The polo school was started about teo
years ago by two young Englishmen. VIII
liam and Malcolm Moncreifie. who came
out to raise cattle. They bought a ranch
near here. and for eight years devoted them
selves to cattle raising. By that time
they reached the conclusion that Wyoming
was a better horse than cattle state, %
they turned their attention to horses.
The brothers, having been polo players
in their youth, organized a polo team among
their cowboys. The broncos used in this
sport became 10 proficient that the young
men determined to send several to their
friends in England as gifts. They did 20.
and the Western horses created sensa-
ton on English polo fields. Then the Mon
creiffe boys decided to 60 into the business
OF raising and training polo ponies for the
English market.
They bought a ranch In the foothills OF
the Big Horn Mountains, named it the Polo
Ranch and on it organized their Training
School for Polo Ponies. Because che
pupils and their ancestors had been SUBJ
ject to all the rigors of long cold winter
and the inmutable law Of the survival OF
the fittest,' they we're hard animals.
The grass growing upon the limestone soil
Of northern Wyoming ranges contained
the very elements necessary to make strong
bones, very important part Of the make-up
of a polo pony. The high altitude gave
him strong lungs, while his associations
with the cowboy gave him the necessary
cunning. and the dangers Of the mountains
and plains in the shape Of wolves and noun
tain lions had made him brave and coura-
geous.
The undertaking was success and for
the last eight years there has been annually
shipment of the graduates of the school
to London, where they are taken at fancy
prices. This years class Of 100 was the
largest since the school began. the usual
number being from twenty-five to fifty.
A class is composed of about ninety
| pupils, and as fast as bunch is graduated
and sent away new ones take their places
One Of the most important things in the
management of the ranch is the selection
of the ponies to be trained. The pony
! must be about fourteen and hall hands
high, we'll built, fast and capable OF en-
during the hardest work He must also
be endowed with an abundance OF horse
sense. Notw withdrawing the care used
in the selection of the ponies. about %
per cent. of those chosen are cast out,
usually because Of their poor judgment.
The pony selected is usually unbroken,
and the first business Of the trainer is TO
ride him. This requires the services Of
an expert bronco buster. and there are
several on the ranch After the pony is
| thoroughly broken, 'he polo trainer takes
him in hand and puts him through different
| figures The first of these is cutting the
figure 8. In this exercise two ponies are
used and are ridden in opposite directions
so that they NEE, in the centre, or at tho
- 2 hn Frvtr
extended and the pony goes to part OF
| the training grounds where there is line
| of posts about sixteen feet apart. The
| trainer now rides his pony around and he
tween the posts so that he goes TO the right
of the first and TO the left of the second.
and 40 on to the end of the row when.
| turning he rides back to the starting place
About this time the trainer begins 10
use the long-handled msllet, swinging it
| first on one side and hen on the other. until
| the pony no longer pays any attention 10 ~
Next come lessons in crossing out
in which the pony attempts 10 shove ms
| adversary as far to one side az possible hr
sheer force and the momentum lis obtaired
by dash across the field Another ex-
ercise is that Of following the bell After
| the pony gets accustomed to the msllet
the rider knocks the ball across the field
| rides 70 il, gives il another knock and fol-
| lows it NJ again. This ia continued until
|
sent across me field he must follow il with
| all his might
These exercises take from one IN two
| years and are continued throughout tho
whole course to certain extert Y at
the end Of the second year the pony is TO-
| expert al the exercises Which lave been
given him, he is expelled from school
The next step, which occurs in the s"ccrd
or third year Of the porv's course, Is "a
give the pupil actual experience in po'o
| playing Day after day ard month af'er
month the polo playing cortinues. thu
riders being the cowt oy polo PLAYERS on t'-o
ranch--some Of the most expert hcrse1ne n
in Wyoming, where everybody rides horses
| After year at this work. the ZONES are
| pronounced finished
On arrival in Trglard the ponies ara
placed in stables until the following sprir s.
and when they become sufficiently accfi-
mated to be placed on the market inter
esred persons are invited 20 witness a ro,c
game in which they PLAY Purchasers
are soon found for them
The prices received for these rorl "s
vary from $3.50 to 81 COO, and some brir z
as high as 81 $50 Two years ago three
| Moncreiffe horses were bought in Iordon
and returned 10 New York bv American
polo PLAYERS, but the school is utFrd" d
exclusively for fitting horses for the Eng
lish market.