Bowie Gibbon

Happy Monday! Here's another photo of my grandfather, this time sent in by HH reader Sharon Lynn of Oakland, Calif. Sharon came across my first post featuring Grandpa and Bowie, and thought the name sounded very familiar...:

"This photo was taken by my dad, George Lynn, at the old Bailey's Cross Roads Horse Show in Bailey's Cross Roads, VA around 1961, give or take a year. It's of a horse I remember as Bowie Gibbon - is this your grandfather?"

When I replied that indeed, this was my grandfather, Bob Gibbon, and his horse Bowie (how cool is that!), Sharon responded:

"My dad had no interest in horses but he was an avid photographer. I was the horse crazy one. He liked to go to horse shows to practice his photography. He took many photos over the period of a couple of years, but sadly he didn't keep most of the negatives. I found a few when I was going through his things after he passed, and I have them. I know who a few of the people are as I knew most of the open jumpers by sight. When I was looking at your wonderful site, Historical Horse, I recognized Bowie Gibbon right away and... I was pretty sure there was a picture of him in my box of photos from my dad. I'm so glad I was able to send you a photo of your grandfather!"

Those of you who've been following along since the beginning know that a photo of my Grandpa and Bowie originally inspired this site, so you can imagine how cool it was to receive this photo from a reader. We've now seen three photos of Grandpa (Granpda and Bowie, Grandpa & the Hunter Course, and the one above), all of which display his particular flair for the dramatic. I love the crazy workhorse oxer he's jumping here, and the old-style jump standards in the background with the peg rail holders. Plus, just look at Bowie's hind end! It's neat to see a picture of him on the landing side of the fence -- I've heard the stories, but seeing the visual proof of his exceptional jumping ability is pretty neat.  I've since shared this with my aunts and uncles, all of whom were really excited to see it. Another addition to our family album, all thanks to Sharon and George Lynn!

Plus, it's just another reason to submit your photos to HH -- you never know what may turn up! A communal equestrian family album, indeed -- and we are, as always, in need of submissions.

Thanks, Sharon, for sharing this. HHers, I hope your week is off to a great start!

Circus Hoodoo

                              

                              

Oh, my! More than a month has passed since the last post, a fact I'm quite sad about. Fear not, though, HHers, for I don't intend to let Historical Horse slip into disuse; I've just had too many irons in the fire of late, and unfortunately HH had to take a brief pause while said irons were attended to.

Thankfully, though, James Griffin of New York City sent us these exciting circus photos to lure us out of our respite. Says James:

"Grandfather Tom Griffin who took the photo was born in Baron-on-Irwell, England in 1867 and died in Westchester Square, New York City in 1955.

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Sheriff Jones, Part II

                                                        

Today we're treated to two more photos of Sheriff Jones from Cassie's family album. Cassie says:

"The first photo (above) is of Great Grandpa Jones standing with the same horse, and the other (below) is of him as Sheriff. My Granddad says that he does not remember much about the horses, but that his father did really enjoy them, and fox hunting!"

                      

I know I always say that these old horsey pictures look like they were taken on the set of a movie, but this is no exception. Can't you just imagine Sheriff Jones, Rosalie Brown and Grandpa Carl starring in a western together?

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Sheriff Jones

                                           

 Today's photo comes to us from Cassie P. of Proctorville, Ohio, who writes:

"This is a picture of my Great Grandpa Jones. He was a Sheriff in southern Georgia in the early 1900s, which furthered his love of horses. In his later years, he always kept a horse despite the family's extreme poverty.

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Betty and the Traveling Pony

Apologies for the lack-of-posts last week; things have been quite hectic lately (oh, life!), but this week we're back to business as usual at HH -- which is sharing our collective equestrian memories! Today's memory comes to us from Betty of Pueblo, Colorado, who writes:

"That's me, maybe around 5 or 6 years. My first time on a horse for certain. Raised a city kid in Cincinnati, only got to ride rental horses on summer family vacations until age 12.

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