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LONG DISTANCE RIDING FOR WAGERS Record of Some Remarkable Tests of Human and Equine Endurance Here and in England Matches on horseback against time have been popular for ages though they have not been fre ¬ quent enough to become common It is related that in the reign of King James in England one John Lepton rode five times between London anil York in as many days beginning on the morning of Monday May 10 KiO1 and ending on the following Friday evening appearing before his majesty in as fresh and cheerful a manner as when lie first began beganIn In April 1745 Mr Cooner Tuornhill won a wager by riding three times between Stilton and London a distance of 213 miles iu 11 hours S3 minutes and 52 seconds He used eight horses the first seventy one miles six the second and seven of the fourteen the third seventyone miles milesA A little brown mare less than fourteen hands high belonging to Daniel Corker was backed to go 300 miles in 72 successive hours on Newmarket Heath in 1754 She accomplished the task in 59 hours and 18 minutes She was ridden all of the time by a boy who weighed 57 pounds Xot more than six miles were done at a gallop gallopIn In April and May of 175S Miss Pond easily won a wager of 200 guineas by riding the same horse 1000 miles in 1000 successive hours at Newmarket Her father a few weeks later rode the same horse 1000 miles in twothirds of the time timeOn On June 27 1759 Mr Jenison Sliafto at New ¬ market rode fifty miles in 1 hour and 49 minutes and 17 seconds using ten thoroughbred horses horsesIn In 1701 this Mr Sliafto wagered 2000 guineas witli Mr Hugo Meynell that he would find a person who would rido 100 miles a day for twentynine successive days having any number of horses not exceeding twentynine but not using more than one horse on any one day Mr Sliafto selected John Woodcock The task was begun on Newmarket Heath at 1 oclock in the morning of May 4 and ended successfully on the evening of June 1 and Mr Woodcock had only used fourteen horses However he came near to losing the wager for Mr Sliafto He had ridden a horse called Quidnunc sixty miles one day when it broke down The rider had to begin over again for that day on a fresh horse He finished the 100 miles extra of his lost sixty miles at eleven oclock that night nightGiles Giles Iloyle through stormy weather and over poor roads rode 540 miles from Ipswich to Tipton and back again in sixtynine hours iu September 17SO 17SOOver Over a circular course of two miles during the Curragh meeting in 1791 a Mr Wilde won a wager of 2000 guineas by riding ten thoroughbreds 127 miles in G hours and 21 minutes He had wagered that he could do it in better than nine hours It is recorded that he was so little fatigued that he appeared at the Turf clubhouse the same evening eveningIn In April 1802 a Mr Shaw rode 172 miles from BartonontlieIIumber to London in 9 hours and 33 minutes using fourteen horses He wagered that he could do it in 10 hours hoursIn In December 1S10 Wat Wilton who weighed 210 pounds rode from London to Stamford something over ninety miles in 4 hours and 25 minutes using eighteen horses horsesOn On November C 1821 a Mr Lipscomb wagered 2500 that he could enuiloy eight horses and ride ninety miles in 5 hours He did it iu 4 hours and 53 minutes and 31 seconds secondsOn On April 17 1S2G Captain Polhill of the First Kings Dragoon Guards won a wager that he could walk fifty miles ride fifty miles and drive fifty miles in 24 hours He selected the course at Ilaigli Park which was threequarters of a mile and 104 yards around so that he had to make 186 cir ¬ cuits of it He walked his fifty miles in 10 hours and 20 minutes drove it in 4 hours and 24 minutes and rode it in 2 hours and 42 minutes leaving him winner by 4 hours and 55 minutes In November of the same year Captain Polhill on the same racing ground rode thirteen horses ninetyfive miles in 4 hours and 7 minutes He had wagered a con ¬ siderable sum that he could do the distance with nineteen horses in 5 hours SaUIREOSBALDESTON WONDERFUL FEAT FEATNone None of the matches however carried with them the interest and excitement that attended the wager in 1831 of Squire George Osbaldeston of 1000 pounds with Colonel Charitte that he could ride 200 miles in Newmarket Heath in ten hours The day se ¬ lected was Saturday November 4 and the morning dawned raw and wet Time became favorite in the betting The watches were set ami locked up and at thirteen minutes past seven oclock the squire weighing 150 pounds and wearing a broad riding belt with whalebone stays as a support to his back began his task His saddles were covered with camelskin and he rode with short stirrup leathers His course was four miles round and at tlie end of each four miles he changed horses He rode tlie 200 miles in S hours and 39 minutes employing twenty aine horses He had encountered a blinding rain ¬ storm during the day and was wet to the skin long before he finished Having won his wager he gal ¬ loped off to his quarters took a hot bath slept a couple of hours and enjoyed a hearty dinner in tlie evening Mr Osbaldeston was fiftyfour years of ige when he accomplished this task taskThis This performance of Squire Osbaldeston stood as a record until August 2 18GS when Nell II Mowry it Bay View Park San Francisco rode thirty horses 200 miles in 8 hours But this American rider went further completing 300 miles in 14 hours and 9 minutes At minutesAt Fieetwood Park New York City July 3 187 John Murphy on a wager of 2000 that he could ride twenty horses 155 miles in better than i hours and 58 minutes and 30 seconds won by doing the distance in G hours 45 minutes and 7 seconds secondsAt At Agricultural Park Los Angeles California October 8 1871 Jose Perez beat J P Smith iu i match at fifty miles for 1000 a side Each used ten horses changing at the end of every mile Perez won by a neck The time was 2 hours and 1 minute Smith had been beaten 200 yards in the same kind of a match by N II Mowry at San Francisco On April 22 tlie time being 2 hours 8 minutes and 30 seconds secondsIn In New York City March 12 and 13 Francis Per lato failed in an attempt to ride GOO miles in 50 consecutive hours using twenty horses Tlie distance ridden was 457 miles milesAt At Oakland California April 12 1877 John P Smith defeated Major K Pico in a match at 50 miles using ten horses each and changing at the end of each mile for 2000 The time was 2 hours 3 minutes and 40 seconds Smith was again de ¬ feated In tliis kind of a match at San Francisco April G 1878 by Pablo Castro Tlie time was 2 hours and 7 minutes minutesHere Here in Chicago January 9 10 and 11 1879 in the Exposition building there was an endurance contest of 52 hours between the horse Heisinz Jr and a man mimed George Guyon tlie man walking The horse covered 201 miles and the man 149 miles milesIn In a sixday race against other horses and men at Mechanics Pavilion San Francisco October 15 20 1879 Pinafore won covering 559 miles 754 yards yardsAt At the Bay District track San Francisco begin ¬ ning May 15 1880 there was a sixdays riding contest The riders were allowed to change horses at will but were required to ride 15 hours daily A man named Anderson won He covered 1304 miles Iteycs was second with 1284 miles milesAt At Louisville Ky October 9 1SSO Miss Emma Jewett rode a match of 20 miles against Miss Minnie Pinneo and won in 45 minutes and 11 sec ¬ onds They used eight horses each On October 20 the match was repeated Miss Jewett again winning but this time in 51 minutes and G seconds secondsIn In the last quarter of a century there have been many similar tests of endurance but few of them on race courses For tho greater part they have taken place among the cowboys in the far west The mustangs of the plains in tlie days of the pony post likewise their riders were noted for their endurance and many of them particularly those having the blood of the Spanish mares which were introduced iu Lower California were exceedingly fleet of foot footThroughout Throughout the period covered by the war with the Indians and since in the days of the struggles of the ranch owners against tlie cattle thieves there was much hard riding and feats even more remarkable than any chronicled here were doubtless accomplished
