Sport: Horses in the Garden

Scarcely had the rodeo roughnecks wahooed out of Manhattan's Madison Square Garden when the gentlefolk of horsedom cantered in. Unmannerly broncos and bucking Brahman bulls were replaced by mannerly hunters and harness ponies, five-gaited mares that would no more buck than fly. The crowd was different too: vulgar cheers were taboo; from the Golden Oval of boxes came only polite applause, an occasional bravo that rang no rafters. With its black toppers, red tail coats and trumpets signaling the start of Manhattan's social season, last week the 63rd National Horse Show was in full swing.

The international competition was the keenest ever,...

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