AMERICAN HORSEMANSHIP—OUR CAVALRY

I have said that in this country until very recent years comparatively little interest was taken in riding except in some of the Southern states and in the army. This was not because aptitude for the exercise was confined to certain districts, for the hunt, polo, and riding clubs, and the horse shows, now so general throughout the continent, are proving that everywhere our countrymen have the ability to make good horsemen. In the East there is, for example, Mr. Foxhall Keene, who has a world-wide fame as a thorough sportsman and a splendid rider; and although he has perhaps no superior among these there are in New York and Massachusetts riders of the very first force.

When the subject of riding is broached, our minds naturally turn to Kentucky.

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From a long line of good horsemen the Kentuckian inherits a love for the animal and a talent for riding, and from childhood he is accustomed to the saddle. His work in breeding and in training has placed his country under a debt of gratitude. Those who are well capable of judging say that the sight of General Castleman upon a charger of his own breeding is something to remember. Mr. Charles Railey is unrivalled in showing the graceful movements of a well-balanced saddle-horse, and all of his family are skilled in the art of riding. These names are mentioned because they are so widely known, but there is no part of the state in which one may not see that the words "Kentuckian" and "horseman" are synonymous. The writer has no intention of slighting Virginia, Missouri, and Illinois, the first-named the cradle of horsemanship in this country, the latter two rapidly taking prominent places in the breeding and in the training of the riding-horse, but the limits of this work prevent full justice being done to all.

I have nothing but admiration for the skill and daring of the riders of the Western plains, but their bits, their saddles, and, I may say, their horses are unsuited to the uses we are considering, and we can give them only our applause.

Colonel Cody, who was a "pony express rider" before the days of the transcontinental railway, was a bold and tireless horseman. On one occasion, his reliefs having been killed or driven off by Indians, he went three hundred and twenty-two miles in thirty-two hours of continuous riding. He is still a strong and graceful horseman, having adopted the military seat, and is one of the best known and most picturesque figures of our day.

The mention of Indians reminds me that they are the real American horsemen. My acquaintance with the red man is mostly of rather a vicarious character, somewhat similar to Mark Twain's pedestrian excursions. My grandfather, Lieutenant-colonel Richard Clough Anderson, 6th Virginia Continental Line, went to the Falls of the Ohio, now Louisville, Kentucky, in the year 1784, and was one of that band of pioneers who upheld and advanced the border. Since then there has been little or no time when some member of the family, or close friend, has not been in contact with the Indian. When the red man began to break and ride the wild horse, it would be difficult to say. The woodland and border savages used horses stolen from the whites, but Lewis and Clark found the Western tribes using the mustang, broncho, cayuse, or whatever the title of the free horse may be, as early as 1804. Excepting the Comanches and some of the Sioux, the Indians, I am told, were neither very bold nor very skilful riders, although they managed their horses with sufficient dexterity to make them dangerous enemies, but they had no mercy upon their beasts and no sentimental regard for them.

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The story of the United States cavalry explains, in brief, the remarkable efficiency it has maintained in spite of the disadvantages with which it has been burdened—single bridles, short service, and changeable riding instructions. Up to 1861 the corps consisted of but five regiments, commanded by the most select body of officers in any service, gentlemen who had passed through the best military college in the world, or who were especially fitted for the duty to which they were assigned. Between the Civil War and the recent war with Spain five more regiments were added, which were soon assimilated through tradition and example, and the still small body of mounted men kept and augmented, during a most trying period of great battles and severe Indian campaigns, its splendid reputation. In 1891 five more regiments were added, and these were readily taken up by the ten existing organizations, now forming a fair force which is a credit to our army, and which should be changed only by graduated increase, say with one or two regiments armed with that unwieldy, but fear-provoking, weapon, the lance.

Before undertaking the present chapter I went to Fort Riley, Kansas, to visit the School of Application for mounted service, to gain information regarding our cavalry, and to obtain photographs for the illustration of this book.

Unfortunately, the weather proved so bad that I could take advantage of but few of the opportunities for using my camera, so kindly offered me by Colonel Steevers, the commandant; but in the short, infrequent periods of good light I procured the pictures which adorn these pages, and otherwise I saw much that was of great interest.

The school of equitation, to which branch I gave my attention chiefly, is under the direction of Captain W. C. Short, a splendid horseman, and both his scholars and the senior officers spoke in the highest praise of the good results which had followed his instruction. When a regular, simple, but complete method of horsemanship becomes general throughout the mounted service, a cavalryman may be made efficient in less than half the time required by less finished systems which may be varied with each change in the company commander.

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I saw a few of the graduates from the school of equitation in such movements as a cavalryman might be called upon to make, pirouettes, side movements, etc., and also in jumping. The riding was excellent, and the horses showed far better training than is usually found in officers' chargers. While at the fort, it so happened that I saw but two troops mounted. One morning Captain Rutherford's troop, of the Fourth Cavalry, passed me in going out to target practice, and I was greatly pleased with the appearance of the men, as they bore themselves with easy, graceful, but strong seats, the stirrup leathers two or three holes shorter than in former days, and just right to my way of thinking, while the neat service uniform was a wonderful improvement over the old blue blouse and baggy trousers,—as old Pepys would have said, "a pretty sight." Later in the day I saw a quick drill, trot and gallop, of Troop K, Eighth Cavalry, under Lieutenant George Williams. I was told that, owing to the interruptions incident to target practice, the men and horses were not in the best condition for this work; but there was no occasion for adverse criticism, and the performance compared most favorably with similar movements I had witnessed with "crack" companies of European cavalry. On another occasion some of the men of Troop L, Eighth Cavalry, under the direction of Lieutenant Duncan Elliott, gave an exhibition of daring horsemanship. "Roman standing races" upon two horses, vaulting upon and over two and three galloping horses, standing upon the bare back of a horse while leaping the bar, and, finally, the riding of horses which "bucked" violently, were features of this entertainment, which was concluded without an error or an awkward motion. Visits to the farriery, to the school for veterinary studies, to the pack-train, and to the targets filled in the time pleasantly and profitably. On the whole, one must be a very unobservant, unappreciative visitor who would not be impressed with the great value of the School of Application, not only in the branch upon which I have touched, but in everything relating to the mounted service.

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