THE ROUND-UP 



from grandstand and bleacher, hardy riders of a day 

 gone by who rode many a grim race, often pitting wits 

 and strength against death in a hundred forms on 

 lonely, wild races with no plaudits sounding in their 

 ears. Many unknown graves mark where they fell by 

 arrow, bullet or stumbled horse, and history has yet 

 to pay due tribute to the pony express rider. 



We now see the strings of two cow-ponies in 

 charge of two assistants led out in front of the grand- 

 stand, and we realize that the pony express has be- 

 come the pastime of the cowboy, and the race is run 

 to commemorate the skill of the old pony express 

 riders. Like all the events of The Round-Up, it has 

 its rules which are rigidly enforced. It is run on each 

 of the three days with cow-ponies, and no racer or 

 professional horse can enter. The first pony must run 

 first and third quarters, and the second pony go the 

 second and fourth quarters, while riders must mount 

 "pony express" which means the riders must hug the 

 saddle, suspend and hit the ground at least once with 

 the horse in full stride before vaulting into the saddle. 

 When you get such riders as Drumheller, Saunders, 

 Floyd Irwin, Tommy Grimes, Jason Stanley and 

 Braden Gerking, in the bewildering quick changes of 

 the "pony express" — you see a survival of the type of 

 the old dare-devil riders — the cowboy mail carriers 

 through the country of outlaws and hostile Indians. 



The horses are pawin', hoofin' and rarin' to go. 

 They're off ! The grandstand rises en masse as the rid- 

 ers play for the pole. The crowd lets loose, the high- 

 pitched range yells echo from the cowboy contingent, 

 some Indians yip, others watch stoically, while the 

 helper awaits the arrival of his riding partner with a 

 cigarette airily hanging from a corner of his mouth. 



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