HORSE SHOWS. 83 



to have if the judges were impartial as well as com- 

 petent. 



There was a marked diversity of opinion upon the 

 awarding of the prize for professional coachman. The 

 one selected certainly had no riglit to it for the simple 

 reason he did not drive the course laid out. After 

 making the figure eight, his hands being on a level 

 with his eliest, through putting on too much side, he 

 found too mucli rein to alter quickly, so instead of go- 

 ing between the post and stand he came straight down 

 and finished. Besides this it was unfair to allow 

 him to use a skeleton brake to compete with 

 coachmen handicapped with , a drag which takes 

 twice the amount of room to turn in, and strange to 

 say the only coachman competing in this class who 

 utterly failed to show any ability with a team, in fact, 

 the only one out of seven who had the honor of knocking 

 over a post, was awarded the prize the next day for 

 pair-horse coachmen. Besides this he was competing 

 against the same men who the day previous outclassed 

 him in every respect. In the face of such a decision, 

 what contempt must the driving public have for it, and 

 those who are not so well posted must conclude that 

 the safest way of receiving the blue rosette, is one of 

 incompetency. Private coachmen should not have 

 been allowed to compete. They should have been or- 



