Myra Moss, Equestrian

Myra Moss with Blaney.

When an equestrian passes away, a bit of equine history goes with them. 

That's why I, and some of my friends in California and across the country, spend time at estate sales searching for traces of these people and the horses they rode and loved. Their stories need to be saved. It's like putting together pieces of a puzzle which, were it ever finished, would show the incredible impact of the horse in America in the mid-twentieth century.  

Myra Moss was a prominent member of Southern California's equestrian community in the years following World War II. I happened to be out of town when the sale of items from her estate was held recently, but a friend was able to attend and secured a number of photographs, magazines, and books for me that can help us piece together some of her story. (Perhaps people who knew Myra will read this and send me information so I can make additions to the story.)

An article by Kay Ringe in the September 1970 edition of Modern Horsewoman magazine, found at the estate sale, tells us that Myra started showing horses when she was nine years old. 

"As a young child, she showed stock horses, then bred and exhibited American Saddle Horses when she was in her early teens. Then her love turned to hunters, and she joined the Flintridge Riding Club in Pasadena, Calif., which is nationally famous for the champion hunters which are trained there and shown by its members...."

The estate sale contained photographs of Myra on her horse Smokey.

On the back of this photo is written
"Smoky -- Shadow Hills Show '48."

Smokey is identified as "Smokey Morgan" in a copy of the Children's Open Amateur 28th Annual Horse Show, April 18, 1953, held at the Flintridge Riding Club, which was also at the estate sale.

On the back of this photo is written "Smoky --
Rose Bowl Riders -- 2nd Parade Horse -- '53."

At some point, Smokey had a colt!

On the back of this photo is written "Smoky & Colt (Rasmoe) -- 2nd Pairs -- '49."

There was also a photo at the estate sale of Myra on an unidentified horse, under Western tack.

I think it might be the same horse as this one, identified as Oscar.

On the back of this photo is written "Oscar -- 1st Jump Class -- Dupee's -- 4th"

I'm not sure which horse this is; there was no information on the back. Myra looks very young in the photo.

The 1950 edition of Here's Who in Horses of the Pacific Coast contained a full-page photo spread of Myra on her horses Country Personality, Hylo Ladd, and Smokey.

Myra rode both three- and five-gaited American Saddlebreds.

This appears to be Myra on Country Personality.

 

Myra and Miss Betsy. 

Myra and Miss Betsy.

Myra and Miss Betsy appeared on the cover of The Amateur Horseman magazine in December 1949.

Myra and Andy's Traveler, a five-gaited Saddlebred.

Myra appeared in the 14 November 1951 edition of the Los Angeles Times:

In March 1955, a photo of Myra on Spring Scene appeared in The National Horseman magazine.

Here is a photo of Myra riding a horse identified as Herod Play in the 5 June 1957 Los Angeles Times:

The 1970 Modern Horsewoman article continued, "Throughout her undergraduate years at Pomona College...Myra continued to show her champion conformation hunters Hylo Ladd, Suggestion, and Blaney."

This is Myra with Hylo Ladd. On the back of the photo is written
 "Ladd, 2nd leg...Corinthian Bowl '52."

When Hylo Ladd retired, a magazine reported on it.

In Myra's estate was this magazine clipping on the retirement of Hylo Ladd: 

"In 1949, he was brought from the Midwest to California by James Scarborough and had already compiled a magnificent record in the hunter division by winning blues throughout the state of Virginia, Madison Square Garden, the hunter championship stake at the 1947 Chicago International, and the hunter championship (points) at Detroit in 1948. This handsome chestnut gelding is by Haphazard, out of Highland Lass, she being a daughter of By Hisself, by Man O'War. He has been owned and exhibited by Myra Moss of San Marino, Calif., since 1951, and during that time, has proved to be one of the greatest hearted horses in the show ring today -- he loves to jump... He won a total of 420 ribbons and 60 trophies during the four years Myra owned and exhibited him. These include 160 firsts... In addition to this, he retired the West Hills Hunt Club Corinthian Bowl in 1951-52, won the first leg on the second, then retired from further competition in that class.... It is good news that he will remain at the Flintridge Riding Club as Myra's pleasure horse....

