WONDERFUL HORSEMANSHIP.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 September 1915, Page 11

WONDERFUL HORSEMANSHIP.

GYMKHANA AT THE FRONT. INDIAN HORSEMEN. Writing from British headquarters, Reuter's correspondent says:—Perhaps tho strangest scene that has been witnessed .in Flanders since the war broke out took place on a broad plain, some miles behind the firing line, where some of the Indian regiments held a gymkhana-. It seemed as though every regiment of the Allies were represented. The Indians were largely in the majority, and presented a splendid picture. Mingled in the crowd were here and there to be seen the white cloaks and gold-be-ribboned waistcoats of the Moroccan light cavalry, the finely-proportioned blacks being the object of great interest among the French peasantry. The programme included tent-pegging, running races, jumping, wrestling, the V.C. race, trick riding, races for the village girls and boys, and a sack race. The sack race was open to both Tommies and Indians, and some of the latter showed themselves quite expert at what must have been to them an unaccustomed mode of progression. One of the prizes in this event was, in fact, captured by a native. Undoubtedly the most interesting event of the afternoon was the trick riding by selected members of the Indian cavalry, Hie feats tbey performed and the agility with which .they were carried out were astounding. The men seemed to be fastened to their fiery steeds. Nothing could shake them off. Men passed standing erect on the saddle with the horse going at full gallop. They rode on their heads, they rode backwards and sideways, bent down and picked objects off the ground, with one leg crooked round the saddle, and performed a multitude of other feats. In one event a couple of lances were set in racks on the ground, and a few yards further on two pegs were fixed. Two riders came thundering down the course, picked up the lances, skilfully impaled the pegs in the exact centre, and rode off with them at the tip of their lances. As a finale all the competitors in thi* event rode down the course at full gallop', standing on their horses and firing their revolvers. All were keenly desirous of getting to grips with the enemy. As one native officer remarked, "How can I return home to my village with none of my company wounded?" This is illustrative of the spirit of our native soldiers,