THE IMMORTAL HORSE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3297, 16 August 1911, Page 8

THE IMMORTAL HORSE.

HOW HE REFUSES TO GO.

“A few yeans ago 'we used commonly to say that the horse was rapidly becoming an extinct quadruped,” says the ‘‘Evening Standard.” ‘lt is a striking commentary on these predictions that this week all London society, and tons of thousands who are.outside that extensive' circle are deeply interested in the, things that concern horses and equitation. HOW THE HORSE DOMINATES. “Hunting,, polo, racing, still hold their own with all those who valuo skill and courage and revel in the excitement of adventure and achievement. And in spite of the coming of the aeroplane scout and the petroldriven gun, w r e cannot do without cavalry, mounted infantry } field artillery,, and even horsed transport. And foreign Governments take as much pains to get- their horses as their men, and 6pend as much trouble over military education. “The Olympia Horae Shows have done something to shake British com-. pl|acency, which -has been perturbed to often of late years. We used to believe that we had the best riders and the best horses in the world. But the foreigners have been buying our finest stock, breeding from it scientificially and systematically, and pursuing the art of horsemanship, in certain of its developments, muoh more thoroughly than ourselves. So the great polo team we sent to America was beaten because the holders of the cup had better ponies. “At Olympia our officera and their animals could udb quite hold their own with the men and the horses of .the foreign mounted services. In the contest for the best cavalry chargers the Germans showed a distinct superiority. We congratulate our guests on their victory, and are glad to welcome them to Olympia for the first time. But it is not quite satisfactory to find that their military studs —replenished, it must be remembered, in England and Ireland—turn out better animals than our own. Our cavalry is so much smaller than those of the great Continental Powers that it ought to be at [east as well mounted; and it is a little humilitat-ing to discover, whatever may be the cause, that when the picked chargers of the world are paraded, our own do not take .the first place. Nor is it quite agreeable to observe once again that in the work of tlie riding-school we fall behind some of the foreign armies also. If the German cavalry horses beat us, so do the cavalry riders of France, Italy, Belgium. The first of the Olympia shows was not at all agreeable to our national pride. We have made some improvement since then; but we are still not quite in tlie first flight.

SPLENDID FOREIGN TRAINING. "We console' ourselves by reflecting that in cross-country work we retain our superiority, even if we are ‘left’ in the tricky, artificial business of the show-ring. Still is it in the ridingschool that the cavalry-man is trained, and if our officers are allowed to enter for the competition at all we should like to feel that they can do quite as well as anybody else. But it seems that even now -the education of horses and riders in some foreign armies is more thorough-going than in our own. ‘‘‘Englishmen have, in fact, been rather contemptuous of the haut manege, preferring the turf and the down and the wind and rain to the levelled tan and the electric light. But there is a grace and finish and skill which only the riding-school can give.”