A Look Back--11/19/04

Tokyo Horse Show
William Meyer, Captain, Armor
January 1, 1954

The Tokyo Horse Show was staged as a "Welcome Home" [from a world tour] to the Crown Prince of Japan, on the 14th and 15th of November. The show was staged in the Imperial Palace grounds near the parade area of the Imperial Guard. It is a beautiful site near old stone walls built 800 years ago.

On the first day, classes were set up for children and novices in intermediate jumping and dressage. There are three riding schools in and near Tokyo.

One school is conducted at Camp Drake by the Army Forces Far East. The Palace Riding Club has mixed classes of American and Japanese youngsters, as well as children from some of the embassies. The Avalon Riding School is located in Tokyo and also has a mixed following. All three schools have well-trained Japanese instructors.

Galvin Tops French National Dressage Competition
June 26, 1964

The French Federation of Equestrian Sports organized, on May 24th, a National Dressage Competition at Maisons-Laffitte, situated about 10 miles from Paris.

In March of 1963, Trish Galvin again began her training with Jean Saint-Fort Paillard for the Pan-American Games in Brazil, from which she brought home the gold medal. As she has continued her work for the Olympic Games at Tokyo, this year she was able to present a horse at the competition at Maisons-Laffitte. Galvin presented Rath Patrick [to a panel of three French judges]. The horse is in absolutely perfect physical condition and did a test of such quality that the Jury gave him a score of 896 points, to win the competition.

Capt. Phillips Wins at Badminton
Pamela MacGregor-Morris
May 17, 1974

The first-ever royal victory at the Badminton Horse Trials was achieved by Capt. Mark Phillips riding Columbus, a gray Thoroughbred gelding owned and bred by The Queen, and got by the late Sir Winston Churchill's winning racehorse, Colonist II, out of a mare called Trim Ann, who was formerly one of Her Majesty's favorite hacks.

Janet Hodgson, the heroine of Kiev last year, where she sustained two crushing falls in the European Championships, losing three front teeth in the first, yet carried on for the sake of the British team, finished in second place. And Bruce Davidson, the U.S. Olympic rider, was third on Irish Cap, beating Princess Anne on Goodwill, owned by The Queen. But for an error in timing his own performance over the roads and tracks, Davidson would have finished second.

British Agricultural Show
June Hughes
August 3, 1984

The British Agricultural Shows have always provided tremendous entertainment for the public, and the four-day Royal Bath and West in June has grown to be one of the biggest of its kind.

There are jumping events, legions of ridden ponies, Anglo and part-bred Arabs, Native Pony division and, of course, hunters, both ridden and in-hand. The judges ride each of the hunters individually.