Even in the late 80s things were different than they are now- everyone wore gray breeches, solid white shirts (no stripes), and braided their horse’s mane with the yarn color coordinating to their jacket. (ie, navy yarn, navy jacket) And of course that was when the ASTM approved helmets were just starting to be popular and they were VERY Large. Mushroom-like.
Also, in pleasure and U/S classes a LOOPY rein won, now it seems like judges like light to moderate contact in flat classes.
Sea Urchin, surely not Moesha? He seems such a gracious and gentlemanly person…
And I remember the shows at Glenwood Park. Lovely place! 
In the spirit of reminiscing, I thought you might enjoy a photo of Terry Rudd, age 16 or 17, at the Ravenhill horse show in Philadelphia (around 1966) Unfortunately I don’t remember the horse’s name (I believe it was a catch-ride.) The roan in the background with a white face is Wee Ken with Ricki Rothstein (if anyone remembers him.) 
Heh-heh-heh, road trippin down memory lane…
When I first started showing (1973, the old McDonough School Horse Show) the style was: hunt coat with velvet collar, velvet hunt cap sans elastic thingie (often the hunt cap was green or brown), rust or grey Harry Halls, shirts with those contrasting floral collars (yeck), brown field boots or black dress boots. Rolled tack was de rigeur for hunters. Many horse shows still had outside courses. I still recall doing the Hunt Teams class at the McDonough show with 2 other girls from Oldfields. It was so cool! And its true, there weren’t any divisions lower than 3 feet. There was no medium pony division, just small and large. And God forbid, we didn’t count strides!
I also remember showing at the Middleburg National when it was held at Foxcroft, on the grass. Got my first A show ribbon there.
Winning horses during the 70s – God, there are too many to even remember, but the stand outs were:
Early Light, Touch the Sun (late 70s or early 80s), Ruxton, Rivet, Vim, Vital Victory, War Dress, San Felipe, and what was that horse owned by Bruce Duchossois?
Ponies: Even Gamble, Shendandoah Opal, Easter Sunday, Dresden, Dressing Drink, Snow Goose, Gina-Dee, Miles River Moonglow, Checkmate, Imari, Farnley Sir Roger, Farnley Nimble.
Anyone from Virginia remember the ponies Farnley Flint, Almost April and a black pony owned by Mo Dana and Mrs. Dillon that won everything in the late 60’s or early 70s?
<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> But what have you got in your hand that looks like a switch (fake tail)? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
It looks like a fly swatter to me, but I don’t know why she is carrying it in the ring.
Beezer, yes I remember Santa Barbara in the Rain!
On the subjrct of the coats a friend of mine had a mauve one. The funny thing is, I went into a local used tack store a couple of years ago and there was the coat. That was when I started to tell the parents if they insisted on shopping there on thier own that they could only come home with a dark blue, dark green or charcoal coat. Just in case some one wanted that one.
Ahhh, Stubben.
I still have a Stubben Tristan saddle that I bought donkey’s years ago used from a woman in my boarding establishment who thought her riding would be improved if she bought a more expensive saddle. It is a Stubben that was actually made in Germany. Although it is a dressage model, I have jumped at least four feet many times in it. I will never part with it.
I also had the kind of britches that had to go to the dry cleaners every time they were worn.
Highfield’s Snapshot, for sure!
Highfield’s Sir Echo (a relative of my Sir Andrew?)
Highfield’s Tulip & Susan - my heroes!
Karen Nolte (Thorwell) also had a Highfield’s pony but I can’t remember the name - my aging brain is deserting me!
Remember Sham (Andrea Kenyon ne Abbott)? Guided Missle (Susan Burghley/ Mallory Blimm) King Farley & Zim’s Poconutsmoke (Joy Slater ne Carrier)
Oh, the Zim’s ponies - Zim’s Sing Along (Patti Brennan - now a lawyer in Westchester, PA), Zim’s Black Magic, Zim’s Good Looking…
But the Highfield’s were the best.
