From the Merle Little Archive: Smaller Southern California Horse Shows in the 1930s and 1940s

Perusing the scrapbook and photographs compiled by Monrovia/Duarte (San Gabriel Valley) horse rancher Merle H. Little during the 1930s and '40s, I see examples of how horses and horse shows were used to build community connectedness in Southern California during the Great Depression. 

I can also trace the evolution of horse show class lists during that period of time, by comparing what I find in the scrapbook and photo albums with my other equine history sources for the period. It goes without saying that the kinds of classes offered at horse shows were connected to the organizers and participants. During the Great Depression, as always, one had to have a certain amount of disposable income to keep a horse, and the ability to transport it to shows. There were many riding clubs, but their events may have skewed more towards youth gymkhanas, trail rides, and rodeos.  And during that era the various horse breed registries were either not yet formed or not active in sponsoring shows for their members in California, as they were in the decades following World War II.

Merle saved programs from horse shows, rodeos, and other equine events in which he participated with his Pinto and Morgan horses. They provide insight into smaller horse shows, the details of which may not have made it into the local newspapers.

Based on the horse shows that got detailed newspaper coverage back in that day, it seems a lot of them focused primarily on classes I associate with the Eastern and Midwest US, rather than the West: classes for Three- and Five-Gaited saddle horses, fine harness horses and ponies and roadsters, and classes for Hunters and Jumpers. The saddles for these horses can generally be classified as "English" saddles, and the harnesses "fine" as opposed to the heavier "draft horse" harnesses. 

This may be because large horse shows often appeared in the "society" pages of newspapers. Many wealthier people in Southern California rode American Saddlebreds and Thoroughbreds, and drove Saddlebreds, Hackneys, and Hackney and high-stepping Shetland Ponies.

The Los Angeles Times' coverage of the 1930 Los Angeles National Horse Show provides us with an overview of the class list, heavily weighted towards horses wearing English saddles and fine harness; only one class was held for stock horses in Western saddles:

(It's interesting to note that all the photos in the LA Times society section coverage are of young women riders. And despite the fact that most of the under saddle classes are for horses wearing English saddles, three of the photos in the full-page image above show young women next to horses wearing Western tack.)

Long Beach Sun, 21 March 1930

A Long Beach Sun story, also from 1930, describes a horse show with mostly English and fine harness classes, with one stock horse class at the end. Specialty acts in between classes included an exhibit of Arabians from W. K. Kellogg's stables, some gymkhana-type activities, and an exhibition of "bucking" featuring two boys, ages 5 and 6.  

But you can't take the west out of California, and many people -- including children -- learned to ride using Western tack. Newspaper accounts of gymkhanas, even from the 1920s, were illustrated with photos of horses and riders in Western gear; the lists of events included "riding, hurdling, tying, and roping" as well as balloon jousting and egg-and-spoon races. A 1925 benefit gymkhana also featured a polo match.

And there certainly were smaller horse shows being held in the 1930s and '40s that had diverse class offerings of English, Western, and even bareback classes. 

From the Merle H. Little archive

Looking at Merle Little's scrapbook, I see programs from smaller horse shows from the early 1930s in Southern California. These shows featured a wide variety of classes -- almost like a gymkhana combined with hunter/jumper and Saddlebred classes -- at a couple of horse shows that were held for charity or were aimed more at the "average rider" and/or specifically included children. 

From the Merle H. Little archive

One horse show, held in October 1932, was held to benefit the San Gabriel Valley's Unemployed Milk Fund. ("Milk Funds" were operated in the area as far back as 1919, to help undernourished children.)  The class list was quite diverse:

1) Jumpers -- bareback, children 10 years or under. Horsemanship to count 75 percent, performance 25 percent. 

2) Jumpers --to be ridden bareback over three jumps about 3 feet 3 inches by amateurs over 10 years of age. Horsemanship to count 75 percent, performance 25 percent.  

3) Three-Gaited Saddle Horses -- 14.2 hands and over, to be ridden by an amateur 17 years or over. Style, action, and manners to count. 

4) Horsemanship -- children 9 years and under. 

5) Three-Gaited Saddle Ponies -- 14.2 or under. To be shown by children 13 years or under. Style, action, manners, and horsemanship to count. 

6) Jumpers -- open to all

7) Horsemanship -- amateurs, 17 years or over

8) Saddle Ponies -- 44 inches and under, to be shown by child 13 years and under. Style, action, and manners to count.

9) Trail Horses -- to be shown at walk, trot, canter and gallop on a loose rein, by an amateur of any age. General suitability for use on trails only to count.

10) Jumpers -- 14.2 and over. To be shown by amateur, any age, over jumps about 4 feet high.

11) Pony Jumpers -- 14.2 and under. To be shown by child of 13 years of age or under. Jumps about 2 feet 6 inches.

12) Park Hacks -- To be shown by amateur, any age.

