CAN ENGLISHMEN RIDE?

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15375, 9 August 1913, Page 5 (Supplement)

CAN ENGLISHMEN RIDE?

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' i THE OLYMPIA JUMPING. . ; ;a critical COMPARISON. •Tgjji poor showing made; by ■ British officers at the recent; competitions fat >Ql«npia resulted in a new regulation by the War Office that in future competitors must '.; havo their horses inspected, and must receive a ' certificate that they reach a . certain standard of excellence. * • ■ Commenting on this subject, a writer in the Daily Express says: , ■ - ~ When the jumping events are being, judged at Olympia, you do not need to look at, the arena to : know whether an English or a foreign rider is making the round of the course. Your ears will tell you, 11 nine cases out of ten, almost; as certainly as your eyes could do. Thus, shutting your eyes and - listening, you will bear , •.'.-;'. The click of the opening Gcors.' '/;'• • [\ A clattering of hoofs■•■ from the payed yard, muffled as the horse : steps on the . tan. v..-.'. . if. ■ y.- , . \./\.. '. -/ A creak of leather; perhaps a snort; a hand clapped. reassuringly i on the neck. The rider is giving his mount a look at y tl)fc> brightly-lighted arena. _-■ - ■:'••...'.■ 5..-•...-'; ; The muffled,- uneven stamping gives place to a regular dramming. It is interrupted for a second; there is a burst of applause, and on it goes. Again the steady thrumthrum on the tan; again the pause, the light thud of horse and rider descending on the far side; perhaps once or twice a ../click as one of the laths laid on the raillop is displaced. V.>-; : .;';- ; - ; "---':, , '" ; '-:' x :.-'--:--.v French or Russian. t Then thunderous applause and the sound of the gates reopening; 'and you may pretty safely bet yourself that when - you open your eyes you will see a French or a Russian officer cantering out of the ring.' ' -i -: •■■•■» : ~- On the other hand,' listen to this: './.'/ Furious isnortings of a nervous horee, ; ill-assured by his rider. - An irregular., scampering and a' sudden dead stop, with a slithering of hoofs along the tan as a beast refuses. .i, Perhaps (whisper it low) a dull thump as the rider , -Icomes off. - ■ , " J'\ : : -i-i-A. moan, of disappointment from the audience, followed by. clapping and cheering,, mean'/; not to applaud but to console. ; Tlicn a succession of scampering • rushes and the tumultuous upsetting of " fence .after fencu. . . r ' > _ ~)!■■■,' You do not. % need to open your eyes. The rider /was certainly neither French nor Russian. ',? The question is, was he an "English ofScev, 05 a; hunt servant, or '} a : , Canadian stableman? //';.//-•;■: Of course this is not inevitable. \ You may open' 3 bur eyes after such a round as I have first described to find with delight - that an English officer has got;; over tb*> course faultlessly.' In v that case there ariM fiveperhaps six—names from which you : need choose to identify your man. ; But .'.:/.' there is "no denying that such rounds ar» , pitifully rare. During the greater part of the : event you will listen to a /series of cracks and: rattles ■} as horse after horse blunders into the obstacles. , " ton-fisted Bidets.'* v. You will see: only too often -horse after ; ./,horse, which, if ■well, ridden, could jump like a deer, hampered and misled by some mutton-fist«d rider, none too sure of his ; "seat, * and Y obviously uncertain, communi- ; eating; all ■'; manner; of doubts and 'fears;: to ; his mount. I <io not say you i will see nothing but this; but you will certainly see -so .much ; of _;ifcVainongiiheiEbgb*ah] v competitors-that .you will probably say rashly thai the • Englishmen Olympia ■ cannot ride. > You '■'-. will overlook thefact that there is a. small ißand of /English''^ competitors who can handle » horse with: the best, of the . Frenchmen, Russians, and Italians. > - < ". ;■ :i The -: English entries ■• for the / jumping classes are far too large ; for the peace of mind /of the patriotic 'X spectator, v>; Enthusiasm is an admirable thing; and in a .; way it is very fine to see every young officer : who can sit a horse over a ridingschool hurdle burning to have a dash at /;./ '.»■ the Edward VII. Cup. But—the Conti- /"•'>, nental competitors are I alii selected men. rifling ' selected horses, the very pick of their irespective countries. They show up our inferior riders—excellent fellows across comntry, no doubt:;.:■'■ bat; then, Olympia 1m a . hunting field—and our inferior 'riders,; most ; unfortunately, incline us to . forget our own > really first-lass; men. , . Ifot , Trained fox Jumping. A picked English team would not win . against the'best/French or Russian riders, .'but they would come very near r it. XNo • one would be able' to laugh at their ":■ performance. , " ' ' . "* . ■"'■■■■■■ -" They would not win, because, given only the horses they ride at Olympia, they could not win against' horses like Epire, Amazone. Jißy, and one or two other of the highly-trained ' horses , from the Cohti- -'':'■;■'. nent./:>.'../-..• ■;,. ■':'-.■, ::^. : '-.. ; -.'■'<-.;.■:■•= :.->-; ' The English; horses are ■ emphatically not I' trained solely with an eye: to jumping in lv the arena. They have other work to do, -' \ and in some v cases a good; deal of it; ■; . whereas the Continental prize-winners very •-/'■■■ L often arc never used; for anything but trickG;': jumping. They are even taught to take [%'. obstacles without riders on their backs.'; I' They carry the equivalent of the; rider's i'.-■-. weight in lead ; and the rider, watching fr ; them jump thus laden, learns their pecn- ;/ Parities and their manner of "taking off" ; / when left to themselves. - Also, in certain $' Continental stables.- ingenious and r*ft.?r iv cruel devices are used r for curing a horse ?: of " refusing," and for making him lift his :';■•■• heels. '• ' ' " ". -: ■ K Given riders of equal skill and horses of equal quality, the extra knowledge of the trained horse is sure to turn the scale, and that is where the nicked men of the Continent beat the picked/men of England. . .Until our best horsemen can Met aside •a certain number of horses for jump- - j training; and nothing but jump-training, we are not likely to win the Edward VII. Cup (never yet held by a British team), nor to keep any of the other prizes offered for jumping at Oiympia from going abroad.