Circus rider

“ Peerless isn't speeding around the ring, lashing her spirited bareback horse to fury, amid the plaudits of admiring thousands, she is mending her tights, stitching tinsel on her costume, anointing her bruises with balsam, or practising. The practice of the circus rider is like the rehearsal of the actor, only more so, for while the actor has only to rehearse until his first549 performance and then can go on playing a part without further trouble, the rider must put in an hour or two every day to keep her joints limber and her muscles in proper trim. ”

“ Why, they don’t have circuses in cities, do they? But I go to my Auntie’s every summer for two months—I always have until this summer—and Uncle West takes us children to the circus just as regularly. That is the reason I like the country so much better than the city, you can go to such queer out-of-door things. And I think the little circus ponies are too cunning for anything; I have always wanted one for my own. Mamma laughs, and says she doesn’t know but I will be a circus rider when I grow up—and then the clown is so funny. Why don’t you want to go, Robert? ”

“ One day Robert Rudd and Charlie Davis were standing outside the tent, near the lemonade stand, when a boy of sixteen or seventeen, clad in rustic attire and "with hayseed in his hair," approached them, and, though evidently somewhat awed by the idea that he was standing in the presence of two circus performers, ventured to ask:
"Do you two belong to the circus?"
"Yes," answered Robert.
"You bet we do," said Charlie, vivaciously. "The circus would have to shut up shop but for us." ”

“ I have often heard the question asked, ‘What can be done upon a horse which has not been done before?’ The question has been answered again and again by the equestrian feats of such masters or the art of equitation as Andrew Ducrow, Henry Adams, John Henry Cooke, Henry Welby Cooke, George Delavanti, James Robinson, and Alfred Bradbury. It is only by doing something which has never been done before, or by performing some feat in a very superior style to that of previous exhibitors, that a circus artiste can emerge from the ruck, whether he is a rider, a tumbler, a juggler, or a gymnast. ”

“ The performer needs steady nerves, a cool eye, firm limbs and a balance-pole, the last-named article being the most essential. Training is required, of course, but it is not of the rigorous and protracted kind that other feats demand.
The training of riders is not so difficult or attended with such dangers, although it is perilous enough. If a circus rider has a son or daughter he wishes to bring up for the ring he will begin by carrying the child, as soon as it is strong enough, upon the horse with him, thus accustoming it to standing upon the animal in motion ”

“ I have two of the smartest boy riders in the country."
"Where did you pick them up?" asked Hugo, with assumed carelessness.
"The younger one, Charlie Davis, comes from Canada."
"My attention was particularly attracted to the other."
"Robert Rudd?"
"Yes, if that is his name. How long has he been with you?"
"Two seasons. Before that he was with another smaller circus."
"How long has he been riding?"
74
"Ever since he was eight or nine years old. That boy is perfectly fearless with horses. Not many grown men can ride as well. And that isn't all! ”

“ ROBERT RUDD LEAVES THE CIRCUS. A week passed, and Robert Rudd was still the guest of Dr. Grey. The circus had left town, and so the boy-rider was separated from his professional companions. Though he was not as much attached to circus life as some, it was his means of making a livelihood, and had been for some years, and yielded him a considerably larger income than a boy of his age was likely to earn in any other way. ”

“ When Robert was apprised of the approaching departure of the circus he went to Dr. Grey.
"Dr. Grey," he said, "don't you think it will be safe for me to go back to the circus?"
"Yes; it will be safe to go back to it, but not to ride."
181
"How soon can I ride, do you think?"
"Your ankle will be weak for some time to come; not too weak for ordinary exercise, but not strong enough for bareback riding." ”

“ What could we do if we had to give up riding?"
"Oh, something would turn up," said Charlie, who was of an easy disposition. "We might take tickets or keep the candy stand."
"That wouldn't be very good employment for a man. No, Charlie, I think this will be my last season at circus riding." ”

“ So you want me to hand over my money, do you?" he said.
"Yes; and you'd better be quick about it, too," growled the tramp.
"Suppose I don't?"
"Then I'll whip you till you can't stand."
"This is better than any circus I ever attended," said Robert, delighted.
"He'll think it's a circus before he gets through," said Hercules, significantly. "Well, my ill-looking friend, I must inform you in the outset that you are taking a good deal of trouble for a very little. My stock of money is very low."
"I don't care; you can hand over what you've got."
"Or fight for it?"
"Yes," growled the tramp. ”

“ It is rarely that any one succeeds in maintaining his hold for more than a few minutes, unless he is a capital rider, in which case he may be able to master the animal; should this result be at all likely, the ring-master will, on some pretext, interfere and select some less expert rider from the audience. Finally an attaché of the circus, disguised as a countryman, volunteers to ride the mule, and after considerable caricature riding, and ridiculous posturing, he concludes the performance. ”

“ A FARCE AND A TRAGEDY. The circus was nearing the close of its stay in Crampton. Of course, though it was a large town, it was not large enough to warrant the show in staying so long, but for the large number of visitors who were attracted from neighboring towns. Both by rail and by carriages of all sorts, from farmers' wagons to top buggies and carryalls, hundreds of people flocked to see the wonders it contained. ”

“ Ring horses, whether for a "pad" or a "bare-back" act, must have a regular gait, as without it the rider is liable to be thrown. They are frequently and generally owned by the performers themselves, and I have known a crack rider to pay as high as $2,000 for one whose gait exactly suited him. The performing "trakene" stallions brought from Germany by Mr. Barnum cost $10,000, and my first troupe of educated horses, ten in number, were purchased at the same figure. These, however, were unquestionably the best and most valuable ever seen in a circus. ”

