New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-06-11
1t Is Estimated That, Includ-
ing the Costly Mounts, 1t
Took 100000 to Put
on the International
Tourney Here.

must Re all things. He must be gener>
GUS even tempered, quick witted and In.
telligent Then he must be fast as quar-
ter horse. and be able to turn on a copper
cent. He must be trained 10 follow tho
ball and 10 keep his eyes glued on IT at all
times. He must be broken and trained so
thoroughly that he will be guided by the
weight of feather on his rens or by
the slightest pressure OF his riders knee
you have to be able TO play on pony
as though he were a musical instrument.
Then he must be as tough as stirrup
leather and afraid Of nothing"
Now. that all looks impossible, but those
who know will tell you that ponies such
as those in the English and American
teams have all these qualities and that
they take as deep interest in the
games as though they were handling the
malets.
The polo pony is never colt. In fact.
they usually attain the sensible age OF nine
or ten years before they are fit for cham-
pionship distinction. Their training ana
education are long and careful. Polo ponies
| are born, not made. Often a little horse -
! found that has all the speed and hardness
necessary to make champion or him
| but he never gets over shying when
mallet is swung by his ears. He Is afraid.
| He lacks the pure polo heart. 1t Is the
why little animal that has had to take
, care OF himself on ranges where taking
care means hard work and fighting that
develops into genuine polo perfection.
The hard life that horse has to go
| through, say on the ranches of Texas. Is
! an ideal start in life for a polo pony. Mr..
! Preece declares. They are born on the
| open ranges and from the time they are q
! few hours old they have TO get up and hus-
tie to keep alive. That's the stuff that good
polo horsenesh is made Of.
Let us take the case of an average POM.
/ which we will call Whalebone. Whalebone
, is born on the ranges out in Texas. His
| parentage IS good. though it may not be
| thoroughbred in the strctest sense OF the
| word.
| By the time he reaches the mature age
Of three weeks he has stood by and seen
! his wiry mother fight off a pack OF coyotes
who had intended making a meal off the
infant Whalebone and who were d!ssuaded
therefrom by the eloquent heels of the
mare.
! After the colt is weaned he has TO pick UP
his own living from the dry ranges and
! fight his own hard fight. There are cold
| and heat and rain that he has 10 survive.
He lives through 1t. but the process is so
hard and the fight so continuous that his
natural growth is stunted and he is only
| about IA hands inches when he gets his
full height.
For five years he roams the wide plains
as free as the winds and nearly as fast He
has seen the animal man only few times.
His sound teeth have never ground at a
steel bit. and his back has yet 70 feel the
CALLING touch of saddle. By this time he
! is old enough to be broke" and is soon TO
| know all these things.
| He and the herd he runs with were round
ed up some hot afternoon by bunch OF
yelling cowboys. None Of these latter are
woolly chaps-they are dressed in blue
overalls about as picturesque as the uni
form of a Jersey farm hand. Whalebone
and his mates are driven into a corral and
the bars are put up.
The fun is about due now. One Of the
cowboys drops a rope over the suspicious
Whalebones neck, gets 1t about his front
foot and throws him fighting In cloud OF
dust to the ground. Then they put a bride
and saddle on him and a cowboy vaults
into the saddle. 1t doesn't take the pony
long to find that this animal man is some
animal and that he might as well bow his
sleek neck TO the yoke of his dominion.
Right there he becomes cow pony.
Whalebone works at that calling for two
years He doesn't know It. but his every
day labor is fitting him 10 become a cham
pon polo pony. At this time he has never
seen a polo ball, and II mallet were
shown to him he would probably think that
ii belonged to a croquet set for giants. So
he works six days a week, and works hard.
| He chases steers for some sweating,
swearing youth who weighs l75 pounds and
is as hard as steel wire. Whaebone learns
| the use of his head in the cow business.
He gets wise to the fact that when his mas
ter points him 10 a certain flying steer lie
must bring up alongside Of that steer so
| that the king in the saddle can get a lariat
on some part of the beef on the hoof. In
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