The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-11-12
In New York
BY PAUL HARRISON

' '-a New York.-The last time your correspondent got off a horse hap | pened to be the instant the animal was in the middle of a jump over a corral fence.
 | It was an army horse named, as
 recall, Judas. Or maybe Pegas- us. He had kindly face and an in | gratiating way of nuzzling around | one,s pockets. What hadn't known was taht Judas was jump CT, and so I was surprised as well as hurt by his sudden leave-taking. | Not seriously hurt, but somewhat shaken in my faith in equine no. 1 bility.
 However, I still like horses. Time has healed both my collarbone and my feeling toward Judas and his kind. When the National Horse | Show comes to Madison Square Garden, I become one of the rail-
 birds. And now and then wander ! in the gardens catacombs, Whlch
 are full of box stalls, tack rooms, bales of hay, grooms, mascot goats gigs, phaetons, proud owners gay
 ribbons and fine leather. ,s | Regularly I scrutinize the strlnS of mounts brought by the U. 5.
 Army team from Fort Riley, Kan; There's always chance that might discover Judas among them. In that event I could recall, in tho I manner of Major Hoople, the day l that I discovered the animals l amazing talent for taking fence. H Or offense, depending on how you
 want to spell it.
 Ugly Another Judas
 l Meanwhile, though. have be- l come fairly we'll acquainted with such regulars as Clismic, Whirligig. Wampum, Avocat, Dakota, Tan bark, Ugly and Suzanne. All these nags have risen from the ranks to | star in international competition. Some were bought as ordinary troop horses for the governments set price of $165, and few were born of undistinguished stock ar government remount stations.
 There's Ugly, of uncertain ori- | gin but of a very definite disposi- ton. Some say he came from Montana; others trace him from Texas ranch. Anyway, he was bade one; so perverse that that they couldn't even get shoes on him until three years ago. He put so many men of the Thirteenth Cav
 airy in the infirmary that there was
 talk of shooting him. But an officer galloped up with reprieve in the nick of time. Said he'd try the horse
 on the hurdles. Ugly jumps beau
 tifully now.
 1 Tanbark, the black gelding, was
 just an Oklahoma COW pony when an army buyer spotted him six l years ago. Since then he has at- tended the Olympic games and all the best shows. He's 16 now, but spry as a jackrabbit Clysmic and | Whirligig came from Oklahoma, too. Babe Wartham is IT. but not the oldest jumper in the show. few stalls away is Fresia, 19. well-preserved matron of the Chil-
 can army team.
 Suzanne is virginian, and tenn peramental as they come. She killed a trooper once; reared and
 fell back on him. Still devil in the ring, but great jumper once
 she gets her mind on the hurdles.
 People who stand before her stall usually lose their buttonaires or
 hats. And always their compo- sure.
 | The DlrC OH lAHDdrk
 There's nothing in all the talk you hear of tanbark as ring GOV ering. Jim McNally, superintendent of Madison Square Garden, says 1t doesn't provide as satisfactory foot ing as plain earth, and that they haven't used tanbark in a dozen years.
 In Manhattan, though, plain earth is hard to find. So scarce, in fact, that the same dirt is used year after year, being hauled back and forth between the Garden and
 a vacant lot on the west side. The storage space rents for $500 year, an dthe trucking of some $50 cubic yards of earth amounts to several times as much. Makes
 nice little business for the man
 who owns it.
 The Royal Canadian Mounties
 sent a troop to the show this year. Handsome lads on handsome horses, and very gay with red coats, broad hats, blue and gold saddio
 blankets. They don't like cracks
 about always getting their man. Don't care much for New York, either. It's so noisy that they're anxious to get back to their frozen woods and wastes. On the streets here they are constantly being
 stopped by young men and asked how one goes about joining the | famous force. The answer IS that
 one doesn't; the Mounties already
 have a waiting list of 3.oeo apph- | ca ufS f.. d5i.