El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-11-14

THE twenty-sixth annual National
Horse show will be held in Mad
ison Square Garden. New York,
! this week. With prizes of money and
| plate valued at more than $4,000 and
with the fashions of the day lending
| themselves to the picturesque adorn-
| ment of the social leaders of America,
i it bids fair to set a new high water
! mark as social and equine vent of
! international Importance.
Alfred G. Vanderbilt a sincere lover
| of horse aristocracy, is for the second
time at the head of the Horse Show as
| ISOLATION and the plans which he has
| announced for the week have filled ev-
| eryone with expectation. Last year the
| opening night of the horse show was
| somewhat marred on account of the ri
val attraction of the opening of the
new theater, which attracted the same
| coterie which would under ordinary
! circumstances, have occupied the boxes
| at the Madison Square Garden social
| event. This year the show opened on
Saturday night, preliminary to the bril-
| liant events of tonight and the re-
mainder of the week.
| Hundreds of the finest horses in
America and England will be put
/ through their PAGES in the enormous
| ring Of Madison Square Garden this
| week. For several months outdoor
| horse shows have been held in every
| section of the country and the prize
| winners of the various states and cit
| les have been groomed for the supreme
| event in the equine world of America.
! Horse lovers from California. Texas,
| Atlanta Oregon and Montana have
sent the prides Of their stables to- New
| York in the hope of snatching a blue
! bow from the colors of the men and
4, women whose strings Of ribbon bearers
| are known throughout the world. In
| many cases the owners will ride their
own mounts into the arena. or hold the
| ribbons over their backs as the trim
| beauties caper and cavort before the
| austere judges. who will weigh each
| point of excellence with far more dis
| erection than did that ancient judge OF
! feminine beauty who caused the cata-
| clysm of the Trojan war.
Opens With Coach and Four.
The show opened this year with an
| event which last year was reserved as
the piece de resistance for the final
| event-the race of four-in-hands, draw
| ing a coach with seven passengers.
| The course is from Arrowhead Inn at
| 177th street, to Madison Square Gar
| den, a distance of nine and a half
miles. The 500 cup, which is offered
/ as a prize was won last year by presi-
| dent Vanderbilt in 3S minutes which
| was three minutes better than the rec
! ord made the year before by Morris e.
| Hewlett.
Following the precedent set last year,
the first of Mr.. Vanderbilt's presidency,
| the boxes for the show were not auc-
toned off in public but were disposed
of at private sale, as were the seats
at the back of the boxes. This. how
| ever. does not account for the fact that
there will be more persons admitted to
the great amphitheater on passes this
year than for any previous show. The
| directors have decided to issue invita-
tions to all the orphan asylums in New
York City so that the children may
revel IN a vast circus arranged for
millionaires.
VIII resemble a Circus.
And in many respects 1t will be
genuine circus, with all the adjuncts Of
music, high jumping. glittering COS
tunes and enthusiastic crowds. The
band this year is the famous Calf Kill
ties of Canada, who, with the pictur-
| esQue Scottish tunics and dark plaid
kits, will give a very pleasing dash
of color, to be supplemented~b the
ring attendants n scarlet jackets and
white duck trousers. he scarlet hav-
ing last season replaced the yellow OF
previous years.
Probably the most attractive single
feature of the show will be the con-
test for honors by the British. French,
Dutch, Canadian and United States cav
airy officers who will put their mounts
through all sorts Of difficult maneu-
vers, especially high and broad jumps.
These officers will, of course, be in uni
form, and will give pleasing military
tone to the big pageant. Last year
the spectacular event OF the week was
the great parade, on the final night.
of the magnificent draft horses. work
ing four to truck. Here the magnifi-
cent Pcrcherons, Belgians and other
huge beasts of burden were seen in
splendid array and the arena was
transformed into a giant ring of ele-
:, phantino creatures whose power and
symmetry brought cheer after cheer
from the assembled thousands.
| Following the custom os years. the
| program has been so arranged that
during the morning hours the breed
| ing classes will occupy the attention
Of the judges and the eliminating trials
for jumpers will be held. The after
J moons will be devoted to the harness
i classes and the evenings, of course, to
| the more snowy classes.
To Horsemen still Horse show.
While the horse show has degener-
ated into a mere fashion show in the
eyes of many, to the horseman it still
. retains it's unitarian value and fosters
! the breeding of higher grade horses in
America. The object of the show, pri-
marily, is to bring together the best
horses of each type and familiarize the
breeders and the public with the finest
points in every class. The prizes which
are offered seldom are sufficient to
repay the out of town contestant for
| shipping his horse to New York and
! paving stall rental during the dis
play, but the blue ribbon adds inesti-
mably to the intrinsic value of the
winner and to the offspring, so that
the show is really strong stimulus
for a better grade of horses through
out America.