The article on Myra in Modern Horsewoman continued:

"After college she went to Rome to [do] graduate work in philosophy at the University of Rome, and while there she hunted several times with the oldest hunt in Rome. 

"While she was at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, earning her Ph.D. in philosophy, Myra kept her hunters with Jimmy and Marcia (Mousie) Williams, the top trainers at the Flintridge Riding Club. During the school year Mousie and Jimmy showed Myra's horses. But when summer came, Myra went out on the California horse show circuit with Blaney, an Irish hunter who was brought to the United States by Neil McCarthy of Thoroughbred racing fame...and HiFi, an open jumper. Blaney was the Pacific Coast Hunter & Jumper Association Working Hunter champion in 1968. HiFi, a black open jumper, was the Pacific Hunter & Jumper Association High Point Champion in 1966."

Blaney.

In Myra's estate was a framed letter from Neil McCarthy explaining Blaney's history, now yellowed with age. 

Thanks to digital technology, I was able to make a copy of it more legible.

Myra and Blaney in Modern Horsewoman magazine, September 1970.

Myra and Blaney. I think the handwriting is hers.

Myra and Blaney. Several of the photos in her estate
 had Dymo labels across the lower edge. 

Myra and Blaney.

Myra understood all too well the hazards of riding. She took out this ad in the 1962 issue of Horses magazine. 

Myra saved a copy of The Chronicle of the Horse from December 31, 1954. In it is a photo of Suggestion, ridden by    Dorothy McCloud in Chicago.

Here are some pictures of Myra with Suggestion.

Myra and Suggestion.

There's no information on the back of this photo,
but the rider on the right is Myra. 

On the back of this photo are layout instructions for
National Horseman magazine,
January 1966 issue, page 47,
and the horse's name, Suggestion. 

Myra appeared on the cover and sometimes the inside of late 1960s issues of Club & Sports magazine, published in Beverly Hills. 

Myra and Blaney also appeared in the May 1956 issue of Pasadena Junior League Community News.

At the time the Modern Horsewoman article was written, Myra Moss was married to Dr. John Milburn III of Palo Alto, California.   It continues:

"Myra and her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Roscoe Moss, have owned champion green hunters, champion Cal-bred green hunters, working and conformation hunters and open jumpers for 16 years. For the past two years Myra has been showing her champion conformation hunter Fashion Plate, which was the 1969 Pacific Coast conformation hunter. Now her trainer Jimmy Williams is training and showing her new green hunter State Secret, which was foaled in Africa. State Secret was the first year green working Hunter Handy at the Channel City Horse Show this spring in Santa Barbara. Of course Myra's favorite classes are now the Owner-Amateur Hunter Classes when are so popular in California now. Many of these classes have 70 or more entries, so must be divided. Often Myra teaches at Santa Clara University in the morning, catches a noon plane out of the San Jose airport, and is in the show ring someplace in California by 7 p.m." 

Myra showed Fashion Plate in Oregon.
From the September 1970
issue of Modern Horsewoman magazine.

Myra passed away in 2016, and the estate sale was in 2021. Myra's estate contained many more things that my friend and I could not really afford -- trophies and paintings of her horses. I hope they went to people who will appreciate them and their special history.  

The things I was able to obtain, will be offered to the Special Collections Unit at the Cal Poly Pomona University Library, to be part of their local history focus. (Special Collections is the home of the W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library.)

Myra's obituary appeared on the Claremont McKenna College website:

Myra E. Moss Rolle, a Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Government at CMC, died on July 26 [2016] in San Marino. She was 79.

Moss was a CMC professor of philosophy for 32 years, starting in 1975. She was chair of the department from 1992 to 1995.

