The San Francisco call., 1908-08-30
STALLION "OBETRAN" ELEANOR GATES IN SADDLE
By John Gilmer Speed,
Author of The Horse in Amenca" "

4 LEANOR GATES. the California
author OF the charming romance
Cupid. the Cow Punch" and 9TH
er realistic magazine stories OF
western ranch life, is making an inter
esting venture IN horse breeding on her
husbands place in Santa Clara county,
Cal. FL Rancho de las Rosas, which is
some 20 miles from San Francisco. Her
husband. Richard Walton TuIly, author
OF the Belaseo play The Rose OF the
Rancho" is deeply interested in this
venture and is giving his wife his earn
est cooperation and support.
When literary folk go in for q thing
such as this there Will be many skeptics
who viii laugh, If not actually scoff.
st what VIII seem to them a mere
passing fad But no one who knows
about horse breeding both practically
and theoretically will feel like scofing
after talking with either Mr.. or Mrs
Tully as to their purposes and am
bltions.
To begin with, neither OF them is
ssddist. and IN this matter, at least,
both have studied the subject that Is
now engaging their attention with the
greatest thoroughness Both know
horses from the ground up, and each
has studied most carefully what his
tory has to offer to aid them in the
present undertaking. Eleanor Gates
was not exactly born in the saddle, but
she has been familiar with II as long
as she has been familiar with anything.
and now she rides with an ease and
dash that are both most admirable. She
IS native Of Dakota. and told me the
other day that her childhood was
spent 50 remote from cities and urban
life that she was IA years old before
she ever tasted any meat that was
not game
Though western born. with Indians
Tor her nearest neighbors, she Is Of the
most approved American stock, as her
great-grandfather was General Horatio
Gates. that revolutionary hero who re-
ceived the surrender OF Burgoyne at
Saratoga in 1777, an event which
marked the first signal success of the
colonial army in the struggle for ma
tional independence. Eleanor Gates,
therefore, is not merely an invented
pSn name. but is hers By right Of birth;
ehRt she should take pride IN IT is
natural; that she should desire 70 add
q eubft 70 it's distinction IL az natural
as 81 would be impossible for q woman
o1 hsz temperament and energetic char
asts9 90 idly sit and be q careless wit
ness a The passing show.
The stud at FL R1ncho de Las Rosas
has been carefully selected and in its
beginning consists entirely OF purely
bred Arabs. those marvellous horses
from the desert which are the base,
the foundation Of all safely Yeproduo-
ing horse types in the European and
American world Before making her
selections Eleanor Gates consulted the
best authorities, and I have no hesi-
tation In saying that she 10 about as
well informed as 70 the merits Of the
various Arabian families and strains
as IL is possible for any one to be
who has not had actual personsl ex-
perience IN Deserta Arabia She has
the narratives Of Lady Anne Blunt and
Major Roger Upton at her fingers ends.
To her horse or mare IS not merely
admirable because OF its beauty,
though, to be sure, she by no means
despises beauty; she gives its due
weight 10 the blood and knows the
difference between Seglawi Jedran
and Maneghi sbeyel in a way and to
2. degree that would command the ad-
rniration OF a Bedouin sheik- She would
never be content with an Arab horse
because she was told that it was bred
in Nejd any more than a well informed
American horseman would end his in
ouiries when informed that some given
horse was bred in Kentucky Such
broad generalizations sufice for the
casual amateur. but theoretically Mrs.
Tully Is already an expert in Arabian
pedigrees, and without some unhappy,
some untoward chance she is sure in a
few years to be recognised as a prac-
tical expert in Arab horse breeding.
But why should this enthusiastic
lady 20 in for Arabs? is sure to be
asked. Il Is easy TO answer for her or
Cor any one else who has gone an