“Have You Ever Seen Any
of Our Gymkhanas?”
It
у
l.ou Koch
HAVK vou seen nnv c
gymkhanas." visitor» t<
Tin* answers i- luat the pronounem-
t ion of tlio word i* practically the
-nun* :i * ”.lim Conner.”
It'- ronll v surprising to fin.l (In1
mini v persons who don’t know «lint
n gyinkhaua is. The writer didn’t
know until lie came to Pinchur-t.
The Kncrc!o,*edia Britannic d«-
"Л
display of miscellaneou* «|*ort*
originally nt the military stations of
India. The word would seem to lie
a colloquial remodelling of the
Hindustan il'iul-Khaivi. hall lion.»*
or racket court, by substituting for
(tend, the iir*t syllable of the word
‘gymnastics'." "The first meetings.”
rout in lies the Kncvclopedia.
“сои*
*i*t*<l of
|щгзт
allj
роцт
(I j
catch weights. To these were soon
added a second variety, originally
called the I'offol (funny races), the
one generally known outside India,
which consisted of miscellaneous
races and competitions of nil kind*,
some serious and some amusing, on
horsebae
W.
И
it.
“А и
• 1 1
Pinch
r*
-istent with the reference to the fir*t
meetings of the Indian application.
At Pinchurst they have them every
"iber Sunday, and sometimes on holi¬
days instead. They are hold in the
riding ring of the Carolina Hotel,
where approximately a thousand per¬
sons (the capacity of the rail-hugging
space) gather to wateh two hour* of
horse play with variations when
horse* are supplanted with other
animals of the barnyard species.
There’s a small, neat paddock ad¬
joining the riding ring of the Caro¬
lina. whore, during the gymkhana,
tin* horses arc »eon pawing at the
sandy soil, jerking their heads into
the air. seemingly anxious to get into
the ring for the fun.
A typical program of a Pinchurst
gymkhana consuls of a ribbon race,
a water race, wheelbarrow race, a
piggi e-pushing route. t and two jump¬
ing events. The jumping events are
the same hurdle competitions one
find* at a horse show. For variety,
the aforementioned races an- sub¬
stituted with competition, like the
doughnut-on-tlie-string heat, musical
stalls, overall races, potato-spearing
contests, etc.
Once in a while, Lloyd Tate,
manager of the Pinehur-t Livery
Stable, and general master of cere¬
monies and impresario of the
gymkhanas gets a brainstorm, says
to himself, “to the devil with the
Kncvclopedia Brittanica" and thinks
up something entirely different, for
in -fa lice a pet show. He invites
everyone in the neighborhood to bring
up l heir animal or what-not to In-
judged and shown during the
gymkhana. Prizes in the pet show
are generally awarded for the most
comical. nio>t intelligent, ttm.t dressed
up. etc. And if some youngster brings
up bis little kitten and starts to cry
because liis kittie didn't win. place
or -how, Lloyd will pull a “Special
Mention" ribbon out of bis pocket
and pin it on the youngster or on
the kitten’s tail and everybody’s
happy.
To get back to the regular events,
a ribbon race, for instance, start*
..ff by having as many participants
mounted on horses a* |Kiv«iblc. Nar¬
row rihlon* are placed around the
arm just a bore the elbow, held there
with a rubber band. The starter
says "Go” and they're off, everybody
trying to rip the other fellow', (or
girl’s) off the sleeve. Watching the
horses being guided in and out of the
different groups of riders seems to be
more fascinating than seeing who gets
whose ribbon. After a certain length
of time, a whistle is blown, ribbons
plucked and pocketed are counted and
CLUB CHALFONTE
DINING and DANCING
nto M KT ROPOL IT A > FLOOR SHOWS MOIITLY It and I
Loral Ian I1* miles from Pinrliiir.t on the A border n-Pinelnrst Highway
CAROLINA
THEATRES !
••The best, always"
.**
SOUTHERN PINES
PINEHURST
30