She received her B.A. from Pomona College in 1958 and her Ph.D. in Philosophy from Johns Hopkins University in 1965. From 1958-1959, Moss was enrolled in the graduate program in Philosophy at the University of Rome.

Professor Moss began teaching as a junior instructor at Johns Hopkins in 1960 and won a fellowship as a Gilman Scholar the next year. From 1966-1968, she was an assistant professor at San Jose State College.

In September 1968, Professor Moss lectured part-time at Santa Clara University. She became a tenured assistant professor there in 1970. From 1975-82, she taught as an associate professor at Claremont Men’s College (the precursor to CMC).

During the course of her career, Professor Moss contributed scholarly monographs and articles to many publications and authored several books, including Benedetto Croce Reconsidered in 1987 and Mussolini’s Fascist Philosopher: Giovanni Gentile Reconsidered in 2004.

In addition to her work in academe (she was the recipient of a Plato Award for iconic educators), Professor Moss was an outstanding equestrian in her youth, winning many championship trophies and other awards throughout the years. She also enjoyed gardening and raising orchids and was a fervent animal lover, particularly cats.

She is survived by her husband of 32 years, Dr. Andrew F. Rolle, Robert Glass Cleland Professor of American History, Emeritus (1952-1988) at Occidental College in Los Angeles, a brother, George “Buddy” Moss, and several nieces and nephews. Professor Moss met her husband after auditing a class of his at Occidental College.

https://www.cmc.edu/news/myra-moss-cmc-philosophy-professor-dies-at-79

Artist Paul Desmond Brown and the California Polo Hero

This post originally appeared in my other blog, The Model Horse History Project, in April 2018.

Readers of this blog know that my favorite place to search for used model horses, old horse books and magazines, and vintage horse art is at an estate sale.  Members of the Greatest Generation who are passing away or moving to smaller homes lived in a time when the horse was a much larger part of our daily lives. The items they collected and saved reflect the horse's importance. 

So, periodically, I go online and search estate sale listings in my area for certain keywords -- "horse" and "pony"-- and for the names of horse authors and artists, such as "Gladys Brown Edwards," "Sam Savitt," and "Paul Brown."

The search engine is not intuitive. Usually, all I see are estate sale ads with pictures and descriptions of saw horses and two horse-power motors. 

Occasionally I come across a sale that actually has what I'm looking for.

And, at one sale in April 2018, I found far more than I'd hoped.

I couldn't believe it, at first.  The ad listed "Paul Desmond Brown Horse Art." I assumed that someone had collected some of Brown's highly-desirable lithographs of equestrian sports, or perhaps prints of his work, which would certainly have been worth seeing.  I'd never seen anything by Brown at an estate sale. Whether I could afford them or not -- Brown's work is not inexpensive, and the sellers had even researched his middle name -- was another story. 

After standing in line in the pre-dawn mist for a couple of hours, I entered the estate sale home and (after a few minutes' rather hectic searching) spotted a battered-looking art portfolio lying on a sofa.  Inside were not prints, not lithographs, but four pieces of original Paul Desmond Brown Horse Art, showing polo players in action.  Brown's hand-written notes on the lower part of each drawing contained the name "Boeseke."

I didn't even stop to breathe before taking all four to the cashier.  They were very affordable.  I bought them.

When I came up for air, I looked around the sale more carefully.  A couple of tables were covered in sterling silver and silver-plated trophies, some mixing bowl-sized, some small enough to be held in one hand; some with a single name.  The larger, solid silver trophies were inscribed with several names, dates in the 1930s, the name of an equestrian event.  And the name "E.J. Boeseke, Jr." was on all of them.  

In a corner of a room in the back of the house were a handful of horse show ribbons and a dusty framed photo of a tall, slender man wearing jodhpurs and riding boots, standing next to a shorter man in a suit and hat.  I assumed the tall man was Boeseke; the shorter one looked like photos I've seen of film studio titan Louis B. Mayer.  I bought those, too, to help further my research.  The picture, the ribbons, and the Paul Brown drawings, had passed down through Boeseke's family.

