Shetland Pony Sale in 1949

[tagalong]

Maybe this belongs in the photo forum - but I thought I would start it here as it is historical...

Google has this addictive feature - you can search through the archives of LIFE magazine's photos.

I found this photo essay of what looks like a sale on September 9, 1949.

At first I thought it was a show - but in some photos you can see guys taking bids and see auction stickers on the horses. So maybe a show as well as a sale?

Soooo check these out...

The FEET?!!

This seems rather extreme IMO... but was likely the norm at the time... as was the tail set.

Pinto as seen from the crowd...

In harness as well....

Braiding for the ring...

Viceroy...

Barn...

You can check out all the photos HERE ...there are more scenes in the ring and around the farm, crowd shots, entertainment, little kids riding etc.

 

[Bess Kelly]

Interesting!

I'm looking at the facilities.....

.........man, they have tie in stalls in the barn (which is how horses used to be kept if stabled years ago), they have standing only stalls at the area where the lady is braiding, and the arena isn't one that any of the AMHA/R people would want to book!

We have certainly become more sophisticated & spoiled.

That said, the animals appear well cared for -- the hoof thing with the pony isn't the only one I've seen like this, although it is extreme -- this is a "thing" with many of the driving ponies. I don't follow the pony circuits, so not sure what is going on now but, in any of my exposure over past 10 yrs, the length of hoof &/or shoes/pads is great for those being driven.

 

[mizbeth]

Oh my gosh! How interesting is there an article that goes with this, or only photos? I could not find where there could be an article. I wonder if Tony can shed some light on these photos? It appears they were done by one photographer. Although Tony was probably not born at this time he may have seen these photos through his parents and know of some of the history of them. Wonder where they were taken? What part of the country? Pretty barren looking in that area though, so could be Texas or Midwest somewhere?

Great.................photos! One of them looks like Gold Melody Boy standing there

Others nice and upright, the driving pony's look tall, lots of silver dapples. Very interesting.

 

[Filipowicz Farm]

Thanks for sharing. Great pictures.

 

[Genie]

I don't like the feet but it must have been the "norm".

I wonder why?

 

[Irish Hills Farm]

Great photos! Thanks for sharing them and the link!

 

[Shari]

Neat old photographs, I love history but saying that... I see they were abusing the ponies even back then and the feet are not the only issue. Am sure that tail was broken and reset in the first photo. Is a shame.

 

[Marnie]

I think the feet were left long so they picked them up high when being driven. I saw that with some big horses at a show about 30 yrs ago, they even had weights on the bottom of them. I don't recall what breed it was but I do remember I was very upset about it and left the show.

The stalls were just the way it was back then and no one considered it abuse. In fact, it wasn't. The horse can definately lay down if he wants to and they did. The rope is long enough for them to lay down and I never saw one get their foot over the rope. It's the way we kept our riding horses, in tie stalls, you walk up beside them to take them a pail of water and they had a manger in front of them for their hay. Sometimes a wooden box was built on the side of the manger for the grain.

I hope Tony comes on here as I believe his family was involved with ponys alot, he may have some great things to say. Please don't jump to conclusions and think people abused these ponys back so long ago, when life was simple, people knew what work was, kids got a licken when they deserved it, people had morals, etc.

 

[Shari]

Didn't jump to conclusions, I have seen broken tails in the past and I will never forget it. Is abuse and they knew better even back then. But people will talk away fashion and abuse because they don't want to listen to the truth, they try to justify what they are doing. So they think they don't look bad in other peoples eyes.

Same with any kind of abuse people do to both animals and even other people... like Chinese foot binding, that is abuse too....and fashion. Look the other way, then it is not so bad??? Not in my books,,,sorry.

 

[Leeana]

That is very neat, i believe the first photo was on fugly horse too....i will for sure check out that link, thank you !

I wonder what pony farm that is, reminds me of the Silver Crescent ponies..i'll have to check the heritage book and see what dates they were around...

Yes the feet in the first photo does make me cringe too...but i think there is allot of bad farrier work there and allot of corrective work that needs to be done and that is way overdone, the moderns and hackneys (i think saddlebreds do that too?) have long heels but atleast they are correct set.

Very interesting to see.....where is Lewella? She is a wealth of knowledge with the foundation of the breed.

 

[MinisOutWest]

I spent about 30 minutes going thru the photos, did you all see the big 'Gainesville' sign in the background?

 

[ruffian]

"I don't like the feet but it must have been the "norm"."

They used to do this with the Tennessee Walker Horses. Called them the "Big Lick" horses. Gives them tremendous action.

Wrong? Yes, but let's not hijack a very interesting thread by making that the focus.

