74 THE BERLIN-VIENNA RIDE 



The ride of these seven-score army officers between Ber- 

 lin and Vienna has two interesting aspects : the amount 

 of endurance of the animals ridden, and the judgment of 

 the riders as to the capacity of their horses to perform. 

 How these two items compare with what our cavalry is 

 daily experiencing on the plains is a fruitful subject of in- 

 quiry. 



As the crow flies, it is three hundred and twenty- five 

 English miles from Berlin to Vienna. By the road it is 

 variously called three hundred and fifty to three hundred 

 and seventy ; it is certainly short of the latter distance. 

 Count Stahremberg, the winner, covered the distance from 

 Vienna to Berlin (which, owing to the mountainous sec- 

 tion being crossed in the early part of the ride, is easier 

 than the course from Berlin to Vienna) in some minutes 

 less than three days. Three other men came in within 

 three days and three hours. The best German rider, Lieu- 

 tenant Reitzenstein, took a trifle over seventy-three and 

 one-half hours. This sounds like a set of wonderful per- 

 formances. Are they really so ? 



The race was go-as-you-please. The riders successively 

 started from Vienna or Berlin at different hours, and rode 

 at any gait or speed, and by any road they chose. The 

 horses were the very best ; no one not owning a horse 

 noted for unusual endurance would have been fool enough 

 to enter. There were many thorough-breds, many native 

 horses, Prussians and Hungarians, some ponies from the 

 Carpathian and Transylvanian uplands. The animals had 

 all been prepared by weeks of careful training. They car- 

 ried the least possible weight the winner, e.g., rides but one 

 hundred and twenty-eight pounds, plus saddle and bridle. 

 The roads were the very best. Under these most favor- 

 able conditions the winner rode one hundred and twenty 

 miles a day for three consecutive days ; the others less. 



