Old Shows and Show Bills

There used to be many small horse shows around my county in the 1960s and 1970s. Most were fun shows and advertised with the phrase "$2 and ride all day."

Before I had a horse, my sister and I used to beg our parents to drop us off at these shows where we would wander the show grounds, watch the classes, and breathe in that horsey smell all day long, dreaming of the day we might own horses and be in the ring winning a blue ribbon ourselves.

4-H and Purdue University used to sponsor a bring-your-own-horse camp in southern Indiana complete with an end-of-camp show. No entry fee, not even $2! (That was a lot back then, at least to a girl who earned her spending money through babysitting.)

Advertising for the shows was done via word of mouth, by plastering big posters up in grocery stores, and by leaving fliers in farm stores or tack shops.

The annual Lafayette Horse Show was the biggie, the one we most wanted to attend, both as spectators as well as entrants.

 It was held in town at Columbian Park and right on the baseball diamond!

 There was a slick program for it and two shows - a day and an evening show.

Early entrants had their number, horse's name, their name, and where they were from listed in it. Leslie and I would do our best to write down the names of the winners and those who placed as we watched the show.

Our favorite was the parade horse class. Every year we crossed our fingers and hoped that Mabel Gorham would come.

She had the most gorgeous, high stepping Saddlebreds who would be decked out in mane and tail ribbons, glittered hooves, and polished silver embellished parade tack. As this class would proceed, people would stamp and whistle, clapping loudly as the horses strutted around the ring.

When I first began photo showing model horses in 1970, I was puzzled that no one held classes for National Appaloosa Ponies (NAPis); instead, there were Pony of the Americas (POA) classes. No one I asked had ever heard of NAPis, so I shrugged it off and figured I'd see them sooner or later.

I never did. I think what happened is that the Giltners, a local breeder of NAPis, may have tried to begin a registry for them and it never took off despite strong local support in our area.

In addition to their large breeding operation outside of town, they owned a fun western store in town, complete with square dance clothes.

The old Hoos-Yer Square shop as it is today.

Sadly, The Lafayette Horse Show was discontinued years ago. But I found some old photos from it that Leslie and I took with our old Kodak Instamatic cameras (complete with disposable light bulbs! Hah!) They are not very good, but you can still get a feeling for the show and what it was like. 

I'll post those tomorrow.