Oh, boy. Lol.
Yes, that kid better hope they’re just picking a name out of a hat at random. Lol.
Also, was the guy on the horse somebody famous? He looked like he was about to punch himself in the face when he tried to stop the horse.
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And you just un-aged yourself with that question 
Wagon Train
the Searchers
My Darling Clementine
And a few more…
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Sweet, thanks!
That doesn’t happen to me very often. Lol.
Omg, he was Bert the cop?!? Now I’m going to have to watch the pony commercial again. I totally did not recognize him.
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I’m from Chicago and I did the same. Except our family read the Sun Times, not the Tribune. I also devoured the summer camp ads that were listed in the Sunday New York Times Magazine (and saved money for two years so that I actually got to go to one!).
My parents used to threaten all of us kids that if we misbehaved we would be sent back to Sears, Roebuck & Co.
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So the question is: Would the thoroughbreds have beaten all the nons-, or would the nons- have beaten all the thoroughbreds? I remember that division, too.
Those were the days when folks left a literally blank check with the show secretary and settled up later, because they were entering classes as the day went along. I remember the gate guys and runners going looking among the vans for participants to fill out classes, and the deal was you paid only if you ribboned (or maybe only if you won).
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And western. I had their catalog and would pore over how many books it would take to buy that western saddle I desired.
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Ooo, I feel like that was probably against the rules. Or it certainly should have been!
Which is not the same as someone else offering to pay the entry fee for another person to fill a class. Maybe that was in the fine print in the above scenario. Lol.
I don’t think it was a question of Who woulda beat Who.
WBs were a very new thing in the Hunter ring then.
So if you were showing what was then an off breed - non TB 
- it gave you a chance at more EOY points.
QH, App & the oddball WB.
Oh yeah, the blank check with the office 
& Trainers signing clients up unbeknownst, then clients scratching…
Fun times for the office
We must have passed like Ships in the Night 
I did mostly NIHJA, Lamplight, Ledges, local barns and the occasional B, once Barrington A & (on my own) Fox River Valley charity Event.
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The expectation was that the TBs (who dominated the Hunter divisions) would beat the non-TBs.
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Well, I was showing low levels in Jersey, and at the bigger competitions running results from the judges to the secretary, helping at the in-gate, baby-sitting the tack shop – that sort of thing. Anything to be around horses, even if I wasn’t riding. Sigh. I felt all-powerful dashing about with Ring 2’s results in my hot little hands. That was my favorite assignment.
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I can picture a 10yo Zuzu now… 
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Aww, @JBCool. How I wished to be one of the girls unloading her horses from the vans, then ducking inside to change into those glorious rust breeches and madras jackets. But my parents’ spending priorities were elsewhere, so I soothed myself by watching and guessing who might win each class. I learned how to do what was asked and to be dependable and trustworthy. I marveled at hands-on show mothers juggling 1,000 tasks with skill, enthusiasm and grace – and so early in the morning. Without knowing it, they showed me that girls could do anything.
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Oops 
I meant to reply to @lintesia who said she was from Chgo.
I did some time in show offices & had to grit my teeth. A lot.
Mostly at the parade of Jr’s & Ammys coming in with “My Trainer said” to add or scratch.
Because the Pros wouldn’t do their own dirty work 
@ZuzusPetals I had a non-horsy Mom.
Did not come to shows, afraid of seeing kids fall off. She’d deliver me to the grounds & pick me up after.
Dad had ridden livery in Chgo’s Lincoln Park in the 1920-30s. With his sister. But he was a traveling salesman & often not in town for shows.
Made-do with my Aunt’s hand-me-down black wool huntcoat. No Madras for me 
My breeches were canary cavalry twill with poofy thighs & buttons on the calves (ouch).
I didn’t really show until I was in my 30s, as a rerider. That’s when I did the Regional circuit.
What happened to the outside courss? I was away from horses for a long time (back now) and they disappeared. Why?
I think the “rule” was that if you (the filler) paid for the class you could ride to win. Otherwise… Back in the dark ages when I was a junior, the rules were all written for filling as number of exhibitors that entered the ring. You didn’t even have to really attempt to jump a jump, but could politely circle past it three times (even jumpers were three stops back then). I recall a situation where they needed to fill an AO hunter class and sent in someone’s mom on a borrowed horse, attired in shorts, sneakers, tank top and no helmet, to circle past the first fence. These were also the days when they could excuse you after a major fault (stop or rail) if there were enough rides without a major fault, even in hunters.
Wait, @Peggy. Were you the poster who many years ago witnessed a mother shove a hot dog and bun into her kid’s saddle bag for a hunters appointments (I think that was it?) class? In case the judge inspected for a sandwich that was supposed to be there?
I read it years ago on the board and it was one of the funniest things I’ve seen, ever. Anywhere.
“SANDWICH CASE AND/OR FLASK: (Separate or combined) must contain food and drink. Should not be carried by huntsmen or whippers-in, whether honorary or professional. strong textGentleman carry port, Ladies carry iced tea or sherry. The sandwich should be either turkey or chicken on white bread, crusts removed, cut on the diagonal, and wrapped in wax paper. Butter is optional, no mayonnaise allowed”strong text.
And this is where I’d enter “Judge, you can go ride up a hill” territory and get disqualified bc I’d be a woman carrying port and a veggie/hummus sandwich on 12-grain WITH crusts. Agreed on the wax paper, though.
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That wasn’t me but it does sound hysterical.
My story involved a rider who was excused by the judge after a major fault but kept going, whereupon the announcer asked her to leave with less and less politeness. The judge was also pursuing her on foot. Ultimately, the rider, her husband, and the judge ended up at the back gate where the announcer was and they all got into a huge and profanity-laden argument. The announcer forgot to turn off his mic. Epic.
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Oh, boy. Major oopsie.
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