Oh, I was carrying a fly whip - don’t remember, must have been the “cool” thing to do - it was a June or July show and the flies would have been out…
Well I wasn’t living there in the 70’s, I moved down for almost a year in the 80’s. I was working for Patty and was fortunate enough to be working with Hoffy and Neddy at the time. We had several nice Green Comformation horse’s, Liz Blatz had 3 A/A horse’s and Amy Ilvasaker had the great horse Life’s Persuit there too. It was a fabulous time, Gene Cunningham shoeing horses and telling the most marvelous stories and giving impomptu clinics on every topic. Dave Kelly coming by and pointing out the slightest nuances in judging conformation horses. Two finer gentleman never lived. I miss them greatly. Going over to Re Re’s house in the winter for all the raucus parties. Brian Lenehan and Don Stewart stealing the police car. All the fun local shows, and not to mention the fabulously outrageous Joey Darby!! To this day if I have a horse that won’t give, even though he does know how and is not physically incapable, just stubborn. I practice a little manuever that Joey did and we called it the Joey Darby spin. Just hold hard in one direction and spin the horse as fast and hard as it can go and still stand up. They will give in. A few spins and most horses will unlock that jaw! Oh all the fun days I had in Southern Pines. I really need to go back again. Patty was the best diet I ever had!! What a wonderful classy lady!!
One thing no-one else has mentioned- NO saddlepads in the show ring. Saddlepads were considered a “shortcut” to keep the bottom of your saddle clean, and were NOT acceptable at a show.
Another big no-no was field boots. They were just for schooling, but not acceptable in the show ring. And that may be one of the reasons for boot straps. Fewer people had custom boots, and even custom dress boots tend to slip down if you have a high instep. The bootstrap (fastened between the third and fourth BUTTONS on your canary non-stretch, peg-legged britches) kept the heel of you boot from slipping down.
(Modern aside, in an emergency situation- custom boots fell apart, I needed SOEMTHING to show in next weekend - I bought a pair of off-the-rack dress boots that were a bit loose round the ankle.instep. I decided that boot straps would help. The boots still have the loop at the back, but NOBODY sells boot straps. I ended up buying a pair of spur straps and using them.)
I never had anything but a black jacket. I was in Pony Club, and you needed a black jacket for the rally, and my parents couldn’t see any point in buying TWO jackets we were just going to outgrow. (Other kids had a all sorts of light coleored and bright colored jacets, as well as real tweeds.) I had a variety of solid colored shirts (white and pale yellow are the ones I remember). But where we really went wild was with the chokers. All sorts of different colored prints. I particularly remember a gray silk one with little red and yellow diamonds on it. NOBODY wore a solid colored choker. And you HAD to wear a stock pin or similar with it. If you didn’t, the choker would rotate around your neck so the buttons were in the front.
Our hard hats were black velvet, with a black elastic strap which was of no use at all. Adults showed in Derby’s in the hunter classes. And anyone who was not on the hunt staff who wore a hard hat with the ribbon DOWN would be laughed off the grounds.
For Pony Club we had to wear white cotton gloves, but we didn’t wear those for showing.
At many recognized shows (and the one I remember in particular is the Bedford Whip and Spur on “old” Mrs. Tucker’s estate) ALL of the hunter classes took place on the outside course. There was a nice flat spot about half way round the course where they held the under saddle classes. It could get a little hairy at the hand-gallop, which was ALWAYS called for in the under-saddle class, followed by a “hold hard.”
Only the equitation classes were held in the ring. But there were ENOUGH equitation classes to keep the ring busy all day. Maiden, Novice, Limit, Open, Medal, Mclay. Under 12, 12 to 14, 15 to 17. Leadline. But no short stirrup division. And I don’t remember any walk trot classes at recognized shows, only at unrecognized shows.
The hunter classes for Juniors (sorry, I didn’t pay a lot of attention to the Seniors) were Small Pony (2’6"), Large Pony (3’), Junior Hunters (3’6"). For the adults, all I remember was First and Second Year Green (Working or Conformation), and Regular Working and Conformation. That was IT. No “children’s”, no “Adult’s”, no “Warmup”, no “Schooling”, no “Pre-Green”. At some of the bigger shows there was a separate “Local” division, but they jumped 3’6" too.
