Riding and Driving for Women Part 16

For a phaeton or breaking cart, where the horse is quite a long distance from the driver, a much longer whip should be used than for a runabout or a Hempstead cart.

CHAPTER XIX

GYMKHANA GAMES AND SUGGESTIONS FOR PRIVATE SHOWS

Gymkhana games may be held either independently or in connection with private or country club shows, and I would suggest as a programme for such a combination the following events:

CLa.s.sES

1. Ladies' Single Harness Cla.s.s.

Appointments (town or country) 40 per cent Horse 60 per cent

2. Ladies' Harness Pairs.

Appointments and counting the same.

3. Ladies' Hunters.

(Ladies to ride.)

4. Sporting Tandems.

(Ladies to drive.)

5. Pairs of Hunters.

(Pairs made up of a gentleman and a lady, riding their own horses.)

6. Ladies' Driving Compet.i.tion.

Driving to count 100 per cent

7. Ladies' Saddle Horses.

Horses to count 40 per cent Riding 40 per cent Appointments 20 per cent

GYMKHANA EVENTS

8. Egg and Spoon Race for Ladies.

9. Music Stall Ride.

10. Affinity Race.

11. Potato Race.

12. Drag Hunt Contest.

NOTES

_Cla.s.ses 3 and 5_: Hunters to be shown over jumps, which may be merely post and rail, brush, in and out, or any combination of these, performance over jumps only to count.

_Event No. 8_: Starters will be handed a large wooden spoon and an egg.

The spoon must be carried in one hand, with the egg in the bowl, twice around the course. Any one dropping the egg must return to the starting point for another, and whoever first completes the two rounds of the course with an unbroken egg held throughout in the spoon wins the race.

_Event No. 9_: There must be a fence or wall down the middle of the course. The stalls are made with poles, which are attached at one end to the fence and at the other end to stakes driven in the ground. At the start there should be one less stall than there are contestants, and the length of the fence should be such that at the start there will be no fence lapping over. The stalls should be between three and four feet wide and all stalls on the same side of the fence.

The contestants start mounted; when the music plays they ride in single file around the fence in a ring until the music stops; the riders then dash for the stalls and the rider who is left over is out of the contest. Before the music starts again one stall is removed, and the performance is repeated until there are only two contestants left for one stall, and then whoever of these gets it wins the event. The horses may be ridden into the stalls backward, forward, or any way in which they can get in. In other words, it is the old game of "Going to Jerusalem."

_Event No. 10_: The contestants are in pairs, a man and a woman, each with his pony. All the contestants start dismounted. At the starting signal the man first puts the woman up, then mounts himself; they join hands and dash madly down the field and race twice around the course, holding hands. The pair to reach the finish first win the race. If desired, jumps may be introduced.

_Event No. 11_: The contestants may be all men, all women, or both. The contestants start mounted at one end of the course, each of them having a spear; at the other end of the course are six or eight potatoes for each contestant, those of each contestant being placed together in a row and opposite his place in line at the start. The contestants must pick up the potatoes, one at a time, with the spear, ride back to the starting point, and drop each potato in a basket. The one who first picks up all his potatoes, carries them on his spear, and drops them all in the basket, wins the race. If a contestant drops a potato on the way back to the starting point he must pick up that potato with his spear without dismounting.

[Ill.u.s.tration: (NEWSBOY) A PRIZE-WINNING RUNABOUT ENTRY]

_Event No. 12_: This event, if my memory serves me right, was originated by Mr. F. M. Lowry, M.F.H., of the Harkaway Hunt, McDonald, Pennsylvania, and it can take place only in a hunting country or where one or more packs of hounds are available; it can, of course, only be tried where the grounds are large. A drag is laid over the country, taking as many fences as may be desired, but without flags or other indications of the course. The finish should be at the grand stand. Each hound wears a ribbon of a distinctive color and each rider draws by lot a card with the corresponding color of that worn by a hound. The riders all follow the hounds, and the holder of the color of the hound which first arrives at the finish is awarded the cup, provided that the hound has followed the full course. There need be no contest between the riders as to who shall be first at the finish.

[Ill.u.s.tration: JUDGE'S STAND IN OPEN AIR SHOW]

Of course the above programme is for an open-air or summer show, but all the cla.s.ses and many of the events may be used in-doors in a ring. To take the place of the events which must necessarily be omitted for an in-door show, I would suggest a costume ride. The style of costume may be left to the choice of the riders, or some particular period or type may be adopted. The riders go through the evolutions of a drill to music.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _By courtesy of "The Rider and Driver"_

GYMKHANA GAMES AT COUNTRY SHOW]

Another suitable event for an in-door show is tandem riding which has become deservedly popular. The horse one rides is saddled and the reins and all appointments are the same as for ordinary riding, with the exception that the bridle has the usual D's similar to those of the wheeler of the tandem, through which the reins of the leader pa.s.s. The leader has a harness which consists of a pad with terrets and a driving bridle without winkers and whatever form of bit may best suit the individual horse. The reins are of white buckskin, the size of light driving tandem lead reins. There should be about a half a horse's length between the two horses. The best and most practical way of holding the reins I have found to be as follows: Treat the curb and snaffle reins of the horse you are riding as if they were one rein and separate them both by the middle and third fingers; that is to say, the near curb is laid on top of the near snaffle rein and they both pa.s.s between the middle and third fingers. The off snaffle is laid on top of the off curb rein and they pa.s.s between the first and middle fingers.

The ends come up between the thumb and forefinger. The near lead rein pa.s.ses under the middle finger and up through the hand, coming out between the third and fourth fingers. The off lead rein pa.s.ses down between the third and fourth fingers and pa.s.ses out under the middle finger. An ordinary light driving whip is held in the usual way for driving in the right hand, and the right hand is held in readiness to a.s.sist the left and particularly to turn the leader. Horses, with a little training, are easily ridden or driven in this way and can be taught to jump and go through complicated evolutions. This tandem riding is a suitable event for winter entertainments in clubs and riding-schools.