Driving home, I mused that E.J. Boeseke, Jr. must have been a major figure in the polo world, if Paul Brown made multiple sketches of him.  My online research bore this out.

In the early 1930s, the Great Depression was at its height. Americans looked for inspiration, for escape from the grim economy.  They looked for heroes.  And -- perhaps we'd almost forgotten, perhaps we're too young to remember -- heroes could be found on the polo field. 

A full-page story in the Detroit Free Press shows Elmer Boeseke and Red Ace in the center of the page.

Elmer Boeseke and his horse Red Ace are shown at the top of the page, second from left, in this article in the (Tucson) Arizona Daily Star. 

The Daily Star's full-page spread on the popularity of polo
featured a map of polo clubs around the country.

Polo was a major sports attraction in the 1930s, and for a few sparkling years Elmer Julius Boeseke, Junior of Santa Barbara, California was one of a handful of men in the heart of it.  Boeseke's father, Dr. E.J. Boeseke, Sr. and several other relatives were well-known polo players in Santa Barbara.  The Museum of Polo website tells us Elmer Boeseke, Jr. was inducted into the Polo Hall of Fame in 1999.

The right man at the right time, Elmer Boeseke, Jr. was as tough as he was tall. Versatile in all four positions, his performance in the forever famed 1933 East-West duel was crucial to the West's victory and its newfound respect in polo. That memorable achievement also earned him a 10-goal rating in a single jump from 8-goals.

One of only three 10-goalers in his day, he played on the victorious U.S.A. squad in 1932 which won both the Cup of the Americas and the Argentine Open, a feat not realized since. He had a U.S. Open Championship to his credit, a Monty Waterbury trophy and countless other honors in Pacific Coast tournaments.

That 1933 East-West match became the stuff of polo legend. It was the lead story in the Chicago Tribune.

Elmer Boeseke appears on the far right in this photo.

The tall and lanky Boeseke, also known as "Big Bo" and "the Babe Ruth of Polo" for his all-out, neck-or-nothing riding style, owned a number of polo ponies, but perhaps the most beloved and best-known was his chestnut off-track Thoroughbred gelding, Red Ace.  The Polo Museum website's Horses to Remember section recalls:

Dr. E.J. Boeseke, Sr., found Red Ace at a Tijuana racetrack, brought him to California and trained him as a polo pony. In the East West match of 1933, with E.J. Boeseke, Jr., in the saddle, Red Ace won Best Playing Pony. But he is best remembered for a moment in the game when he won hearts as well. After Boeseke was knocked to the ground in a particularly rough play, Red Ace turned, trotted back, stood by his unconscious master and gently nuzzled him.

Prior to his memorable performances in the East West series, Red Ace played polo on both coasts in the U.S., in South America with a North American team, and in England. He was remembered by Seymour Knox as a “brilliant pony,” and by Thomas C. Nelson of Argentina as one of the best ponies he’d ever had anything to do with. He had great straightaway speed and great courage.

Red Ace routinely played two chukkers in a game, and Elmer Boeseke was one of the biggest and most hard-riding men in polo. In a 1934 article in the New York Herald Tribune, the writer noted, “When up on Red Ace, Boeseke’s game was of a higher standard. He seemed surer. He knew he could trust Red Ace.” 

You can see the long-legged Boeseke, number 2 in the dark jersey, and Red Ace in this British Pathe' video archived on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSNO1KUFXP0

A Los Angeles Times staff artist did a portrait of Red Ace and two other polo ponies in 1934.

And a newspaper article of that not-so-long-ago day reminds us that Red Ace was also an award winning show horse.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 9.29.1934.

A page of sketches in Paul Brown's book Hits and Misses shows the artist's note:  "Boeseke's Red Ace: What a pony."

I believe the ribbons Red Ace won at this and other horse shows, may have been the ones I found at the estate sale.

