136 
stock presents so many engaging aspects as does the pro- 
duction of fine horses. There is very little trouble and only 
a minimum of expense attached thereto, and any person who 
is in the possession of a suburban home can successfully 
breed and raise horses, and do so with both personal pleas- 
ure and financial profit, provided he has the instinctive 
horsemanship without which no success in these lines is pos- 
sible under any circumstances. 
Saddle horses present a peculiarly attractive form of the 
horse problem. The future of the animal is permanently 
secured. Nothing can take its place. There is nothing 
else that anyone can use for saddle horse purposes with 
equal satisfaction or benefit. The saddle horse does not 
come into competition with the motor car nor with any other 
means of locomotion. He is of his own kind and remains 
alone in the field of his own domain. 
There is no other form of human activity aie com- 
bines in equal measure the ee of convenience, 
beneficial exercise and health- 
ful exhilaration. To the per- 
son to whom the horse idea 
is not an. utter stranger, 
horseback riding is pure 
amusement. In comparison 
with other forms of exercise 
it has advantages of its own. 
In the first place, it takes one 
into the open air, of neces- 
sity, and therefore has the 
advantage of any kind of in- 
door or gymnastic exercises 
or forms of recreation. As 
compared with golf or any 
of the outdoor sports that 
are open to the city man, or 
the person of _ sedentary 
habits, it is convenient. 
One’s saddle horse may be 
brought to one’s door before 
a ride and left there after it 
is finished. The advantages 
of horseback riding are so 
manifold and so various as 
to well nigh be impossible of 
enumeration. It is not ex- 
tremely violent and may be 
graduated to suit the need of 
themrider. lt 1s\-a. pleasure 
and a benefit in which every 
member of the family can participate with equal advantage 
and either singly or together. The head of the household 
mounted on a high strung, proudly stepping horse; his 
wife upon another comparable to the efficiency of her 
equestrianism; and so on down through the various mem- 
bers of the family until, perhaps, the little tot upon her pony 
scarce larger than a Newfoundland dog, may frequently 
be seen in various parts of the country morning, noon or 
evening. While the exercise is not violent, it is of that 
particular kind and character that starts the blood with an 
exhilarated circulation; that stirs the torpid liver, and with 
its constant gentle shaking puts the flesh into a condition of 
healthy hardness; makes the filling of the lungs with the 
pure ozone of the outdoor air compulsory in a slightly 
accentuated manner, and brings the glow of health to the 
cheek of man, matron and maid. It is full of the charm 
of diversity. One rides east to-day, and west to-morrow 
The hunt across a wild country, for instance, will give one 
a glorious pastime, responding to the most daring of ven- 
turesome spirits. And with it all, the horseback journey, 
even alone is full of the companionship of a congenial 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
| SSSR ee TCR Baas ee noe ESSE OD 
Riding is a most exhilarating pastime for the American woman 
April, 1912 
comrade. Saddle horses are undoubtedly the highest de- 
velopment of equine intelligence, and are as varied in their 
moods and humors as are their riders. They are compan- 
ionable to an almost unbelievable degree, and are full of 
understanding and responsive affection. Occasionally they 
are full of animosity, and some horses dislike some men 
with as real and genuine evidence of dislike as exists between 
uncongenial members of the human family. 
As nothing can supplant the saddle horse, or take the 
place of the various uses for which he is available, it will, 
perhaps, be fitting to enumerate some of the requisites of 
this class in their best estate. A rather curious condition 
exists in the United States regarding the subject of saddle 
horses. What is meant by the term “‘saddle horse’ is de- 
termined almost entirely by the matter of geographical loca- 
tion. Kentucky has long been known as the home of the 
best ones of all kinds, and the source from which they 
come. ‘There are numerous other states, however, in which 
just as good, though, per- 
haps, not so many, fine speci- 
mens are produced. But in 
Kentucky, and, _ generally 
speaking, throughout the 
West, a saddle horse is an 
animal that under the saddle 
performs a variety of differ- 
ent gaits that are technically 
recognized and very thor- 
oughly distinguished. In the 
East, however; and, gener- 
ally speaking, in metropoli- 
tan cities, but most especially 
in New York, what is known 
as a saddle horse is an en- 
tirely different sort of a 
creature than is the animal 
so called in Kentucky. The 
reason for this variance is 
found in the fact that mat- 
ters in our larger cities that 
are under the dictum of the 
arbiters of fashion follow 
and approximate those 
things which obtain in Great 
Britain. An Englishman, of 
course, has a certain kind of 
riding horse which is as far 
removed as possible from 
the entity known as such 
just south of the Ohio River. The reason for this is found 
in the various uses for which horses are used for tne same 
purpose in these localities; but certain leaders of metropoll- 
_tan society follow as closely as possible the customs and man- 
ners of our English cousins and, therefore, though they may - 
buy their horses at home, they get the sort that most nearly 
approach those used by riders across the water. There a 
horse walks and trots and canters. He is shorn of his mane 
and denuded of his tail. He is a rather plain horse of only 
a medium style of carriage, of solid conformation and up 
to carrying good weight. He must be tough and enduring, 
as he is used solely for rough and hard usage.. In Kentucky. 
on the other hand, the saddle horse is distinguished first 
of all by great beauty of form and graceful appearance. 
both in outline and carriage. The early derivation of the 
breed found him a mixture of thoroughbred and pacing 
bloods, and this caused a tendency toward an ambling gait 
which was found very easy and congenial to the rider hav- 
ing to go long distances over such roads as were passable in 
those days. These tendencies toward easy gaits have been 
perpetuated and accentuated in the descendants of the early 
