Lost, But Now Found: Horse Magazines and Books

Equine history research takes a great deal of diligence, sometimes aided by more than a little luck. Or -- if you believe that "coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous" -- a great deal of grace.

Readers of this blog may recall that, a couple of years ago, I was given a substantial amount of horse history research material by the family of the late Monrovia/Duarte, California horse rancher Merle H. Little (1906-1975). There were hundreds of photographs, original horse pedigrees, a bit of correspondence, some artwork, even a few horse show trophies. They all shed light on just how important horses were in local communities in the 1900s.

Merle Little on his Morgan stallion, Lippitt Morman, in 1954

But, to my surprise, there were very few horse magazines, which would have been a "given" on most mid-20th century horse ranches. In California, they might have included copies of Western Livestock Journal, Western Horseman, and perhaps some of the breed-specific magazines that proliferated after World War II.

I had long wondered what sorts of magazines he would have subscribed to, and kept; which ones were important to him during the heyday of his El Rancho Poco. Ah, well, I thought. Someone must have given away any magazines Merle saved, or sold them, or thrown them out years ago.

Last week I found out where his magazine collection ended up. And providentially, they're now here in my research office. 

Occasionally just to see what's out there, I do a random search for "horse" on eBay. (I keep another search for "horse" stuff running on one of the estate sale websites.) Most equine history researchers probably don't spend much time doing this, but since my interest lies mostly in horses during the mid-20th century, I sometimes see things of interest. The problem is, there are hundreds of thousands of used items listed under "horse" at any given time.

In last week's search, I stumbled upon a couple of copies of The Morgan Horse magazine from the mid-1940s. I don't often see these for sale, and started scrolling through the photos in the listing. When I got to a picture that showed the previous owner's address, I hit the "Buy It Now" button so fast my computer got whiplash. 

Here was one of Merle Little's "lost" horse magazines! It was the August 1946 issue of The Morgan Horse, the official publication of the Morgan Horse Association. Merle had saved it, perhaps in part because it featured a story on the most recent version of the famous Hundred-Mile Trail Ride in Vermont, won that year by a Morgan stallion named Lippitt Morman. 

I contacted the seller to ask if they had any more items that may have once belonged to Merle Little. A wooden wine crate full of them, the seller said. And here's the most strange part of all: the seller had bought the crate full of Merle's magazines by leaving a bid on the lot at an auction house... 

...In rural Pennsylvania. Almost 2700 miles from Monrovia, California. 

The wine crate bore a date of 1980, so the magazines were put in there sometime after Merle passed away in 1975.  

I ended up buying the whole lot of magazines (though not the wooden crate). There are well over 100 of them. Most of them are old back issues of The Morgan Horse magazine. These are very early issues, from the mid-1940s.

Most are from the late 1940s through early 1960s.

 

I was very excited to see that the lot of magazines included some I have never seen in person before: copies of The Vermont Horse and Bridle Trail Bulletin. 

The second issue from the right on the top row has a cover photo of Lippitt Morman, when he won the 100-Mile Ride in 1946. It's the same photo on the back of the issue of The Morgan Horse at the top of this post. Lippitt Morman was sold by W. E. LeBoeuf to California Morgan rancher Roland Hill, who then sold him to Merle Little!

There were also four issues of Western Livestock Journal...

...and a copy of an interesting 1940 publication called The Thoroughbred in California. 

Merle had also saved copies of regional horse owner directories from Los Angeles and San Diego Counties, dating back to 1949-50.

Where Merle Little's horse magazines were for 48 years, and how they got all the way from California to Pennsylvania, will probably always be a mystery.

I think some things are "meant" to come home, though, to a place where they can be useful again, and be enjoyed and appreciated by people who know their history. I look forward to sharing more images and stories from these vintage publications soon.