"We Americans are a many-sided people, and our eques- 

 trianism partakes of our many-sidedness. The greatest 

 variety of riders Avhich an}^ one people has produced has 

 thriven on the continent of North America. Going back 

 to include the days, still in the memory of old men living, 

 when the Indians who dwelt farthest from civilization 

 were armed with bow and arrow, tomahawk and lance, 

 and rode without a saddle, we can count within the boun- 

 daries of the Union almost every type of rider, from those 

 who subdued the steed in the era Avhich produced the frieze 

 of the Parthenon to the Sunday rider of the present year 

 of grace. As a matter of pure skill, as well as artistically 

 speaking, the first-named, or bareback rider, stands in every 

 age at the head of all equestrians, while the latter is a 

 proper object-lesson of what to avoid ; but, inasmuch as 

 for practical work the saddle gives a distinct superiority 

 in many ways, we can scarcely compare the bareback 

 horseman with the modern rider, be he good, bad, or in- 

 different. 



When we speak of bareback riding, we do not refer to 

 the country bumpkin, a species indigenous to every soil, 

 and most aptly illustrated in Rosa Bonheur's " Horse Fair." 

 Especially w^iere horses trot is this bareback horror at his 

 worst. Leaning back, holding for dear life to the reins 

 Avhich give him a good half of his security, with elbows 

 in air, or marking time to the horse's steps, and with a 

 general appearance of a set purpose to contend with the 



