Tournament of Roses Equine History: Miss Venice Hess

As I write, it's New Year's Eve 2025, and the weather is conducive to staying indoors. Why not search for a bit of lost Tournament of Roses Parade equine history?

People almost always focus on the flower-covered floats in the annual New Year's parade in Pasadena, and rightly so. But equestrian units have always been a big part of the parade as well.  

It isn't uncommon for the same equestrian to take part in several Rose Parades over the years, even if they appear with different horses. Such is the case of Venice Ada Hess (1889-1930), who lived in Pasadena. 

Miss Venice Hess, as she was often called in the local papers, was more than the average turn-of-the-20th-century young woman. Like many girls, she studied art and music. But her interests demonstrate she was not content to be an average female.

Newspapers all over the country carried the story in 1909, when the 19-year-old Venice completed a course for auto mechanics and became the first licensed professional chauffeur in California. 

Michael E. James' 2oo5 book The Conspiracy of the Good : Civil Rights and the Struggle for Community in Two American Cities, 1875-2000 contains the story of Labor Day events in Pasadena in 1909. The day's events included a "Ladies Nail Driving Contest," a "Fifty Yard Dash for Young Ladies," and a "Ladies Baseball Throwing Contest." All three were won by Venice Hess.

In 1911, Venice played a cornet solo, "God Save Our Country," at a women's suffrage event in Pasadena attended by close to 1000 people. Later in life, she invented a lawn sprinkler and applied for a patent. 

We first see Venice reported as a Rose Parade participant in 1908. Note that she's riding astride, rather than sidesaddle. 

In 1909, Venice dressed as a herald playing a horn while riding an unnamed gray horse wearing flowers. We see her in the photograph at the top of this post, and below. (The Los Angeles Times misspelled her first name "Veince" in its photo coverage of the parade.) 

Los Angeles Times, January 2, 1909

The 1911 Tournament of Roses Parade saw Venice winning a prize for portraying "California," riding a gray horse and driving a dark horse. She carried a golden cornucopia filled with flowers. 

Next we see another example of horses that are obviously not purebred Arabian horses, being referred to as such. In 1913, the people lining Colorado Boulevard on New Year's Day saw Venice driving "a gaily decorated chariot" in the Tournament of Roses Parade. "In the garb of Minerva [the Roman goddess of wisdom, the arts, intellect, and other things], this entrant, with a wealth of golden hair and delicate beauty, made a striking figure. The chariot, drawing by a span of pure-blooded Arabian horses, which showed careful grooming and training, was gaily decorated with hundreds of rose buds and flowers."

Pasadena Star, 1/1/1913

It's important to remember that, during this era before most Americans had ever seen a "pure-blooded Arabian horse" in person, many kinds of horses were wrongly identified as "Arabians" in circuses, parades, and theatrical events. That was the case here, because a photograph from a 1913 Tournament of Roses publication shows us that Venice's chariot horses had spots on their hindquarters like blanket Appaloosas.

There were only about a dozen living registered purebred Arabians in California in 1913, and these spotted horses were not among them. If they were part-Arabian, to the best of my knowledge no record of their names or parentage exists. 

Venice's later life seems to have been not entirely happy. Newspaper accounts and online genealogy websites show that she married a musician whose life was a series of ups and downs, including several legal battles. The 1920 census shows that she had three children within four years, and apparently separated from her husband in the late 1920s. Her health seems to have failed, since she died at age 40 as an "inmate" of the Pisgah Home, a sanitarium operated by a religious community that emphasized service to the poor and social action, in Highland Park.

I choose to remember Venice in her heyday, dressed in costumes made by her mother, decked out in fresh flowers along with her horses, making those earlier years of the Tournament of Roses Parade that much more special.

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Many thanks to equine historian extraordinaire Dolores "Dee" Adkins for showing me a photo of Venice Hess on horseback, which started my search for information for this post. 

 

Christmas Greetings from the Kelloggs, 1935

It is not uncommon for people to share photographs of their animals when sending holiday greetings. American cereal magnate and Arabian horse breeder W. K. Kellogg and his wife, Dr. Carrie Staines Kellogg, once sent out a Christmas card featuring a painting whose creator we don't usually associate with equine portraits, artist and banker George McKay.