Another show, also from October 1932, was sponsored by a group called the "Breakfast Club Rangers" and offered classes that sound more like a gymkhana mixed with a traditional horse show.  (The Breakfast Club and its equestrian members are worthy of a separate blog post.)

From the Merle H. Little archive

The cover of the program says there was no entry fee; ribbons to 4th place; if you don't own a horse, borrow one from a local riding academy.  Some classes were "open" and did not specify what kind of saddle was to be used. To compete in some of the classes, the rider had to be a member of the Breakfast Club. 

The classes were as follows:

1) Parade of Entrants

2) Ham and Egg Race 

3) Children's Event (with a trophy for 1st place)

4) Amateur Five-Gaited Saddle Horse Event

5) Professional Jumping Event

6) Tilting at Rings (amateur, open, at a gallop)

7) Tug of War -- California Riding Stable Team vs. The Breakfast Club Team

8) Professional Five-Gaited Event (trophy donated by Pickwick Riding Academy, Burbank -- "Where Folks Enjoy Riding")

9) Amateur Jumping Event -- no jump over 3' 6"

10) Amateur Stock Horse Event

From the Merle H. Little archive

Another example of  an "English" predominant show comes from Little's scrapbook: the 1933 Pickwick Riding Academy, assisted by Cavalry of California, Horse Show, in Burbank:

Children's Event

Jumping (military academy boys only)

Jumping (amateur only)

Special Event: Display of stock horse with $30,000 saddle (I assume laden with silver)

Three-Gaited (amateur)

Polo Ponies (open)

Five-Gaited (amateur)

Fine Harness

Stock Horse Event ("riders to use only one hand on reins")

Three-Gaited (open)

Five-Gaited (open)

Jumping (open)

His hand-written notes show that Little's tall Pinto horse Thunder placed second in the stock horse event.

From the Merle H. Little archive

It's important to note that a stock horse was not a particular breed back then. Merle also saved a copy of an article from the 4 February 1934 edition of  the Los Angeles Times, written by L. C. Deming. 

Merle Little saved a copy of this 1934 article
from the Los Angeles Times

Deming describes a variety of horses popular in California, including the "cowboy stock horse" -- not a Quarter Horse, but a horse he describes as weighing 750 to 1100 pounds, "short-legged, short-necked, close-coupled with a big barrel, approximating closely the Morgan horse of years ago." Deming also discusses American Saddle Horses (Saddlebreds), Standardbreds, Hackneys, and draft horses including Percherons and Belgians, which Deming says seem to be the most popular in California. 

By the 1940s, however, class lists seemed to be evolving in Southern California horse shows, to include more classes for horses in Western tack, breed-specific halter classes, and even shows just for Arabians, Quarter Horses, Morgans, and Palominos. 

For example, when I look at the edition of Joe Droeger's Here's Who in Horses of the Pacific Coast reporting on shows held in 1944, I see the American Legion Burbank Post 150 Horse Show class list, with more than just one event for horses with Western saddles:

3-Gaited

5-Gaited

Fine Harness

Ponies (harness)

Roadsters

Hunters

Jumpers

Walking Horses

Then we have some events for horses wearing Western Saddles:

Stock Horses

Parade Horses

Trail Horses

Children's Horsemanship (English and Western, separate classes)

And some "Model, In-Hand" classes:

Stallions, American Saddlebred

Stallions, Palomino

Stallions, Pinto

Mares, American Saddlebred

Mares, Palomino

Mares, Pinto 

American Saddlebred colts

American Saddlebred fillies

Other Los Angeles area shows later in 1944 offered similar lineups -- heavy on the English saddle classes with some Western, some children's, and some breed-specific halter classes. Southern California was home to many Palomino and Pinto horses back then, so perhaps they were included because that's what a lot of people rode. Other 1944 shows added purebred Arabian and Quarter Horse halter classes. 

 

"Who sponsored the show?" is also important in reviewing the classes offered. In Droeger's book, we also have the 1944 Long Beach Mounted Patrol Fourth Annual Horse show, with this class list that skews Western in performance:

3-Gaited

5-Gaited

Fine Harness

Polo Ponies

Jumpers

Pinto Stallions

Morgan Stallions

Palomino Stallions

Quarter Horse Stallions

Mares -- all breeds

"Plain" Western

Trail Class

Children's Pleasure

Silver Mounted (western, divided by "men" and "ladies")

Open Parade

Hackamore

Stock Horses

Stake Race

Barrel Race (men and women participating) 

Why the Western focus? I'm guessing it's because the sponsoring Long Beach Mounted Patrol rode Western in parades, and the people they hoped to attract as participants and spectators also rode Western.

Merle Little's Pinto stallion Tesoro 

Merle Little's horses did well at this 1944 show. His Tesoro won the Pinto Stallions class; Sun Down Morgan won the Morgan Stallions class, while Senor Morgan placed fourth.

Merle Little's Morgan stallion Sun Down Morgan

Merle Little's Morgan stallion Senor Morgan

We'll look at more examples of horse shows and other events that Merle and his horses took part in, in future stories in this blog.