Oh -- you wanted to see the drawings, didn't you?  Of course. Brown shows us Boeseke at the peak of his form in 1933 and 1934, riding different horses. Somewhere in the crowds at the polo matches, we can imagine Paul Brown with his small pad of paper, pencil flying, trying to capture the essence of the action. Later, Brown would go back to his studio, review photos of the match, search his memory, and recreate these moments in equine history.

Artist's notes: 

Aurora vs Templeton - Practice 1933

5th period   Iglehart hit up field and all

players started after ball.  Boeseke waited

to stop ball and as he did so hooked it 

up along side pony. Carried ball around

both teams and scored.

(signed) Paul Brown '34

"8th period Aurora Templeton Sept 1 Cochrane"

 is penciled lightly in the lower right corner of the paper. 

Artist's Notes:
Penalty # One
East vs West  Chicago '33
Boeseke goes down.
(signed) Paul Brown 

Artist's notes:
Goal  Boeseke vs Hitchcock
East vs West Chicago 1933
8th Period  3rd Game
(signed) Paul Brown

Artist's notes:
Finals   Open Championship   Aurora vs Greentree '33
5th period   Over the boards headed for the
club house -- pace terrific -- Boeseke vs Balding.
Elmer hit a long one down and out on to the field.
(signed) Paul Brown '34

As you can see, the drawings are not in perfect condition; like most old artwork born in the days before acid-free storage techniques, they need a bit of professional conservation.  I took them out of their 80-plus-year-old mats and stored them, for now, in archival Mylar sleeves. 

But you can also see why I could not possibly have left them at the estate sale for someone else to purchase.  This is the perfect combination in equestrian sporting art: the horses and riders at the top of their form, captured in exquisite, heart-stopping detail by the master. 

You can sense Brown's excitement, his concentration mirrored in Boeseke's body language.

Brown shows us, capturing one split second of time, just how hard Boeseke is about to smack that unseen ball with his mallet.  

With only a few well-placed lines, Brown shows us the other players rushing into focus as hard as they can pelt.

We experience a sharp intake of our collective breath, a collective gritting of our teeth, as Brown anticipates just how hard Boeseke and his horse are about to slam into the ground.  The horse seems much more aware of their fate than the rider.

The magical art of Paul Brown conjures up the ghosts of the riders and their horses for us, more than eight decades after the games were played. The scores are tallied, the battered riders are patched up, and the exhausted polo ponies drop their heads to graze outside the polo fields. 

It's almost like we were there. 

 ____________________________________

Many thanks to Alexis Adkins at the W.K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library at Cal Poly Pomona #WKKAHL for the recommendations for storing old paper, and to Brenda Lynn at the Museum of Polo, who told me that the old-timers pronounce Elmer's last name "bo-seek."

Additional resources:

M.L. Biscotti's book Paul Brown: Master of Equine Art does an excellent job of summarizing Brown's life, career, and style.

https://www.amazon.com/Paul-Brown-Master-Equine-Art/dp/1564162095

An article by Arthur C. Liese on the Hurlingham Polo website honors Brown:
http://www.hurlinghampolo.com/backissues/spring_2016/files/assets/basic-html/page46.html

The Garden City (NY) News did a story on a recent exhibition on Brown:  

https://www.gcnews.com/articles/brown-in-black-white-paul-brown-exhibit-at-gc-public-library/

The National Sporting Gallery and Museum has more than 200 of Paul Brown's works in its collection:  

https://nslmblog.wordpress.com/2015/08/19/jumping-around-with-paul-brown/

The Chisholm Gallery has a good summary of Brown's style and the scope of his work, and a dizzying array of images of his art: http://chisholmgallery.com/paul-brown

Some of Paul Brown's illustrations in ads for Brooks Brothers are shown here:  

http://magazine.brooksbrothers.com/covering-the-holidays/

To read more about Elmer Boeseke: 

http://www.polomuseum.com/hall-of-fame/about

  
And about Red Ace:  http://www.polomuseum.com/hall-of-fame/horses-to-remember