The card features a 1935 portrait of the Kellogg Arabian mare Shemseh 656 (chestnut 1928, *Nasik x *Rifla) and WKK's German Shepherd dog, Rinson, who was a son of the famous movie dog Rin-Tin-Tin (1918-1932). Rinson was one of a series of German Shepherds owned by Mr. Kellogg. 

A copy of the card is in the collection of the W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library at Cal Poly Pomona.

The verse reads:  

Two friends of man that never fail, 

It matters not how hard the trail; 

They'll stick with you the last long mile,

Contented be with just a smile. 

Shemseh and Rinson were indeed part of the Kellogg "family" of horses and other animals at the Kellogg Ranch in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

When Shemseh was still a filly, she had already attracted the attention of celebrities and photographers. Here, she poses with champion cowgirl Mabel Strickland in the December 7, 1928 edition of the Los Angeles Times.

Shemseh was shown fairly often throughout Southern California, and became the champion Arabian at the Ninth Annual Los Angeles National Horse Show in 1930. In 1931, she was part of a Kellogg exhibit at a Whittier, California horse show.

Of Shemseh, Arabian horse historian Carol Woodbridge Mulder wrote:

"The very beautiful mare Shemseh was kept at the Kellogg Ranch until she was 8 years old. A chestnut, she was marked with a blaze, stockings on both hind, and a rather small, but noticeable, belly patch. Shemseh was proudly taken to several exhibitions where she did well and was a crowd pleaser. I do not know why this favorite was eventually sold. Her buyer was R. E. Ewell, Walnut Creek, California, but he apparently resold her to Mrs. I. H. Hale of the same town. Shemseh became the dam of five foals and traces into modern lines." (The Crabbet Influence, July-August 1989) 

You can see the white belly patch Carol mentions, in the painting.

In her book The Romance of the Kellogg Ranch, Mary Jane Parkinson details the story of how, in 1927, Mr. Kellogg traded one of his Arabian horses, Ben Hur, for Rinson, from Rin-Tin-Tin's owner Lee Duncan (1892-1960). Ben Hur 513 (*El Bulad x Rhua) was a gray 1923 colt bred by Albert W. Harris.

Ben Hur, Lee Duncan, Rinson, and W. K. Kellogg in the courtyard
of the Kellogg stables, 1927

In 1930, an Associated Press article on Rinson ran in newspapers around the country:

As a child Carol Mulder, whose father worked part-time at the Kellogg Ranch, also had a special connection to Rinson:

"Mr. Kellogg liked to take his current dog with him on his cross-country drives between California and Michigan but he disliked the dog hair which shed off on the way. My mother was a gifted clothing designer and seamstress. One year she was asked to make what she later called a 'suit' for Mr. Kellogg's dog so it could travel with him without shedding hair all over the car. Accordingly, the dog was brought to the home of my parents for the designing and fitting of the suit. My mother, who was frightened of large dogs, had the big German Shepherd stand on top of our dining room table for measurements and fittings. The dog left for Michigan almost encased in a fine, specially-designed suit." (The Crabbet Influence, March-April 1987)

We've seen examples of some of W. K. Kellogg's Arabian horses being used in advertisements. In 1932, Rinson got into the act as well, promoting Dr. Ross' Dog Food in newspaper ads:

The "telegram" in the ad purports to be from W.K. Kellogg in Battle Creek, Michigan, writing to the Dr. Ross' Dog Food company in Southern California:

PLEASE ADVISE NEAREST AGENCY FOR DR. ROSS DOG FOOD STOP RINSON MY VALUABLE POLICE DOG WHO HAS BEEN EATING YOUR DOG FOOD IN CALIFORNIA ALL WINTER AND THRIVING IS NOT DOING SO WELL HERE WITHOUT IT STOP MISSES HIS RATIONS VERY MUCH AND I MUST SECURE ANOTHER SUPPLY AT ONCE 

Rinson took part in at least one dog show. The Battle Creek, Michigan Moon-Journal reported that he would be shown at the Southern Michigan Kennel Club dog show in September 1933.

But who was the artist whose work was reproduced on the greeting card, George C. McKay? 

Newspaper articles describe him as Kellogg's "right-hand man" who later became chairman of the board of Security National Bank in Michigan. He worked his way up in the Kellogg cereal company and, by 1910, was vice president. By 1924, he was Senior VP, Secretary, and Treasurer. 

After leaving Kellogg's in 1936, McKay became chairman of the board of Security National Bank.  He was well-known as a patron of the arts, and as an artist. In October 1969, the Battle Creek, Michigan Enquirer newspaper published a feature story on an exhibit of his work, which mentioned the painting of Shemseh and Rinson.

