What a Horse Show Really Is
tures of Omaha Horses Made by a Staff Artist
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Mil. W. II. M'UUIID S FINE TANDEM TEAM. MK. F. A. NASH'S SINGLE ROADSTER.
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ARTHUR C. SMITH'S SINdlE ROAI33TEIV.
MRS. F. A. NASH AND HER TURNOUT.
MR. GOULD DIETZ AND HIS SADDLE HOUSE GA1TED.
MR. F. S. COWGILL AND HIS PAIR
TGI(, " A ImnfMl nun H rn roil nf
Tp-W I genus equs, iued for drawing.
do for Nouh Webster in his ofTlclal
ciipai-lty tis rtyninloKit, but to
tho juivato Individual who Ii;iihus to own
a 3-year-olil, tho liortte la u "hows," n thing
of contlmiou Joy, u rroaturc that will rub
lla noso asaliiHt your coat wlieu you cntT
Ms nta.ll uiul will titatul by you wIrii men,
women and itynudoHists ui3 willlnu to
kick you Into tho gutur.
Loiifr ns'3 iiko tho linio may have bevn
of the ponut iMjus and no more. l!ut Bluee
tlirn Man has n.alu'icd him in and by
constant hiimlllu; dcvi'Ioied him from the
dwarfi'd, uiiKaiiily craliiio of tho Asiatic
ett'jipt'S to his jiiisint condition. This
wtek at tho Audit. uiuni Omaha icople will
liuve a I'hancc' of si'i'lns the best tyjios of
tho ppoch's. Tho horse was one of the
main factors in tho bi'ltorhiK of tho man
of t ho west, nml now the man of the west
Is bettering the horse and past experience
lias shown that a horse show is one of the
best means for tho development of tlm
animal. The primary principle of a horso
how Is to Increase a taste for horscllcsti
and to tench the public that kind treatment
and attention will Improve his condition.
Jncldentully, the dollars and the social
aspect of the affair nr very acceptable.
Horse jtUows, aa far oa they can be
traced, have ever been associated with
the rich and exclusive cliques forming- what
is known as Society. The llrst event of this
character waa held at Versailles, France,
during- the reign and under the auspices of
Louis XIV. The grand SelKneur attended
personally, and as a natural consequence
it was patronized by the gentlemen of
France and conducted with all the mag
lilllcence und slitter which characterised
the court of La I'ompadour. So successful
was it that tho king and the women re
peated the shows annually, each successive
show Furpasslng its predecessor In tho way
of brilliancy. The successors to the throne
followed the example of their ancestors
until the unfortunate disagreement between
Louis XVI and tho people resulting in tho
weak minded monarch und the brilliant
Marie Antoinette mounting the horse of
the day La Guillotine. The revolution,
which placed In power a band of blsoted
cut tliroals, swept court, society and Its
attending umusements from the borders of
France. The nobles liked horse shows,
therefore horse shows were an Infringement
on tho rights of the people and must be
done away with. That was the principle
Robespierre and his associates worked on.
During the Napoleonic era the feature wan
revived, the "Little Corporal'1 himself
holding annual fairs at St. Cloud. The
siilrlt of the times made it almost neces
sary that the function should be of a
quasi-military character. Tho seats of
honor were occupied by tho heroes of
Austerlitz and Jena, cavalry chargers were
more appreciated than ladies' driving mares
ami the contestants were marshaled to
their places by tho stirring calls of a
Cuirasseur regiment.
In Knglnnd the gay and misguided Charles
I repeatedly held horse shows at his court
at Croydon, near Ixindon, and it is said
that tho immorally frolicsome Nell of Old
Drury herself gave nway the ribbons to
tho winners. Tho llrst horso show to be
held In this country was at Long Itranch,
twenty-one years ago, and since then has
spread rapidly from town to town, till
at tho present day one of the signs of prog
ress of a city Is a Jlrst-chuss horse show.
Tho horse show being, then, a society
affair, thoso that enter or attend are re
quired to conform with a certain amount
of cllqtiettu in the way of language und
manners.
Two horses may lie called n team In tho
workaday world, but In a horse show,
never. They nre a "pair," lintess a tandem.
A pair is never "hitched up" in the arena,
it Is "put to," unci a horn Is never "blon,"
It Is "sounded." H is a common error to
call nny kind of a coach, be It drag or
break, a tally-lio. Tho word tally-ho Is
Imply tho cry of tho huntsman to the
hounds nnd Is used in a perverted senso
when applied to coaching. It originated
with the Introduction of coaching by th
fact of the first owner of a coach christen
ing tho vehicle "Tally-ho." A drag is th
name applied to a coach when used solely
for private purposes; no sooner is a four-in-hand
put Into service and fare charged
than it ceases to be a drug and becomes a
coach.
As to manners, a horse show has its own
rigid line of etiquette which for a con
testant to depart from renders him hope
lessly not blessed in the eyes of the ones
that know. A slight movement of the whip
is sultlclent in saluting the judge, it is not
necessary to tip one's hat. The box must
be mounted from the off or whip-hand sid
ami it is considered bad form to use a
whip unless wishing to convey to the horso
a distinct command. To hit a horso In tha
same place twice is also tabooed. To object
publicly or criticise the judge's decision
is tho worst thing a competitor could da
if ho has any idea of gaining favor with
tho audience. To hiss or give vent to that
long drawn "O-O-Oh" or "Rot-ten" la con
sidered the height of vulgarity.
Thoo who are attending a horse show
for tho first time will come across a num
ber of terms not ordinarily used in every
day horse talk. For example, "cock horse.
(Continue J on IV to Fiva
