SADDLE HORSES.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 4, Issue 321, 15 August 1879, Page 2

SADDLE HORSES.

Among the many pastimes and exercises of the present day, that which was heretofore Jthe most prized and admired, bids fair to be forgotten. That is equestrianism.

Of course there are many men who breed, break, and train saddle-horses, who ride to-day as well as men have ever ridden, but how few gentlemen who ride simply for exercise and pastime do you know who make that exercise an art or a science. Indeed, how few are there who ride at all as would have been called riding twenty years ago. As you travel the road, more especially in the vicinity of the larger towns, how seldom do you meet another on horseback, riding for pleasure. To meet one well mounted, and riding his horse with some sort of show of art, hardly ever happens. In a country like this where horses of a kind are plenty, and where the roads are such that to ride is much safer and convenient than drive, and where from necessity the saddle has to be used rather than the buggy or trap, one would naturally expect to see more style in riding, and a more careful selection of the horse. Simply to retain a seat on a buckjumper, to have the reputation' of able to defy any horse—although good and useful while breaking in a horse, is not the whole art of riding. So little attention has been given to this subject of late years, that four out of five who do cross. a horse's back ride as if they were troubled with dyspepsia, or a diseased liver. The bad seat, the heavy hand, and the apparent misery of the rider, indicate his inability to ride or to accommodate himself to the gait or motion of the animal he is riding, and that the operation seems more like a matter of duty rather than pleasure. Why should a pastime—than which none gives more intense "pleasure, # which can be pursued with so little exertion and fatigue, and which, as a healthful.exercise, has no equal—have fallen into disuse ? It cannot be because it is too expensive, because we see an increased use every day of buggies, sociables, and phaetons. Is it not because our people will not devote the time necessary to learn to ride, and to suit themselves to. the motion of the horse, or is it because the style of the horse, suited to the old stile of hack—-can-not be met with, or not bred, this may . have something to do with it. How many breeders are now giving their attention to breeding the style of horse especially suited to saddle purposes. Even those who have the facilities have apparently given way to favour the racer. The thorough- ; breds are fast driving out their noble " brother the saddle horse. Those who are at all familiar with the •

history of stock farming, know in what a -* remarkable degree desired characteristics are developed and perfected by judicious - and scientific breeding. The horse that today does his mile in 2*30 traces back his ■lineage to sires and dames who -were famous because they could perhaps perform the distance in three minutes. The • flying thorougbred is but the of the water-cart horse of Paris. Whatever may be the true theory as to instinct, or the transmission of acquired as well as . inherited powers, certain it is that intelligent breeding does develop and perfect the*qualities desired by the breeder, whatever they may be, and it is also certain that these desired qualities are attained too often at the expense of others. Is it not strange, therefore, that horses are bred in this country with one sole object in view, to which all others are subordinate, namely, to attain the greatest l -' amount of speed for a given distance. Is not this accomplishment worthless when attained for any other than turf purposes ? Would any person set a value upon the racers which this system of breeding has* produced, if.their speed had.beon left out .of the, question ? They bear to the perfect ideal horse, at best, the same relation which the bull-necked prize-fighter bears to the highest type of manhood.

.The. name of "thoroughbred " carries with- -it something of charm, but. who— would think of using.a racer for any other purpose than a'racer? The man -who drives,* strictly'thoroughbred horse in his buggy, for general purposes might almost -tie suspected of keeping at home an Italian" greyhound to fill the office of watch dog. , la thei saddle, however, great speed at any gait is a matter wholly unimportant— except for police, and at times for stock purposes—evenness and elasticity -of motion, intelligence- and quickness of perception, .'and above all* a J 'perfect balance—which means a correct position**" of the centre of gravity—these, together with gentleness of temper, a high crest and-gallant carriage, are the . chief requicites of a good , saddle-horse. Thes& characteristics are held by many breeders to be wholly inconsistent with great speed. In a perfectly-balanced horse the centre of gravity must He in'a line falling through the fifteenth vertebra, or near its neighbourhood. Where this is the case, the hind legs will be brought well under the horse, and, as a consequence, the concussion of the fore-feet upon the ground will be light,;and the.head will be carriedL high, well poised-upon the neck, with little or no pressure upon the. bit. .At great speed it is evident tins perfect balance cannot be maintained ; the hind legs, acting, as propellors, must, be throw* forward ; the neck will be extended,' and the be&ring upon the bit become heavy. Those who breed fast horses, therefore, strive, to a greater or less degree, to produce that conformation least in consonance with a perfect balance. Their object is successfully attained, and we mean to dispute that the end justifies the means used, except as for racing purposes, and say thatf* the horse thus produced is, for saddle pur- - I posesj worthless. Passengers on shipboard soon learn to find a spot where there is least motion, when a heavy sea is rolling, and cluster around it—rsorae seek comfort on the bow- """ sprit. In.,the *hbrse there is also a spot where is - found a minimum, of vertical and lateral' motion, and none can bo r„ good saddle-horse unless this spot lies immediately under the rider's seat. When it does so lie, all motion seems. toJ>e imparted from the rider : to the .horse, and none from the horse to the rider'; 'fatigue and. friction are overcome,' and jolting ceases to When, however, the centre of gravity iB mis-placed, as in our horses it almost invariably is, riding becomes a task, and ceases to be a pleaeurjj.' . ' \ A worse fault, however, than of gait, and-one which -is also a necessary consequence of ill balance in the horse, is the bearing upon the-bit, of, as it 13 commonly called, hard-mouth. This, in nine cases but of ten, springs from no other } cause than that the centre of gravity is ! placed too far forward. To attempt to.cor.recfc the fault by the use of exceptionally severe "bits* is an evidence on the part of the rider not of imbecility only, but of cruelty. And for-* tunate is it for the owner if his foolish treatment doos not, sooner or later produce its legitimate fruits—restiveness and viciousness. These same horses, under a good rider, who by a judicious use of the*" spur, and a proper disposition of his weight, would bring their hind legs under them, gently arching the neck at every touch of the rein, and refuse! to bear an ounce ■of weight upon the hand ; and this, too, after only a few days handling. Could this fondness for the saddle-horse be revived, there can be no doubt that a few. years would witness a marked improvement in our breed of horses. It certainly would help to eradicate from the minds of many of our good people the ridiculous but prevalent idea that a real fondness for— horses is a mark of depravity in young manhood—an idea which springs wholly from the connection of our best and most useful friend, in hie most perfect" state, with the torf and all its questionable sur- * roundings.