Postwar Farm Jeeps Will Be Easy To Run
August 17, 1945

The postwar version of the Jeep, particularly adapted for farm work, will be as easy to run as any automobile, according to Dean A. Walters, director of service of Willys-Overland Motors, builders of the famous scout car.

“While the selection of any of the six forward speeds and two reverse speeds appears complex,” Mr. Walters said, “the gearshift is as easy to master as the operation of an ordinary farm truck. I believe this fact will be of interest to farmers who are planning to use a Jeep as a jack-of-all trades when the war is over.”

Much of the versatility of the Jeep on the battlefield, he explained, can be credited to the ease with which the operator can engage four wheel drive and apply the maximum power when negotiating muddy roads and steep or stony grades.

Thoroughbreds May Fly To The Races
August 17, 1945

The Thoroughbred Racing Association is assisting the Fairchild Aviation Co. at Hagerstown, Md., to secure comments and suggestions on their plans for the development of an air freight car for horses from noted owners, racing associations and breeders. With racing on the West Coast developing by leaps and bounds, a modern mode of travel for racehorses is one for horsemen to consider.

The company has two versions, one having a maximum capacity of 11 horses and another with nine.

Biggest Spectator Sport
Raleigh Burroughs
January 14, 1955

Studies conducted by Triangle Publications (The Daily Racing Form, Morning Telegraph, etc.) show that in America, racing has moved into first place among spectator sports.

The Triangle survey did not tally exactly with one made by [first-year publication] Sports Illustrated, but the new entry (by Time, out of Life) included some sports on which there are no complete official figures and where a lot of people got in free. But it’s established by checkable figures that more admissions are paid to racetracks than to baseball games.

The total [for racing] showed an increase of 3,867,375 over 1952. Baseball showed decline. Football (frankly professional and collegiately amateur) gained a little.

Clinics For Horse Show Judges
July 9, 1965

During the week beginning August 22nd the Dressage Committee of the American Horse Shows Association will bring from France Commandant Jean St. Fort Paillard, member of the French Dressage Team in two subsequent Olympic teams. Working at the U.S. Equestrian Team Center at Gladstone, New Jersey, Commandant Paillard will conduct a clinic for dressage judges.

As an answer to the problem of establishing and maintaining standards of performance and/or conformation, the conference [or] clinic has been a particularly effective device. Associations of cattle, sheep, and swine breeders have used it with special success in connection with breed type.
It would require only a minor extension of the St. Paillard clinic to achieve a major step toward helping to solve the much vexed question of how to qualify horse show judges. The suggestion is that the A.H.S.A. should hold such clinics for each of its show divisions at regular intervals and that it make public the names of those judges who have attended the clinics.

Financial Aspects Of Show Jumping In Germany
Der Spiegel
July 9, 1965

Two of the most successful German jumping riders did not participate in the Hamburg Jumping Derby. Instead Hans Winkler and Hermann Schridde rode in Fontainebleau (France). The winner in the Jumping Derby could win $2,250 and the best horse in the main event at Fontainebleau was able to get $3,000.

The world-famous Meteor won a total of $44,250–more than any other jumping horse. In addition to the monies from wins, with successful riders (who are also the trainers) the selling value of a horse rises automatically. The jumping horse Ferde was sold in 1957 for $525. In the hands of Alwin Schockemohle the horse developed into a “jumping safe” by winning $16,325. For the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan wanted to buy Ferde for $22,500, and in order to keep the horse in Germany, the German Olympic Committee for Riding bought one half of the ownership. Some [trainer-riders] even get 25 percent of a sale price that could hit $25,000.

EIA Testing Requirements
December 5, 1975

Equine infectious anemia testing requirements are pending in Delaware and Michigan.

The following states require proof of negative Coggins test (6 months unless noted)–Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York (12 months), North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia (both 12 months), and Washington and West Virginia.

States not listed above have no EIA requirements, but all racetracks require a Coggins test issued within the previous 12 months.

Virginia Horse Center Established
Dr. A.N. Huff
April 19, 1985

Gov. Charles Robb signed the legislation to establish the Virginia Horse Center at Lexington, Va. The General Assembly created the legislation along with $200,000 in planning money. The Rockbridge area has pledged a 361-acre site and $885,000 toward construction. Additional funds, public and private, will be necessary to complete the total project cost of around $4 million, exclusive of land. A Board of Directors will be appointed, and plans are for opening the center in 1987.

The site offers unlimited possibilities for a comprehensive center–showing, dressage, combined training, polo, cross-country, trails, etc. Facilities are planned for a large indoor arena, covered rings, outdoor rings, warm-up areas, and dressage ring, cross country courses and stabling.

British Parliament Takes Anti-Hunting Step
J.E.L.
March 10, 1995

On March 3 British foxhunters got another rude warning that their centuries-old pastime is in serious danger. In a stunning 253-0 vote, the House of Commons backed a bill that would outlaw foxhunting, stag hunting and hare coursing. The vote does not mean, however, that hunting has ended in Great Britain–yet.

The result brought elated response from the well-organized anti-blood sports campaigners and shocked the approximately 50,000 riders who regularly follow the island nation’s 329 packs. Foxhunters are concerned about what will happen if Labour wins the next election, which should be in the spring of 1997.

World Cup Courses Were Back To The Future
George H. Morris
March 5, 1995

Olaf Petersen’s excellent courses for the FEI Volvo World Cup Final [in Gothenburg, Sweden} showed that in a sense we have come full circle back to the 1950s and the “rub” era, in which touches counted. The only thing we old-timers miss are the judges in the middle of the ring signaling a front or hind rub.

In those days, we didn’t have a time allowed or big spreads, combinations and technical lines. But these fences are similar in that they are straight up and down and airy.

Peterson adds another dimension to this trappy airiness by placing unusual bases under the rails and elaborate, colorful wings alongside the fences. This tends to distract the horses from the top rails, so they come tumbling down.