The outside course was probably between 1/4 and 1/2 mile, taken at a “hunting pace”- i.e., a gallop. Fences I remember were post and rails (and a “closed” post and rail in-and-out), stone walls with riders, brush jumps which were living hedges, Aikens (used to scare us, but the horses loved them). Many courses had definite Uphill and Downhill sections.
When I started, everyone used flat tack, but by the early 70’s rolled tack had become the fashion. Saddles had lots of knee rolls (suede), and often had thigh rolls too. The Stubben Siegfreid was the saddle of choice then, though the Hermes and various Crosbys became pupular in the 70s. I got a Passier All-Purpose for my 14th (I think) birthday, which I still have, and sometimes use, today.
Jumper classes started at 4’, and speed classes were just coming into common use. Every show with jumpers had at least one “touch” class. I still rmember seeing Tony Ambrosio SENIOR before he figured out that GALLOPING between the fences (but going the LONG way) was NOT the way to get a fast time.
More later probably. I have to join a conference call.
Mark my words, the madras coats will return! At least in the blues and tans. Where else do the winds of fashion have to blow? Or are the huntcoat manufacturers waiting for our generation to die off so they can pretend that they “invented” the madras idea?
ccoronios, there are two different McKinney families–one from Connecticut (Lucie, Jeannie, and Libby were the three sisters) that MHM already answered about; and one from Kentucky with about six or seven riding siblings. Tamara was one of them, and I wish I could remember the rest of their names. They were all fantastic riders (with really good horses and ponies–Storm of the Glen is one name that comes to mind) but we only used to see them once a year at Harrisburg.
By the way, Tamara was a pretty determined skier too. She made it all the way to the Olympic team.
Yes, Under Saddle, Over Fences and Outside Course made up divisions, and the outside course had drop jumps!
When I was on the IHSA team at Skidmore in 70’s (graduated in '78) we had team jackets made - a fairly bright shade of dark green, velvet collar and a gold lining. Probably looked like a bunch of girl scouts!
And, I’m hanging on to my canary breeches. Some day…
I also have a pair of old flared cotton, button legged breeches that were pulled out of a trunk at the Frontier Nursing Service by a friend many years ago and given to me. I actually wore them xc a few years ago and had some wonderful comments and compliments.
I’m looking at a picture from '74 or so of me and my wonderful big QH at Lake Erie college and it’s not looking too outdated except for the Siegfried without a saddle pad and a striped shirt. It’s black and white but it’s a (now oh so popular) brown jacket. I see I even had the hair-over-the-ears-do down. (He was such a classy jumper)
You must imagine this being told by Patty H. who is a consumate story teller. I was crying I was laughing so hard…
At a show, Patty is judging and the A/O’s come in for their hack. Now, Marie always had Josh stationed by the ring to hold out carrots as Snicky came by. It would slow him down enough that Marie could make a nice pass in front of the judge…
But, somehow, for some reason, in this particular class, the carrot trick was not working and Snicky got stronger and stronger until he BUCKED right in front of Patty. Well, Marie knew the class was blown, so she starts training on Snicky. Pulling him up and turning him – and the rest of the class was still on the “canter” command. Needless to say, other riders in the class were having to jerk their horses up when Marie pulled up in front of them, or turned right in front of them. The class was turning into a demolition derby. So Patty calls the class to a walk and asks Marie to come in and line up. Marie keeps on walking, ignoring Patty. Then Patty has the ringmaster go out and lead Snicky into the center of the ring where Patty tells Marie she must stay, so as not to disturb the others.
Patty calls for another canter and begins to judge that gait from scratch. Then she calls for a walk and a reverse direction. All the riders do, INCLUDING MARIE who walks on out and re-joins the group! Patty is standing there, thinking, “When did I loose control of this class? What do I do now?”. But she just gives Marie a glaring look and asks for the second direction gaits. At least at this time, Marie behaves herself and follows the ringmaster’s directions for walk, trot, walk canter.
