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:

CLASSES

1. Ladies’ Single Harness Class.

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 Competition.

Driving to count 100 per cent

7. Ladies’ Saddle Horses.

Horses to count 40 per cent

Riding 40 per cent

Appointments 20 per cent

8. Egg and Spoon Race for Ladies.

9. Music Stall Ride.

10. Affinity Race.

11. Potato Race.

12. Drag Hunt Contest.

NOTES

Classes 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

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

(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

Judge’s Stand in Open Air Show

Of course the above programme is for an open-air or summer show, but all the classes 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.

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 pass. 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