It’s been more than a decade since horses last jumped in the heart of New York City, so as the Central Park Horse Show kicks off, we take a look back at some of the legends that showed at the National Horse Show in Madison Square Garden. 

The year was 1955. Wilson Dennehy won all three major equitation finals offered at the time—the AHSA Medal, the ASPCA Maclay and the USET. Top hunter Duke Of Paeonian and jumper Riviera Wonder won. And just look at the jump the small pony hunter champion is jumping! 

Fast forward to 1962, and the international glamor of the show is obvious in the photo of Italian show jumping star Piero d’Inzeo. The Nations Cup class at the National hosted the best and the brightest horses and riders from all over the world. You can’t fit many more legends on a page than this—Cold Climate, Mary Mairs Chapot, Bill Steinkraus, Frank Chapot, Gene Cunningham, Cap and Gown, Kathy Kusner, and the list goes on.

In 1973, the Nations Cup competition was at its height, with Great Britain winning in a pitched battle over Germany in the Garden. And the Chronicle article from that year mentioned a “newcomer” winning the amateur-owner hunter division. That was Bruce Duchoissois, the famed rider and owner of so many wonderful horses who sadly passed away this year. His breakout year with Kim’s Song was 1973.

Then in 1982, future team Olympic gold medalist Peter Wylde won the ASPCA Maclay Final on Native Surf. Charlie Weaver rode Super Flash to a hunter championship, and the famous Rodney Jenkins won the puissance.