THE DECADENCE OF HORSEMANSHIP.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4923, 8 January 1902, Page 4

THE DECADENCE OF HORSEMANSHIP.

Tbe fact tbat nearly one-third of the candidates for the Eighth Contingent who presented themselves at the Christchurch Defence Office failed to pass the vary simple riding test prescribed by the authorities shows that tbe de^adenc^iof horsemanship in tbe coloMv^hicib \?e have so frequently had- wcj»BJon r to deplore, has sot been arre^tpdjby ; the Remand for mounted jnen^r JSquth Africa. The, fact is, of coulfiei that the 'bicycle h,as , so far supplanted the horse in this commu^fy that few young men now have either tbe opportunity or the inclination ;tqjearn to ride. Twenty years ago the case was entirely different. Everyiparentlooked upon riding as a necessary part of bis boys' education, and the^lLoyß/them selves took to it at least as kindly. as ; tbg£ did to spelling and arithmetic, '-and as, a result attained a comiderable-degree of proficiency. Jf such a riding test as tbe recent one had been made at the time, probably 95 per cent of tbe boys in Canterbury over 12 years of age would have passed it without the slightest difficulty. Even clerks and shopassistants cut a presentable figure in the saddle before they abandoned the the useful horse for tbe seductive bicycle. Now tbe sort of figure they cut is sufficiently suggested by Captain Brown's kindly advice to some of the military aspirants, to 'get off while you are safe.' The decadence of horsemanship may not be a very serious thing for tbe community as a whole, but it is a distinct misfortune for the individual. Hiding is one of the most healthy, as well as one of the mb,Bt delightful and useful, of outdoor exercises, and if it bad kept its former place in public estimation tberjß. -would be fewer puny nervous dy£|fepsicß among tbe rising generatio'Blt'is not easy to see how tbe popularity of the exercise can be revived. If we were a military nation it might pay the State to add riding to the Byllabus of the public school, or at least to the course of technical instruction, but as mounted soldiers are not likely to be required again for another half-century, even such a progressive stateman as Mr Seddon would probably be disinclined to spend a quarter of a million a year in equipping and maintaining tbe necessary establishments. The Government might, however, seriously coneider the propriety of making a larger capitation grant to the members of mounted corps, who at present receive do adequate encouragement from the State. If an efficient trooper were given something like £10 a year there are many young men in the colony who could afford to swell the ranks o! a very valuable branch of the Volunteer Porce. — ' Lyttelton Times.'