McKay may have used a 1931 photograph of Shemseh with actress Laura LaPlante as the inspiration for his painting, substituting Mr. Kellogg's dog Rinson for the actress.

 

Ultimately, Mr. Kellogg owned two dogs called Rinson. In 1942, the Battle Creek Enquirer noted this fact:

Businessman and artist George McKay died in 1977 at the age of 96.

And what of Ben Hur, the Kellogg Arabian that Mr. Kellogg traded for Rinson? Newspaper articles like the one above say that he was trained as a movie horse for actress Lina (sometimes spelled Lena) Basquette (1907-1994). I think she may be riding Ben Hur in this Hoot Gibson Western film, Hard Hombre (1931). We see Lina riding a handsome gray horse starting at about 34:58:

__________________

Many thanks to the leadership and staff at the W.K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library, Special Collections, University Library, Cal Poly Pomona, for their assistance during my equine history research.

And special thanks to Carol Woodbridge Mulder, whose careful research, meticulous attention to detail, and delight in telling the stories of the Kellogg Ranch in her writings, continue to educate and edify us all. 

Sources:

Mulder, Carol Woodbridge. "The W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Ranch" in The Crabbet Influence in Arabians Today, 20th Anniversary Issue 1983-2003 & Collectors Volume I (Special 3rd Edition Reprint). Battle Ground, WA: Silver Monarch Publishing, 2004.

Parkinson, Mary Jane. The Romance of the Kellogg Ranch: A Celebration of the Kellogg/Cal Poly Pomona Arabian Horses, 1925-2000. Pomona, California: W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Center, 2001.

____________

It would be hard to overstate just how important Rin-Tin-Tin was in the entertainment world back in his day.  Here's his Wikipedia entry:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rin_Tin_Tin

Here is a link to one of his early silent films, Where the North Begins (1923):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X5oa8SdgMQ

Rin-Tin-Tin's owner/trainer, Lee Duncan:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/113897454/leland_leroy-duncan

YouTube has a copy of Hard Hombre. in which we may see the Kellogg Arabian Ben Hur, here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lJIrYxKw3k

Lina (or Lena) Basquette's biography is here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lina_Basquette

Lina Basquette was the half-sister of dance legend Marge Champion, and the widow of Sam Warner, one of the Warner Brothers of Hollywood fame. A long version of her obituary recounts the story that Lina once fought back against an overly aggressive German superfan by kicking him in the groin and getting away from him as fast as she could. His name was Adolf Hitler. 

"The International Ambassadress of Good Will for the Arabian Horse": Sue Ane Langdon

Actress and Arabian horse "ambassadress" Sue Ane Langdon
and her Arabian mare Suja, in 1973.

This post is one in a short series about the history of Arabian horses and their owners in the small community of Hidden Hills, California.

I keep an ongoing search for estate sales in my area that feature horse-related items. The generations before us, who lived with horses as a big part of their daily lives, are passing away or moving to smaller places, where there really isn't room for all of the souvenirs of their life with horses and ponies. 

(This is a conundrum that many families and historians who study contemporary equine history are having to grapple with.) 

I go to these sales to see what kind of clues I can find, that demonstrate the relationship between the people who came before me and their horses. Then I can write their stories for this blog, and, when it's appropriate, try to find a public collection like a local history museum, library, or other civic location that can safely store the materials because they align with the organization's mission.

I do have some mixed feelings about these estate sales. I can't save every piece of horse memorabilia these good folks kept; I simply don't have room at home, and not all the photos, letters, trophies, ribbons, magazines, tack, and horse-related decorative items would be appropriate for a public collection. But there are usually a few things that simply do not belong at an antique mall, a flea market, or a swap meet, because in such settings they usually lose their context. 

Back in 2023, I came across an ad for a "living estate sale" that featured items owned by Golden Globe Award-winning actress and horsewoman Sue Ane Langdon, who was born in 1936. (That's how she spelled her name, but you'll often see it spelled "Sue Ann.") 

The sale was at a condominium in the city of Calabasas. Much of the sale focused on clothing, furniture, and household items, but I was able to obtain a few things that related to Sue Ane's life with Arabian horses. One significant item was this letter from Richard Newman, the president of the International Arabian Horse Association (as it was known back then).

