I’m getting nostalgic for the good old days, like a month ago, when I actually went to a horse show B.P (before pandemic)–as opposed to simply looking at the “virtual” competitions that have blossomed on-line.
But a surprise package that came in the mail recently from one of my readers, Ann Wilson, enabled me to take a big step back and visit a completely different equestrian era in New Jersey. She sent along 1949 programs–in pristine condition, I might add–from the Rock Spring Charity Show at the Rock Spring Riding Club in West Orange and the Montclair Horse Show at the Montclair Riding Club. They ran during a period of equestrian growth and revival, as shows regained their footing following mass cancellations (sound familiar?) during World War II.
It was a time with far less prize money, if there was any; when trophies, ribbons and recognition were enough for most of those competing. Though often covered by newspapers as a social event, the equestrian sport that appeared far less sophisticated than it is today was no less hotly contested, The inherent joy of taking part made it meaningful for those involved, because that was the biggest payoff 16 years prior to the first U.S. outdoor European-style show jumping grand prix held in Cleveland.
Both of these Essex County shows, now long gone, were well before my time. Even so, I recognized some of the names in the programs, most notably those of Nancy Jane Imboden, who went on to win the AHSA (now USEF) Hunt Seat Medal finals later that year; Gen. Alex Rodzianko, a Russian émigré who rode with Capt. Federico Caprilli, “the father of the modern forward seat;” Show Jumping Hall of Fame member Johnny Bell (McLain Street) and Gerry Gearhart. (I remember well the Gearhart Chevrolet Stable of saddlebreds.) I saw John Y.G. Walker’s name listed on the board of the Montclair show. He was a key figure at the National Horse Show, where his son, John Y.G. Walker III, now is the first vice president.
Frank Chapot (whom Ann referred to as “Frankie” when she wrote to me), took part in both competitions. A teenage Frank was aboard the lovely dapple gray Chado, the horse after whom his farm was named.
The late U.S. individual Olympic show jumping gold medalist Bill Steinkraus used to call Frank “Chado” as a nickname. Frank’s widow, Mary, and daughter, Laura, still run Chado Farms in Neshanic Station, and another daughter, Wendy Chapot Nunn, rides as an amateur. A multi-medal Olympian and U.S. show jumping team coach, Frank died in 2016 at the age of 84.
Ann recounted, “I had been a fan of Frank Chapot since my first years at Watchung (the Union County Park Commission stable that was then in Summit), where he first rode.
Frank Chapot at Maclay presentation, 1947 National Horse Show. (Photo by Ann Wilson)
“I was thrilled when he won the (ASPCA) Maclay at the Garden (in 1947) and made sure I was in the ring to take a photo of the presentation.” I wonder how she got the candid shot; they were quite strict in terms of who could be in the ring for presentations more than two decades later, during the years I covered the show there.
The Montclair program (nearly every show had a program in those days) also included some rather quaint ads, such as a full page for Hahne’s department store, a brand discontinued in 1988, and Doops, an East Orange shop touting “beautiful furs, gowns, coats, suits, millinery.” I flipped a page and saw Kauffman Saddlery was offering “riding needs for all the family” with “show habits” for $55, breeches for $5.95 (if only!) and a Pariani saddle at $140.
Shows today, are of course, totally altered from how they were presented in the years just after World War II. When I asked about the differences she has witnessed, Ann, who became interested in horses after riding at camp in 1943, pointed out there have been “vast changes in popularity of different breeds.”
The evidence is the type of competition offered at the 1949 shows, from Walking Horses to bareback horsemanship and lots of gaited classes. Skipper Schroeder won both the hunt seat and saddle seat titles at Rock Spring, which in itself tells you how different times were then from the current age of equestrian specialization. (In 1941, Bill Steinkraus won the finals of both the saddle seat Good Hands equitation championship and the hunt seat Maclay at the National Horse Show in Madison Square Garden.)
Ann recalled that for the jumping, “Back in the ‘40s, one saw all breeds winning. Then for years, the best jumpers were thoroughbreds and now successful jumpers descend from various European breeds.”
Barbara Rankin on Chesty and Ann Wilson on Baby, right, at Watchung in June 1945.
It was also a different culture. Female riders listed in the programs were respectfully referred to as Mrs. or Miss, while the men generally had a Mr. before their names; the American Horse Shows Association application blank in the programs offered a senior membership for $5 (now it’s $80, but with a lot more benefits), while the Rock Spring booklet advised that all exhibitors were invited to a party at the Rock Spring Corral Inn after Saturday’s show. You could come in your riding clothes for parties like that, but for others, they often were dressy affairs.
Among those listed as competitors in Rock spring’s Open 3-Gaited class was Julius Glaser, who owned the Hanover Farm Stables on Route 10 in Whippany, where Sullivan Davis was the trainer.
Ann, a lifelong resident of Maplewood, recalled, “I went to the stable there and eventually Dave (as he was called) taught me to ride, to post at the trot and ride at the canter, in my case, a small miracle. He was the perfect instructor, very patient.”
Ann Wilson on Stretch at Triple Lake Ranch in Roxbury during the late 1940s.
Dave is best known in the hunter/jumper world as the trainer who gave a good foundation to the show jumping Leone brothers, but he was much admired in the saddle horse world and also trained Morgans and Arabians. In fact, he could train an equine of any description.
He schooled Ann well, so that during the 1940s, she rode at Triple Lake Ranch in Succasunna (a part of Roxbury), where people from New York would spend weekends.
“Because the guests would always get their choice of horses, I would be obliged to ride those which were difficult and control them with light hands. It was good experience for me,” she said.
Thanks for the programs and photos, Ann. I loved spending a few minutes visiting a place where no one had ever heard of Covid-19 and social distancing, or for that matter, $5,000 saddles and jumpers selling for millions of dollars. I’m know there are more than a few of you still out there who were around for those years.
It seems like a simpler time, though I realize folks living then were dealing with their own brands of complexities, but it’s still fun for those who are house-bound today to take their minds off the current situation and get a peek at how things used to be.
