The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-11
AMATEURS IN HORSE MART
CLUB MEMBERS ARE BUYTNG
EQUIPMENT For PIONEER.

This Years Drivers 10 BE A. G. Vanderbilt.
II. l.. Gerry. w. G.. Loew and r.. W,
RIves--Seamy Sid Of Road Coaching
Spring Parade and Country Outing.
Ais not gold hat glitters and all Of road
coaching Is not the glory OF speeding four
fast steppers from the high box seat. There
Is O working side to the sport that demands
a practical knowledge Of O horse and which
tests the knowledge by the hard, cold.
blooded rule Of profit and loss, Of dollaa
out or dollars In. This Is a part Of coach
ing David Harum would have delighted
In, much more than to don the frock coat
and light high hat of the amateur COACH
man, and the society whips take to the horse
dealing as a duck to water.
This year the Coaching Club will put tho
road coach Pioneer In commission between
the Holland House and the Ardsley Club
on Easter Monday, April 10. The whips
will be r. W. Rives and A. G. Vanderbilt,
Of last years staff; Robert L. Gerry, who
drove the Pioneer some seasons ago, and
w. Goadby Loew. G. L.. Boissevan, who
was on the box last year, has dropped out.
A. g. Vanderbilt and R. L. Gerry will run
the twin coaches Venture and Viking to
the races In spring and fall from the Holland,
using very smart gray teams; Squadron A
will run its yellow coach from the Hotel
Savoy TO the polo at Van Cortlandt; the
Good Times will be driven by a professional
whip from the Waldorf-Astoria, and, in
July and August, j. Campbell Thompson
and Edward Koch will put the Nigilant on
the road again. This is the only dinner
coach ever run out Of the city, at least In
modern times. 1t leaves the Holland In
the late afternoon for the Suburban Club,
returning after dinner in the cool OF the
summer evening.
Motor cars are only accessories TO coach
ing among true horsemen, and the rise Of
a~utomobiling has not thus far checked
the popularity of four-in-hand driving.
w. NJ. V. Hoffman was one Of many new
Corners into the sport last season, who had
formerly been O light harness horse driver,
and the turnout Of coaches at Belmont
Park was beyond precedent, although out
numbered twenty-five to one by the motors
to gather there each day. There were
eleven coaches at the spring meet Of the
Coaching Club, somewhat more than the
average. number to parade.
Park teams may be chosen at home and
at leisure, but to equip a road coach there
must be four horses fresh and ready for
every six miles of the journey, If fast time
is to be kept, and this demands the buying
of a herd, somewhat as though to equip a
cavalry troop or a circus. The committee
to tool the Pioneer each year Is more fortu-
nate than others who set up road coaching,
for the Coaching Club insures it against
loss. When the season Is over the horses
used are auctioned of, and after the re-
ooinfe fropa no oeapnara of eE q hand ara
added the total represents the earnings Of
the coach. From this sum must be deducted
the first cost Of the horses, the wages Of
hostlers, stable rentals and feed Of horses
at the posts up and down the road; ditto
for the town stable; wages OF a superin.
tendent, who Is always on the road ahead OF
the coach; and the pay of the groom who
blows the horn, with the cost Of harnesses
and wear and tear on the club'e coach.
II there is q deficit the Coaching Club makes
it up from its treasury; If q profit 1t goes TO
ewell the capital. The committee do the
driving for the fun Of it and the Coaching
Club deems it a duty that such q sporting
spirit should be properly encouraged.
On. other road coaches the whips stand
the loss, which may be expected as a matter
Of course, but the Pioneer usually breaks
about even on the season. To buy the horses
cheaply and sell them az improved, good
hammered coach or trap teams after the
coach is taken of for prices that will show
a margin Of profit is consequently a first
object with each coaching club committee.
The four members OF this years coaching
party nave been In Twenty-fourth street
every morning for the past fortnight select
ing the fifty horses to be used on the Pioneer
this spring. Formerly one Of the members
Of the Coaching Club used to collect the
horses In Vermont, New Hampshire and
Maine, giving the preference to Morgan
stock, and then smooth up the country
stock at his farm in Westchester county.
Now for five years the same firm in the Bulls
Head has supplied the horses.
Reginald W. Rives has had a very long
experience at the work of selection, but
Messrs. Vanderbilt, Gerry and Loew are az
are OF trotting lineage and fast stepper,
with all the good looks 10 be had for the
contract price. The individuals are looked
over to halter, and, if requested, they are
shown in harness t1 the tn coaching wh1pe'
as a general rule, and aside from the town
team the whips do not ordinarily pay much
heed to the good looks or matchings of their
horses. A different policy governs the
selection of the Pioneer horses, with a view
Of the sale to end the season. Each team
is a town team, " as to good looks. Care Ia
taken to match and size up each pair, 80 as
to give to each team a stylish and well
balanced appearance. AS purchased, the
horses are sent to the coach stable uptown,
and each is fitted with a collar and broken
In for coaching work by exercising iaunts'
The committee break in and exercise the
horses, as well as doing the buying. The
four amateurs nave to combine some Of
the tasks of the hostler, ~farrier, harness
maker and veterinarian, as a sequence
to having been horse buyers, before the
happy day dswns when the Pioneer takes
to the road.
The annual spring meet of the Coaching
Club is scheduled for May S, and it has not
been decided whether to parade in the
morning, 30 that those who wish may 60
over the ferry and, with relay teams. TO
Belmont Park. or in the afternoon. The
meet was in the afternoon last year, for the
first time in a long while, as the custom
has been to have an informal drive TO Morris
Park for. the races and luncheon after a
meet in the morning. After the first meet
which was on Madison Square, the whips
to have coach loads drove on 70 Jerome
Park. The pioneers were Col. William Jay,
Frederick Bronson, Delaney Kane, Leonard