The Traveling Pony
Thursday, July 29, 2010 
Those of us involved with horses know that everyone -- be it your next door neighbor, your co-worker, or your Aunt Gertrude -- has a "horse story." For my generation (made in the '80s!), blessed as we've been with college spring breaks and weekend vacations, this "horse story" invariably takes the form of a vacation trail ride gone awry, reaching it's climax as the trail horse's tail-end disappears over the horizon in a cloud of dust, a dislodged rider and a bruised ego planted firmly in the dirt. "And that's why I'll never ride a horse again!" is usually the final nail in the coffin of potential equestrianism -- and my cue to laugh. If these folks only knew how many times my ego's been bruised by horses -- or any other equestrian's worth their dough, for that matter -- they'd surely think we're all nuts.
But not Mike Drummond. Pictured above in his front yard in Lynwood, California, Mike has an entirely different kind of "horse story." He explains:
"Is 1950 far enough back in history? The beginning of the golden age of TV westerns. Every kid in the neighborhood got a photograph taken on the same day, on this horse, wearing the same hat. The photographer and his pony returned each year and they always had customers."
In fact, this picture so resonated with Mike that he formed a facebook group (search "Shetland Pony Posse") where other folks have uploaded their own "Traveling Pony" pictures from the 50s and 60s. As it turns out, these same photos were common all around the USA, east coast to west. You can tell by the look of delight on Mike's face (who'd probably just run outside from watching Roy Rogers to discover a real pony -- with accompanying cowboy get-up! -- in his own front yard) that these photos were popular with the kids, too. With that perfectly-posed, well-behaved, gorgeous pony (did he pose the same in all his pictures, I wonder?), it's amazing the "Shetland Pony Posse" didn't break out on it's own, bringing justice to all the ne'er-do-well grown-ups all across the country.
Today's picture is the first in what I hope will be a series of "Traveling Pony" photos as we attempt to figure out who was behind the "Traveling Pony" phenomenon, and where it got it's start.
Do you have a "Traveling Pony" story to share?
Reader Comments (3)
Hi, I too am intrigued with this, and find traveling pony pictures all the time. But I wonder who among your readers has seen the fantastic children's book PENNIES IN A JAR (you can see it and read synopsis on http://peachtree-online.com/product/2834.aspx NOT an affiliate link)(what you can't see are the draft horse illustrations by Ted Lewin, which are amazing). This takes the traveling pony idea to London during World War II, although the author is American, so who knows? But she might have some idea, she might have researched it? I completely missed this book when it came out, which is odd as Ted Lewin illustrated another of my faves, Winter Shoes for Shadow Horse. Assembling a book of traveling pony pix would be a great idea....Love your blog!
I know there is a picture exactly like this one of my brother at about the same age. He just turned 60 so it would have been taken in the 50's. I'll have to see if he can find it. Love this blog.
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