Chipped and termite-nibbled, the letter is dated November 29, 1966:

Miss Sue Ann [sic] Langdon

Southern California Arabian Horse Club

Pomona, California

Dear Sue Ann:

After seeing the marvelous publicity you gained for the Arabian breed on your guest appearance with Johnny Carson [Tonight Show,  November 24, 1966) on Thanksgiving night, may I offer you the honorary appointment as "International Ambassadress of Good Will for the Arabian Horse",

Please keep up your fine work in behalf of the breed for it is greatly appreciated by the Officers, Director and Members of International.

Cordially,

RICHARD E. NEWMAN, President

She saved the letter, for all those years. It's in an archival folder in my office now, and I will find a permanent place for it in an appropriate public collection. 

Arabian Horse World magazine followed up on Sue Ane's story with a feature in its July 1973 issue. The article said that meeting the legendary Kellogg Arabian stallion Ferseyn at Frisco Mari's ranch led Sue Ane and Jack to fall in love with Arabian horses.  

They called their ranch in Hidden Hills, on the west end of Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley, Sujac Arabians. 

(Interestingly, the article says that Sue Ane became "ambassadress" in 1970, whereas the letter asking her to accept the title is dated four years earlier.)

One of Sue Ane and Jack Emrek's best-known Arabians was the mare SUJA++ 27946 (Farlowa x Tezala, by Alyf). Suja was foaled in 1964 at Cal Poly Pomona, located on the famous Kellogg Ranch property. 

Suja++. Photo via Arabian Horse DataSource. 

Mary Jane Parkinson documented Suja's early story in her classic book Romance of the Kellogg Ranch.

Actress Terry Moore, Suja, Sue Ane Langdon,
and legendary trick roper Montie Montana. 

Parkinson quotes Langdon:

"Cal Poly really was our main introduction to Arabians because we went to see a lot of them there. One year, we saw this cute little bay...[Jack] got her for me as an anniversary present."

And Emrek:

"She was the idea Arabian with the gorgeous head. She was a little thin, but she still had all the good points. I said to myself, 'I'm going to get this horse.'"

Parkinson continues:

The Emreks didn't take their prize home just then. A few months later, they picked her up, named her SUJA (a combining of syllables from their first names), and started her on a "show biz" career. By the late 1960s, SUJA was a seasoned entertainer, having appeared in the Tournament of Roses Parade, the Hollywood Lane Parade, and on a number of TV shows -- The Steve Allen Show, Pet Set [hosted by Betty White]. The Tonight Show, The Merv Griffin Show...and Miss Langdon's series Arnie.

In reminiscing about the sale of SUJA, [ranch manager Norman] Dunn said:

At the time we sold the filly, I thought she was pretty nice. But I think it was several months later when the Emreks picked her up that I new that we shouldn't have sold her. From one standpoint, that is. But from the standpoint of Sue Ane, she and the horse have done a lot for the Arabian breed and for Cal Poly. So when it's all said and done, there was more good done by Sue Ane having her. That filly just kept blossoming. 

Indeed she did. Suja excelled in halter and performance classes, and was awarded the Legion of Merit in 1972. (She's the horse Sue Ane is riding in the cover photo at the top of this page.) 

Another of their well-known horses was JACRADA+ 153708. He was a son of Suja and Gai Parada+++/, by Ferzon. 

Jacrada+.
Photo by Polly Knoll, via Arabian Horse DataSource.

Suja and Jacrada are descendants of some of the most famous Arabian horses of the 20th century, including the greatest horse ever to have lived in Hidden Hills, *Witez II. He deserves a blog post of his own. 

One other special item I saved from the living estate sale was this Monrovia-era Hagen-Renaker large "Zara" Arabian mare, sculpted by Maureen Love. 

The ceramic figurine was in terrible condition when I found her in a box under a table, but I could not leave her there. Like so many other horse lovers, Sue Ane and Jack had kept horse figurines in their home. And my friend Sheryl was able to restore her to her former glory.

She's now in my collection, and she isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Sue Ane and Jack moved from their horse property in Hidden Hills in the early 2000s, and Jack passed away in 2010. Sue Ane reportedly lives in retirement in an undisclosed location. And that's fine. 

When their original owners no longer need or have space for the artifacts and photographs of their horses, and their correspondence relating to the horses, we may not be able to save and conserve them all. But we do need to try to document the importance of those horses and the people who loved them, because they made up such an important part of American culture during their lifetimes.

