SAILOR AND HORSE

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 60, Issue 4321, 23 August 1950, Page 11

SAILOR AND HORSE

NOT IN THE SCHEDULE A WHITIANGA RIDING PARTY The visit of the Navy would not be complete without a story of a sailor 1 and a horse and the visit of the two frigates to Whitianga recently proved no exception to the rule. A riding party had been arranged for a number of officers during the week-end of their stay at the Bay and a sub-lieutenant from H.M.S. Austell Bay looked over the quiet mount which had been provided for him but unfortunately it behaved in a manner which was certainly not according to schedule or to the schedule which the young officer thought he had arranged for himself. Immediately the officer mounted the animal showed signs of strong disapproval and bolted, much to the delight of other members of the party. The bolting horse made off along the waterfront road towards the local hotel. The rider was treated to plenty of thrills and hairbreadth escapes from collisions with other animals and, after a series of sharp turns, careered through the township with the rider still clinging to its back by all sorts of unorthodox methods and seeking advice as to how a horse could be persuaded to stop. The young officer from the sea was very much relieved when his journey ended outside the horse’s home.