Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1908-10-13

Polo is distinctly a sport for the
wealthy. The chief requirement for
playing the game is the pony, and
the price of the little animal has
scared since the game has attained
such popularity in this country un-
til a good pony now brings a price
In the four figures. AS a string OF
ponies is essential to the devotee OF
| the sport and competition among mil
| lionaires is keen TO obtain the fleet
est and surest of foot, polo ponies
may be said to be worth their weight
in gold.
Foxhall Keene recently sold nine
ponies for $10,125, an average OF ST.
| 125 each. Express, one of the best
ponies, brought $500, and Blue
Peter, another famous pony, was sold
for $4,000. Both were bid in by Paul
]. Rainey, the young multi-millionaire,
| a turfman and a polo enthusiast,
Crotona, another pony, was bid in by
Keene for $1,000.
Polo ponies come from Texas, wy
| oming or Montana. Before the
raw" ponies are shipped East they
have never felt the keen tooth of
the currycomb. If sold in the mar
ket at $3.50 head a profit is real
! lied. Liilely-looking ponies sell even
as high as $500 to $1,000.
Auction sales of seasoned ponies
are very rare in this country, but
| - co1n Of
ponies are held The record price OF
$4,000 was received for veteran pony
ten years ago at Tattersalls. About
five years ago Thomas Hitchcock, jr.,
sold Rowdy and E. w. after several
seasons campaigning. Rowdy
brought $500 and E. W. $500. John
A. Logan, jr., who ten years ago WAS
noted poloist, sold six seasoned
ponies at an average price of 5000.
The best of the ponies bred on the
| plains are those used for cutting
out" the young calves from the COWS
at branding time. The experience
of the ponies in rounding up cattle
makes them sure-footed, intelligent,
aggressive and courageous. These
ponies are worth from $3.50 to $1,000
10 the ranchman. They are not sent
East with the ordinary ponies for
sale, but are disposed of privately.
There are not more than a dozen
men who bring the ponies on from
the West. The shipment of ponies
is consigned to Long Island, West
chester County and Brookline, Mass,
| places where the polo playing con-
tingent reside. After reaching the
East the ponies usually sell readily.
| There is always a brisk demand for
this class of horses. One Westerner
recently sold three carloads in three
days and then returned home with
$4,000 in his pocket. The favorite
ponies in England are dwarf thor
oughbreds, capable of carry weight
and with the endurance to gallop at
top speed on a slow field. Occasion
ally they have been used IN this
country, but none of the quick Ameri-
can players who have visited Hurting
ham, the great polo matches abroad.
! has ever returned with the English
| pony. American poioists consider
the mixed-bred Westerner ranch pony
the better of the two. He has plen-
~ of speed and can gallop on the
hard turf, while the English pony is
accustomed to soft going.
| Many of the better class of polo
| ponies are the result of TRANSMISSION
of good English blood by mating stall
lions from abroad with American
ranch mares. Another cross with the
trotter has been productive of good
results, and the foals have shown
speed and stability. - New York
| World