___

Here's Sue Ane's Wikipedia entry: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_Ane_Langdon

 

Chasing the Truth: California Horse Artist Barbara L. Chase-Beekman

Certain images in this post are provided under the Fair Use provision in Section 107 of the United States Copyright Act. "Fair Use" specifically allows for the use of copyrighted materials for educational purposes only.

A portrait of the Morgan stallion Senor Morgan, painted by Barbara L. Chase-Beekman of Duarte, California, owned by Merle Little of Monrovia, California. 

If you've spent much time watching Antiques Roadshow on public television in the US, you have probably seen the uncomfortable situation where a well-meaning person brings their family's treasure to the Roadshow for appraisal. 

Let's say it's a painting. The Roadshow guest inherited it from her grandmother. Grandma got it from her own father. Great-Grandpa thought the painting was by a famous artist and worth a lot of money, and that story had been passed down the family line for generations.

But the appraiser tells the guest that -- even though it's a really nice painting -- sadly, their "priceless" work of art was not by the famous artist; in fact, it was by a lesser-known or even unknown artist. The subject matter is right, but the artist's style is wrong. And the artist's signature is different. The sadder-but-wiser guest goes home with their painting ("We still like it!") that is only worth several hundred, instead of many thousands, of dollars.  

That brings me to the subject of 2oth century equine art. What do you do if you have a painting of a horse and you're not sure who painted it?  The person you bought it from told you it was by a famous artist, and you trusted the seller to have done their homework. You could consult an art dealer or appraiser, but if they don't specialize in equine art, they may have to rely on the vortex that is the Internet Image Search to guess the artist's name. 

I'd suggest that if your painting is of a horse -- ask a bunch of horsey people to weigh in. You can join a Facebook group like Vintage Horse Art, and ask the devout amateur horse enthusiasts there. (I'll put a link at the end of this post.) We were the horse-crazy kids who grew up in the 2oth century, and some of us knew the equine artists working then -- or we can refer you to someone who might know and not charge you to identify the artist's name.

It is a challenge! There were so many good horse artists during the 20th century, it can be difficult to keep track of which ones are which -- even when the artist signed their paintings. 

And sometimes a well-known artist is given credit for the work of a lesser-known artist. 

A good case in point is that of artist "chase," Barbara L. Chase-Beekman (1923-2002) of Duarte, California. She was well known regionally for her portraits of horses and dogs, but never seems to have been well-recognized outside California. The fact that she was a woman may have also biased some people against treating her seriously as an artist, even though many of the best horse artists of the 20th century were women.

Monrovia News-Post, 2/3/1969

During the 1960s, the Monrovia News-Post reported several times on Barbara's career. (The city of Monrovia is right next door to the city of Duarte.)  

Monrovia News-Post, 6/11/1962

Her family members told me Barbara was self-taught. Typical of its era, the paper describes her as "also a housewife and mother."  Over the years, Barbara's list of clients expanded to horses in Hollywood and on Southern California racetracks. 

Monrovia News-Post, 11/14/1963.
And yes, it's spelled "My Friend Flicka" with a "k."

Monrovia News-Post, 2/12/1969. I'm not sure if the paper got the names of the artists in the correct order. The horse portrait on the right is one of Barbara L. Chase-Beekman's.

Barbara L. Chase-Beekman signed her work "chase" in lower-case, script letters, as she did in the portraits of Senor Morgan above, and Lippitt Morman below. 

The tail on the end of the "e" of "chase" is extended to the right, and trails downward. Friends and members of her family have confirmed this for me, showing me photographs of her art they own.

A portrait of the Morgan stallion Lippitt Morman, painted by Barbara L. Chase-Beekman, owned by Merle Little of Monrovia, California. 

Barbara L. Chase-Beekman signed her paintings of horses with the simple word "chase" in lowercase script letters. The tail of the letter "e" at the end, trails off to the right and down. 

 

Barbara painted this exquisite portrait of a newborn foal for a friend. (Image used with permission.) 

Again, we see the chase signature featuring lowercase script letters and the extended letter "e" at the end. 

Now, knowing how she signed her work, we can go online and see that Barbara's work sometimes has been wrongly attributed to an internationally known (male) artist, Edward L. "Ned" Chase of New York (1884-1965).  

