And the diagnosis is…

The inspiration for my blog post this week stems from the unfortunate fact that for the past few months, my horse Taco has been experiencing a plethora of medical issues. No matter what I do, I cannot seem to keep him sound. As soon as I solve one problem, another one pops up. It has […]

Presidential Horsemen

For over half the existence of the United States, horses were ubiquitous. They served as the main source of transportation, and were essential to the military and to speedy communication. They labored in agriculture, and as freight haulers. Horses were common in everyday life. It wasn’t until 1909 that President Taft replaced the Presidential horses […]

Our Next Big Library Project

Last month, we cracked open an ambitious project in the Library: the complete reprocessing and recataloging of everything stored in the F. Ambrose Clark Rare Book Room. The project will likely last a year and is very challenging as we will be fully describing every object in our rare book collections, many of them in […]

A Letter Between Equestrian Artists

In 1933, a stunning new art exhibition opened at The Field Museum in Chicago. Brought together by none other than Marshall Field, the exhibition was an exclusive selection of 19 sculptures by Herbert Haseltine from his series British Champion Animals. Haseltine (1877-1962) was the son of a painter, and was born in Rome (then in […]

When Children Played With Ponies

Once upon a time, the tiny Virginia town of Middleburg experienced a golden age of enthusiasm for riding and equestrian sport. After The Great Hound Match of 1905 put Virginia on the map as prime foxhunting country, several hunts began operating in the region and the countryside transformed into an optimal landscape for riding. Middleburg […]

A Horse with No Name

You see, I’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name. It felt good to be out of the rain. – Dewey Newell I once read that Dewey Newell, a member of the band, America, wrote the lyrics for the quintessential 1970s flower-power ballad, A Horse with No Name, inspired by the works […]

Charles Clark’s Case Book, 1826

Do you keep a journal? If you care about being remembered to history, you probably should. Today’s highlight is an excellent example of how to make history: the 1826-1842 Case Book of veterinary surgeon Charles Clark. Clark was the nephew and pupil of Bracy Clark, one of the first graduates of the veterinary college in […]

The Generous Sportsman, c. 1725

We have many things in the F. Ambrose Clark Rare Book Room, including many beautifully-decorated books. Often, though, fascinating things don’t have gilt, engravings, or woodblock prints. A tiny (five inches by three inches), leather-bound tome came to hand last week, and it turned into today’s highlight. The book is in the manuscripts collection, and is entirely hand […]

The Cad, Part II

This is the final post in a series of four guest posts by 2016 Daniels Fellow Martha Wolfe. Martha’s 2016 Fellowship focused on studying The Life of an American Sportsman: Being Reminiscences by Harry Worcerster Smith, an unpublished autobiography. Undeterred by his spills the spring and summer of 1900, and against everyone’s advice, Harry entered The Cad in […]

The Cad, Part I

This is the third in a series of four guest posts by 2016 Daniels Fellow Martha Wolfe. Martha’s 2016 Fellowship focused on studying The Life of an American Sportsman: Being Reminiscences by Harry Worcerster Smith, an unpublished autobiography. I’m not sure that many people would have characterized Harry Worcester Smith as a good-for-nothing “cad;” on the other hand, […]