Burbank, California Horse Owners in the Los Angeles County Horseman's Directory Illustrated, 1949-1950 Edition

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For most of the 20th century, Southern California was a very horsey place.

The 1949-1950 edition of the Los Angeles County Horseman's Survey and Directory was an important publication that underscores just how many people owned, rode, and bred horses here in the post-World War II era. 

For example, in the city of Burbank alone, the Survey and Directory lists more than 300 people who owned and/or bred horses. 

My copy of the book came from the estate of Monrovia/Duarte horse rancher Merle Little. It turned up on eBay a few years ago, where the seller  in Pennsylvania -- improbably -- had found it, along with dozens of Merle's Morgan horse magazines -- at a barn sale. 

When I saw the eBay listing, I pounced.

The Survey and Directory was published by Frederick C. "Rick" Knowles. Merle saved a copy of his fold-out business card, probably printed before the book was published. 

I don't have much information about Rick Knowles. Sometime after the end of World War II, he had relocated from Michigan to San Diego County. In 1947, the Escondido Daily Times-Advocate newspaper reported on his establishment of an Arabian horse ranch, and Knowles' starting an afterschool riding program for youth.  In 1948, he co-published the San Diego County Saddle Horse & Stallion Owners Directory with Edward R. Forbes.

We see Knowles advertising himself as the owner of the Kellogg-bred Arabian stallion TARIK 932 (Ferdin x Treyf, by *Nasik), stabled first in Poway, then Escondido, and later at Val-Dav Ranch in Reseda. 

The 1949-1950 Los Angeles County Horseman's Survey and Directory listed the names and addresses of more than 4,000 Los Angeles County private horse owners, along with information about what breeds of horses they owned. The addresses were listed alphabetically by city, starting with Alhambra and ending with Woodland Hills. 

Knowles estimated that there were more than 75,000 horses in LA County at the time. 73 percent of them were not registered; 12 percent were classified as "pure bred," and 15 percent of them were registered in one or more recognized Stud Books. 

Here are the horse breed abbreviations used in the book, using the initials of breed registries. Unregistered horses, which Knowles noted made up about 75 percent of the horses in LA County at the time, are listed as "PH -- Pleasure Horse" and "Stk. H -- Stock Horse."

AAHC -- Albino

ASHBA -- American Saddlebred

AHC -- Arabian

AHHS -- Hackney

MHC -- Morgan

PHA and PHBA -- Palomino

PHS -- Pinto

PH -- Pleasure Horse 

AQHA -- Quarter Horse

Stk. H -- Stock Horse

TWHBA -- Tennessee Walking Horse

TB -- Thoroughbred

Since the book at 212 pages would be too long to copy in one blog post, this one will highlight horse owners in Burbank, California. 

                     

Knowles had taken a survey of Los Angeles County horse owners, and found that "82 percent keep and maintain their stables strictly for their own pleasure and recreation. The remaining 18 percent are breeders of registered stock, who supply the ever increasing demands for quality stock, both for pleasure and show."
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Here's more information on the Survey and Directory, in one of my previous blog posts:

https://californiahorsehistory.blogspot.com/2023/09/from-los-angeles-county-horsemans.html