Ned Chase was famous enough to have his own Wikipedia entry. (I'll put the link at the end of this post.) Born in Wisconsin, raised in Missouri, Ned moved to New York to study art. He adopted a bohemian lifestyle, spending  time with the likes of Georgia O'Keefe and Man Ray.

Ned Chase is known for art in a variety of styles including fanciful illustrations, like these creatures in J. Walter McSpadden's 1909 book The Land of Nod.

Ned's style evolved over time. He wrote and illustrated Intelligent Drawing: An Approach for the Student, published in 1944.

Later in his life, Ned created portraits of horses in a "classical" style, signing his lithographs "Edward L. Chase."  The artist's signature is in script, with the "C" in "Chase" upper case.

Ned may be best known to contemporary horse enthusiasts as the illustrator of the children's book The Big Book of Horses (Grossett & Dunlap, New York, 1951).  

Source: eBay

Ned died in Woodstock, New York, in 1965. Biographies often mention that his grandson is actor/writer/comedian Chevy Chase.

I found several examples on the Internet of horse portraits signed simply "chase" by Barbara L. Chase-Beekman, identified as being by the internationally-known Ned Chase. An oil painting which sold in 2024 showed a Thoroughbred race horse on the track.  The signature was "chase" alone, in lowercase script, no "Edward L."  And yet it was sold as being by Ned Chase. I'm sure the sellers had no clue that Barbara was actually the artist.

I found another example online: a painting of two horses wearing halters with metal nameplates; their names were clearly spelled out on the canvas. Ned Chase died in 1965, but the Thoroughbreds in the painting were not foaled until 1972 and 1973! So he could not possibly have painted them. (A little online research into the horse names could have cleared that up easily.)

I hope this post can help clarify that there were indeed (at least) two artists named Chase who painted horses in the 20th century, and help the owners and resellers of Barbara L. Chase-Beekman's equine art correctly identify her work in the future! 

That way, the answer to the question, "Which artists named Chase painted horses?" will include the name Barbara L. Chase-Beekman, who signed her art "chase." 

________

Sidebar: Why the mix-up between the two artists? I can think of several reasons:

-- Primarily, lack of information on the Internet about Barbara L. Chase-Beekman. Her name appears in Southern California newspapers, but you would have to know where to look to find it. (Fortunately, I've done enough California horse history research to make an educated guess as to where to find it.) If you just did an online search for "horse artists named Chase," at or near the top of the list would be Ned Chase, and since he was a painter, you might assume this famous guy painted your horse picture. 

-- Sloppy research. The sellers of a painting might assume that "chase" meant Edward L. Chase without bothering to see whether the signatures matched or were even close. While I always caution people strongly against relying on machines to do all their thinking for them, I ran an online search with a photo of Barbara's signature, asking if it was Edward L. Chase's signature, and the search results gave me a conclusive "NO."

-- Greed and/or wishful thinking. If you saw Barbara's "chase" signature on your horse painting, you would probably want it to be, and even assume it was, by the famous Ned Chase, without thinking any further about it. 

-- Gender bias in the post-World War II era. Women artists are often overlooked and undervalued (also underpaid!) in patriarchal society. In my research, I have noted that other equine artists like Hildred Goodwine and Angie Draper were often characterized as wives and mothers who also happened to paint, as opposed to painters who happened to be married with kids. 

Newspapers and magazines often commented on their physical appearance, as was common in that era; Draper, for example, was described as a "pretty, brown-eyed, left-handed painter" in a Tampa newspaper article who was happy to earn a few extra dollars for her family through her "hobby" of painting. Hildred Goodwine, who signed her work "H. Goodwine," once went to accept an award for her painting at an art show and the judges looked around for a male artist -- they couldn't believe a woman had painted a horse so well. 

But with time and additional exposure, Angie Draper's portraits of Thoroughbreds drew the attention of author Walter Farley, and she illustrated the reprints of his "Black Stallion" book series in 1961. Hildred Goodwine was widowed in the 1960s and supported herself and her children through taking painting commissions and networking with internationally-known cowboy artists. Her work appeared on the covers of nationally distributed horse magazines and, famously, dozens and dozens of her paintings were issued as greeting cards by Leanin' Tree. 

Unfortunately, it seems Barbara L. Chase-Beekman did not get such a break that would have increased her national exposure. 

_____

Here's Ned Chase's Wikipedia entry:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Leigh_Chase

Here's the link for the Facebook group Vintage Horse Art:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1288971047779681