For better or worse, during the 1980s, the culture of the horse world entered the modern world, becoming more specialized and more of a business, and less bound by tradition.
Plenty of major changes swept through the equestrian community during the 1970s. In international competition, the U.S. Equestrian Team was a major international force, with show jumping, dressage and eventing squads sweeping the 1975 Pan American Games (Mexico City) gold medals, and all three teams earning medals over the course of the Olympic Games in Munich (1972) and Montreal (1976).
The decade of the 1960s was a golden era for horse sports and for the Chronicle. The ‘60s saw glamorous hunter stars like Cold Climate, Cap And Gown, and Isgilde become famous. The U.S. Equestrian Team sent jumper stars like Frank Chapot, Bill Steinkraus, Kathy Kusner and Hugh Wiley overseas to compete, and they won on the biggest stages like Aachen.
The Chronicle of the Horse was first published on Sept. 17, 1937, as The Middleburg Chronicle, in a tabloid size format. It was printed locally in Berryville, Va. While it largely focused on the Middleburg horse scene, it grew to cover the entire country. In the early years, flat racing, steeplechasing and foxhunting dominated the pages.
The 1950s brought big changes for horse sports, and for The Chronicle, as it was still known throughout the ‘50s.
In the beginning of the decade, racing still dominated The Chronicle’s pages as it had during the 1930s and 1940s.
