HINTS FOR THE TINY EQUESTRIAN

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 246, 7 January 1928, Page 16

HINTS FOR THE TINY EQUESTRIAN

By ROSEMARIE MASON. I was talking to the mother of four rollicking youngsters. It was past two o’clock and her “darlings” had shown no signs of turning up for lunch. Mother was hungry, and not a little “rattled”! “Oh, yes,” she said, “they’ve gone off again on their old donkey and the milkman’s pony. The two riders are ‘Whip* and ‘Huntsman’ respectively, and the two on foot represent a pack of hounds and the unfortunate quarry! It’s a great game! I only wish—poor lambs!—l could offer them a little better ‘hunting*! For, of course, I’ve never been able to give them proper ridng lessons. It seems a pity when they are so keen.” At this moment the screeching of a tin trumpet rent the air, and the “pack” appeared round the corner. I was invited to lunch. They were thrilled to hear how interested 1 also was in riding, and they asked me to join in the game. I was appointed second “Whip,” with the alternative of becoming a “hound,” when I should be tired of riding the housemaid’s bicycle! After a week’s tactful coaching. Mother congratulated me on the children’s riding. “Head and heart high, hands and heels down,” was our favourite motto. The cries: “Shoulders back,” “Heels out and down!” and “Elbows!” became more frequent than “Tally-ho!” and the screeching of the tin trumpet. Nothing they adored more than “catching each other out.” It was discov€;red that the donkey could jump, and the milkman’s pony was really very comfortable to a gallop if you threw your weight BACK, and didn’t try to sit like a jockey. They learnt that reins weren’t really meant to hold on by; knees were far more satisfactory, even if your mount HAD a mouth like a milestone! Oh yes, they realised, there was quite an art in riding. Mother was a bit sarcastic—didn’t really call it “riding,” but she admitted gratefully: “Well I suppose you can turn your TOES IN, even on a DONKEY!”