The man who became the first American to win an Olympic individual equestrian gold medal at Mexico City in 1968 recalls the gifts and foibles of the horse with whom he jumped into history.

I first learned of Snowbound's existence from the lips of John (later Sir John) Galvin, the Australian-born benefactor of both the U.S. and Irish equestrian teams.

"I've found a horse that might make you a useful hack," he told me, using a vernacular term he often employed. Like many of his remarks, this one proved a considerable understatement.

In the Aug. 27, 1965 edition of The Chronicle of the Horse appeared an article about the very first show jumping grand prix to be put on in the United States. The class was held in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 25 as part of the PHA Horse Show. Here's the entire text of that article and scroll down to see scans of the actual pages of the article in that issue of the Chronicle...

Jennifer on Oscar mid-bray while showing in leadline with her father, Johnny Barker. The famous judge Artie Hawkins is in the background.

You’d think that the daughter of two hunter trainers—Johnny Barker and Parker Haynes Minchin—would have had a fancy, big-name pony to show in the leadline.

But no.

The hunter courses at the Upperville Colt and Horse Show (Va.) are some of the most picturesque in history, with the classic oak trees shading the track. But 40 years ago, there was a jump on the course that seemed to belong more on a cross-country course than in a hunter ring.

In 1974, Upperville featured a large bank in both the amateur-owner and regular working hunter classic rounds. The Chronicle report from the show—written by Ruth Meredith and appearing in the June 21, 1974 issue of the Chronicle—discussed it: