COLONIAL HORSEMANSHIP.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume IX, Issue 664, 27 November 1902, Page 16

COLONIAL HORSEMANSHIP.

Australian born boys are popu ark supposed < to be “ naturally at home in the saddle, writes , •‘Javelin ” As far ss that applies to the average 1 Australian bush boy being able to “ stick on a ( rough ’un,” and t • his being fearless and endur- , ing, it is justified beyond uestion. An Australian boy, or any other boy, however may oe a “natural horseman,” but no matter how g eat ‘ his intuitive aptitude may be, common sense suggests that by the advantage of judic ous coaching and practical teaching his natural ability must be expanded far beyond its normal untutored condition. Every experienced habitual visitor to Victorian racecourses—metropolitan as well as provincial—rnqst have observed that “unsatisfactory” riding is an unpleasant 4 prominent feature of racing in this State. The adjective is used advisedly, for “ unsatisfactory riding includes that which is foul or dishonest or incapable, as Jthe case may be. Very much the same thing obtains in New Zealand, when the number of really capable horsemen might be almost counted! on the fingers of one hand. Time after time one sees a certain victory thrown away owing to the stupidity of the jockey It makes one sigh for the days of Hales, Clifford, Derritt, arid such rpastera of the art.