I would love to know more history about this. I wonder if the Taylors could shed more light?

The crowd is huge, and you can see the intensity in their faces - these people came to buy! Love to know what the prices were back then.

 

[Lisa Strass]

Neat pictures! Thank you for sharing this historical link.

 

[Tony]

Thanks for the compliment, Beth, but I was four years old at the time of most of these pictures.

1949 with my dad.

I am pretty sure that many of the pictures were taken at Perry, OK, where Perry Carlile had sales for years. As long as I can remember we spent a week in July at the sale. It ran as long as seven days and many, many world record prices were set there. Perry Carlile is in one of the pictures on the site and I remember the tie stalls well. That was the only way that the huge number of horses, sometimes as many as 1000 would be sold during the sale, could be housed on Perry's farm. I also think that I saw Vern Brewer in one of the sale pictures.

I remember asking my parents if the town was named after Perry! LOL. It was such a big deal that many people rented rooms in their homes during the week of the sale, since there were limited hotels and hardly any motels at the time. I remember staying in someone's basement. It was the first time I had ever seen a basement and I thought it was such fun, although I know that my mother didn't share my enthusiasm.

It was always so hot and dusty there that they had water trucks come through sprinkling the entire area several times a day.

Someone asked about prices: In 1956 C-Jo's Topper topped the sale at $56,000. A few years later Captain Topper broke the record with a bid of $56,500 and later Crescent's Gold Dust brought $60,000.

I didn't look at all the pictures so didn't notice the Gainesville sign that someone mentioned, but the Southwest Breed Promotion Sale was held in Gainesville, TX, for years. Vern and Betty Brewer put on the sale with other promoters of the time. Betty loves to tell the story of a sale where her son, Dennis and I were playing under the stands and I stuck my finger or something in a plug and knocked out the power for the building and knocked myself out too! I don't remember it, but she swears it happened.

The hooves were typical of all Shetland shows. It was called a "show foot" and increased the action accenting the high movement. Very few, if any, ponies were shown barefoot except weanlings. I will try to find some old pictures and scan them later.

It was a great way to grow up and brings back lots of great memories. I don't remember all the criticism and rivalry that we see today, but maybe that was just because I was a kid.

The rodeo queen was a surprise and I led her along with my sister, Marcia. My mother made our shirts and we still have them. They have a cutout of one of our stallions at the time, Little Masterpiece, on the back.

This pair are full brother and sisters and outstanding show horses and typical of the show hoof. They belonged to Don Vestal of HiLine Pony Farm, which my dad, in the pictures, managed for a couple of years. The lady in the picture is Jo Teague who with her husband owned C-Jo Pony Farm.

 

[mininik]

Wonderful pictures and history! Thanks so much for sharing, Tag and Tony!

 

[rabbitsfizz]

This is featuring on FHOTD at the moment and, of course it was abuse, just as the "Big Lick" horses of today are abuse, but it was 50 years ago and hopefully the day of these malnourished abused creatures is over now??

So little point on banging on about it, I would have thought??

"Shoreacres Farm" is the farm featured...ring any bells, Tony??

I am not at all sure those little stalls are what the horses were kept in, BTW, I think it far more likely that they were rigged up for the sale, nowadays we would have little pens made out of sheep panels, if there were no proper stalls available, but I do not think many would ask their horses to live in a six by six pen, adequate for show preparation, though, just like those little stalls.

We had tie stalls too, but they were a lot bigger than those and you had a wooden ball the tied to the Ned of the rope, which was slotted through a ring.

The ball kept the rope taught and it was that, not brain power, that prevented a pony form putting it's foot over a rope.

Put a long enough to lie down rope on any horse and you will have a nasty accident, no way round it, I'm afraid.

I find these sort of pictures truly fascinating, there are loads and loads more if you go to the site and look around, but make sure you have a few hours spare as it is addictive!!

 

[JewelsOK]

Is there anything left of the Perry Carlile farm? We live very near Perry (my husband works there) and I'd be curious to know more about the Carlile's.

Great pictures, thanks for posting.

Julie

 

[Marnie]

Thanks Tony, I knew you could ad some useful, interesting facts! It sure takes me back.

 

[bingo]

Wonderful pictures I did see them on another site. Not so sure I would call it abuse I would have to agree with Tony in that respect.

Tony what a wonderful resource of information you are!

 

[mizbeth]

Yes, Tony is a WEALTH OF INFORMATION, thus "THE BOOK" we are all anxiously awaiting!

Thanks for sharing Tony and glad you saw the post, I was going to email you and ask you to look for it. I am so intriqued by these old photos, I think this is a wonderful thread.