Democratic Sentinel, Volume 9, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 January 1885 — Horseback Exercise in Mexico. [ARTICLE]

Horseback Exercise in Mexico.

A pretty sight is the return of the horsemen from their morning ride to Chapultepec. Nearly every equestrian goes in that direction, as it is the only road leading out of the capital that is at all passable. Even the road to Chaoultepec is in a vile condition after a hard shower; then as soon as you leave the macadamized roadway of the Paseo ae la Beforma you find yourself on a boggy, miry road, into which your horse’s hoofs sink so deep as to compel Mm to drop into a walk. The condition of all wagon roads in Mexico, so far as I have seen them, is intensely disgraceful to the Government and the people, for in a oountry where labor and material for road-building are so cheap and there are so many men out of employment there is no excuse for having bad roads. A small percentage of the millions taken during the past four years from the National Treasury by President Gonzales and his friends would have sufficed, if properly expended, to put all the roads leading out of tiie capital in excellent condition for several miles in each direction. As it is now, the only comfortable mode of riding is by the horse-cars, in bad weather, or after a rain; at other times a horseback ride is indeed a treat. Not only do the male Mexicans ride, but also a few of the native ladies and many of the foreign ladies, especially the English and Americans. Very few Mexican ladies dare be seen in public on horseback, as it is here considered a vulgar form of exercise for women. There is no accounting for taste, and probably some of our American customs appear quite as absurd to the Mexicans as this idea of theirs concerning horseback exercise seems to us. Ladies who take horseback exercise here usually adopt the Mexican costume, as far as the hat is concerned, wearing a very broad-brimmed felt hat (similar in shape to the ordinary Mexican “sombrero”), in either black, light gray, or pale maroon color. Ih these sombreros, which are made of much lighter weight for ladies than those worn by men, they look very jaunty. The rest of the costume is almost exaotly the same as that worn by equestriennes in Paris, London, or New York.— Cor. San Francisco Chronicle.