teristic of the puritanical tastes of the people. It is unostentationa 

 yet durable and neat and is not made out of tanned leather sewn 

 with cotton or flax that goes to pieces after several showers of rain 

 on it and under the trying sub-tropical sun and dry air. The 

 leather is prepared by a process of currying until it is pliant 

 and soft, possessing an extreme flexibility and whiteness when prop- 

 erly prepared. The several parts are then cut out from the hide and 

 sewn together with leather lacing prepared in the same way from 

 the skins of certain antelopes and goats. With silver claspings and 

 moderate trimming they decidedly add elegance to a fine pair of 

 horses and greatly enhance the smartness and good style of any 

 epuipage. Dr. Wegner, director of the East Prussian studs at 

 Norden remarks amongst others in a report on South African Ag- 

 ricultural matters that: "the beautifully prepared harness made 

 out of a chamois-dressed and oil-tawed white-leather could serve as 

 an example to the stables of many a German estate."^" The high 

 price of this kind of harness, however, allows of the importation of 

 a large quantity of a cheaper article. 



The general habit of riding on horse-back and the many duties 

 performed by their mounts have called forth many points that have 

 influenced the breeding and management of the Cape horse. 



Horse-back riding is universal, from boyhood to old age the 

 South African farmer is acquainted with the saddle's seat; almost 

 every girl one comes across is a perfect horse-woman and a man who 

 cannot ride is a rara avis and if he is a farmer he is looked at with 

 some contempt even by small boys. 



Jan van Riebeeck, founder of white South Africa is probably 

 the first horseman who enjoyed a canter along the slopes of the 

 magnificent mountains of the Cape peninsula, fanned by the breezes 

 of two oceans. Seated on his favorite charger the "Roode. Vos" 

 with his picturesque dress of the 17th Century — flowing ostrich 

 plumes, gold embroidery and immaculate lace — it was considered 

 that he would display the insignia of high office and lordship most 

 effectively to the hordes of natives, who were awe-inspired at- this 

 mighty being riding on an animal they have never seen before.^^ 

 Since those late autumn days of 1652 v/hen van Riebeeck sported 



(10) Br. 0. Wegner, " Zur Kenntnisse der Sudafrikanische Landwirtschaft " 



1906. 



(11) Dr. E. C. Godee-Molshergen, "Jan van BiebeecJc, Stichter van Hollands 



Zuid AfriTca, 1913-" 



67 



