75th Anniversary

Nov. 18, 1988

Costume classes are still crowd favorites at the fall indoor circuit. This report from 1988 recounts the class from Washington, where the costumes referenced the upcoming Presidential election and the recent Seoul Olympic Games, which were plagued by allegations of doping in many sports (but not any equestrian ones). Sadly, the account lacks any accompanying photos.

July 22, 1988

Cooky McClung's humorous articles were an instant hit in the Chronicle.

No one ever promised that keeping horses and maintaining a stable was easy. Those of us who choose to do so, do it for many reasons, none of which include easy.

We do it because it’s more satisfying to look at a clean barn and freshly bedded stalls than it is to vacuum and dust the house. We do it because we don’t mind the exercise involved, which is equally as strenuous as using 20 different Nautilus machines, and we don’t have to join a club or leave home.

The Chronicle of the Horse is celebrating its 75th birthday in 2012. For seven weeks we’ll bring you a decade-by-decade look at the history that has filled its pages since 1937.

In a July 29, 1988, commentary, editor John Strassburger took stock of the last eight years in horse sport, marveling at the expansion at the top levels of the sport:

The Chronicle of the Horse is celebrating its 75th birthday in 2012. For seven weeks we’ll bring you a decade-by-decade look at the history that has filled its pages since 1937.

Plenty of major changes swept through the equestrian community during the 1970s. In international competition, the U.S. Equestrian Team was a major international force, with show jumping, dressage and eventing squads sweeping the 1975 Pan American Games (Mexico City) gold medals, and all three teams earning medals over the course of the Olympic Games in Munich (1972) and Montreal (1976).

Jan. 18, 1974

The addition of non-Thoroughbreds to The Chronicle of the Horse’s 1974 stallion issue was such a bold move, then-editorial assistant Peter Winants wrote an editorial to explain the decision.

May 19, 1978

Major General Jonathan R. Burton was invited to evaluate the state of both sports in a guest editorial for The Chronicle of the Horse’s “First Annual Combined Training and Dressage Issue."

The Chronicle of the Horse is celebrating its 75th birthday in 2012. For seven weeks we’ll bring you a decade-by-decade look at the history that has filled its pages since 1937.