Only Marie!
And I have another Marie story: In an A/O conformation class (when they still held them) I get called in right in front of Marie. Now, my horse was one of the best jumpers you can want, but conformation was not, ahem, his strong suit. So we are standing there, trying to look pretty and just as the judge comes up to look at Valor, Marie asks: “Pam, when did Valor start jumping so flat? Did you change bits or has he always jumped flat as a pancake?” LOL. Its like being asked when you stopped hitting your wife? What CAN you say to that? Especially with the judge 4’ away?
And the worst part was that Snicky got moved up over Valor… Now, Snicky was a nice looking horse and probably deserved to move up over Valor, but it made me crazy that the judge would switch us after that comment of Marie’s.
Oh well. Life is not as much fun without characters like Marie around…
These were the owners of the ponies when I was showing with/against them:
Prim ‘n Proper: Deborah (Debbie) Bonwit Cahn
Thorwell: Karen Nolte
Rebel: Judy Korn
Hot Shot Kid: Terry Rudd, then Susie Rudd
Rommel: Betsy Snyder (my sister)
Neat n’ Tidy: James Hulick, then Gail Hulick
Flying Mouse: Jane Leasure
Chimney Sweep: Cindy Weiner
Wizard of Oz: Nancy & Susan Burr, owners. Puddy Jones, rider.
Highfield’s Town & County: Barbara Ulrichson, followed by Debbie Wolfe
Chantilly: Waverly Farm, then Syndy Paul
Squeaky: Syndy Paul
Midget: Nancy Baroody, then Syndy Paul
Driftwood: Gail Hulick, then Syndy Paul
All of the above except Thorwell, Neat n’ Tidy, Flying Mouse, and Wizard were at the barn where I rode, All Around Farm in Gwynedd Valley, PA with Junie Kulp.
brilyntrip,
Were you thinking of San Felipe (Rodney’s grey)? One of my all time favorite memories is watching that horse GALLOP down to the last fence in the hunter classic they used to have at Upperville. Why on earth did they stop having that class? The place used to be packed for it!
I lived across the street from the main house at Tanrakin Farm from 1965 until '71 when I went to college. My father still lives there, and I will be there for Christmas. Before we got horses of out own, my sister and I used to “help” the grooms turn out and bring in the retirees.
In that time period (65 - 71), Buddy Brown lived in South Salem, and was riding Mrs. Waller’s ponies, in Bedford, for at least 3 years. We used to see him hacking them down the road. I have pictures of him riding them in a local show, and we went into NYC to see him ride them in the Garden, the last year that they had ponies at the “old” Garden.
I am afraid I don’t remember the names of the ponies he rode. And I don’t know how it fit into the chronology of the other horses and ponies he rode. (What years were the ones you mentioned?) And I don’t remember the names of the riders before and after him.
A few years ago, I had a conversation with one of the grooms about Buddy Brown, and how devastated Mrs. Waller was about his even indirect involvement (through his wife) in the insurance scandal.
Do the Hitchcock Woods still exist? Still hunt there?
We hunted in Camden, but I took kids down to ride there several times when I had a barn in Columbia. Beautiful!!
Yes, isn’t this thread fun??? Let’s keep it going forever!!! There are always newbies to the Board to add their memories…
Pollyanna and Menlo sound right. I also want to say “Welland Valley Early Bird”, but I think she may have been a brood mare (Pollyanna’s dam maybe) rather than a performance pony.
Buddy did show the ponies as well as schooling at the farm, maybe at the same time as his own ponies? I would say 67-69 as my best guess at the time frame.
If I see Mrs. Waller at Christmas I’ll ask.
In another post - Mrs duPont had the Liseter (sp?)ponies (in PA or Del). The Farnley ponies were bred (in VA) by the first Mrs. Mackay-Smith. She remarried, but I can never remember her new name.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