“ I had determined to run away with the first circus that should come to that part of the country. I thought that if I could learn to be a really good bareback rider, the circus people would be glad to take me with them, and in that way I should get away from Campbell.
So I practised my riding every day, growing steadily surer of myself and more expert. I practised jumping through hoops, too—forward and backward—and standing on my hands on horseback, and throwing somersaults. ”

“ Meantime in the dressing-room, if it is damp or chilly, the performers are wrapping themselves in blankets or moving about to keep warm. When the bareback rider returns from the ring he usually disrobes, takes a bath and dons his ordinary attire; but the less important performers must keep themselves in readiness to render any assistance which they may be called upon to perform.
There is but little repose for the weary circus people during a season. Frequently they stay but one day in a place, and the next town is fifteen or twenty miles distant. ”

“ The Circus-riders came down upon us in a compact mass, and cut into us like a wedge. Hemmed in and separated from our companions, Longbow and I surrendered at our discretion, but the others, madly drunk, fought until they could fight no longer. ”

“ Ain't you the Boy Wonder?"
"I shan't be the Boy Wonder when I'm twenty-five years old."
"You can't make so much money any other way."
"Perhaps not; but money isn't everything I think of. I would like to get a better education and settle down to some regular business."
"There's more fun in circus riding," said Charlie, who was not as thoughtful a boy as his companion.
"I don't see much fun in it," said Robert. "It82 is exciting, I know, but it's dangerous. Any day, if your nerves are not steady, you are likely to fall and break a limb, and then good-by to your riding." ”

“ I've been an itinerant singer, a circus-rider, when I used to vault like Leotard, and dance on a rope like Blondin. Then I got to be a professor of gymnastics, so as to make better use of my talents; and then I was a sergeant fireman at Paris, and assisted at many a big fire. But I quitted France five years ago, and, wishing to taste the sweets of domestic life, took service as a valet here in England. ”

“ Gayly-caparisoned, nervous horses pranced and reared; huge wagons, gorgeous under their coat of paint and gold, glistened in the afternoon sunlight that fell softly through the canvas top and gave the peculiar rattling sound so familiar to the lover of the circus as they moved majestically into the arena; elephants trumpeted shrilly and the animals back in the menagerie tent sent up a deafening roar of protest. After months of quiet in their winter quarters, this unusual noise and excitement threw the wild beasts into a tempest of anger. ”

“ In my boyish days, the cry of ‘This way for the riders!’ bawled from the stentorian vocal organs of the proprietor or ring-master of a travelling circus, never failed to attract all the boys, and no small proportion of the men and women, to the part of the fair from which it proceeded. Fairs have become things of the past within twelve or fifteen miles of the metropolis; but ever and anon a vitenting circus pitches, for a day or two, in a meadow, and the performances prove as attractive as ever. ”

“ Everything about a circus is systematized so that the minute the evening performance is over, everybody jumps to his or her appointed task and works with a will, so that where there were tents with flags and banners flying at night, the next morning there is only a deserted sawdust ring. Circuses spring up over night like mushrooms and disappear as quickly as the dew on the grass when the sun comes up.
By midnight the circus train was well under way and Billy and Nannie found themselves in a cage between the zebra and giraffe. ”

“ They are required to take part in vaulting acts, to hold hoops, balloons, banners, &c., which requires some practice before it can be done properly, and to line the entrance to the ring when a lady of the company flutters into it, or bows herself out of it. For this last duty, the proprietors of the best appointed circuses provide uniform dresses, which are worn by all the male members of the company, when not engaged in their performances, from the time the circus opens until they retire to the dressing-room for the last time. ”

“ Kit and Dan sheered off. The lion looked wicked enough to kill a dozen men.
At eight o'clock the performance commenced. First there was a procession of elephants and horses, the latter carrying the bareback riders and other members of the circus, with the curiosities and freaks. Then came two bareback riders, who jumped through hoops, and over banners, and performed somersaults, to the wondering delight of the boys. Then came tumblers, and in preparation for another scene a gaudily dressed clown entered the ring. ”

“ Mrs Hughes takes a fly and fires a Pistol—rides at full speed standing on Pint Pots—mounts pot by pot, higher still, to the terror of all who see her. H. carries a lady at full speed over his head—surprising! The young gentleman will recite verses of his own making, and act Mark Antony, between the leaps. Clementina every night—a commodious room for the nobility.’
The excitement of apparent danger was evidently as much an element of the popular interest in circus performances a century ago as at the present day. ”

“ Foremost among these is Noyes’ circus, a great feature in the parade of which is the globe band chariot, drawn by eight cream-coloured horses. Hemmings, Cooper, and Whitby’s show combines with the circus a small menagerie, and includes an elephant and a cage of performing lions. Grady’s circus lately numbered in its company Madame Macarte, who formerly travelled with Batty, and whose real name is, I believe, Macarthy. John Robinson’s circus and menagerie also possesses an elephant, and the zoological collection has been greatly enlarged of late years. ”

“ And which of us has not, in the days of our boyhood, fallen in love with the fascinating young lady in short viiskirts who leaps through ‘balloons’ and over banners? Even when we have attained man’s estate, and learned a wrinkle or two, we take our children to Astley’s or Hengler’s, and enjoy the time-honoured feats of equitation, the tumbling, the gymnastics, and the rope-dancing, as much as the boys and girls.
But of the circus artistes—the riders, the clowns, the acrobats, the gymnasts,—what do we know? ”

“ The twelve nights we were engaged for, like the six at Hull, came to an end too soon; 266and my partner spoke to Henry, the manager, about our travelling with the circus, as we had set on minds upon doing. Henry, who was a very gentlemanly fellow, said he would mention it to the governor; and Newsome called us to him.
“I am afraid,” said he, “you wouldn’t be of much use to me. You have not been used to circus business, and you know nothing about it. The general routine of a circus is very different to a starring engagement, or a turn at a music-hall. ”