1962-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1962 March Voice | Page 7

Voice

of the Tennessee Wolking Horse

Wqll Street Journql Sees Pleqsure Horse Boom We Accept This
(Editor's Note-The follorsing alticle ap-

peared in The \fall Street Journal entilely
on Page I in the Jan. 24. 1962 issue. It is
said to be unprecedented fol The Journal to
devote such Page 1 space to a recreational
horse storr'. It proles The Journal confidently
predicts a trelnendous "pleasure horse boom."

'fhis article

is leprinted

in full bv this

maga-

zine rsith the express consent of the Journal's
Executive Editor'. B-{G.)

HOPALO\G SUBURBANITE
SPURS THE POPULARITY
OF HORSE OWNERSHIP
Harness Firn Sales Double
Since 1958; Atlanta Sufiers
-\ Shortage Of Blacksmiths

BY PETER VANDERWICKEN
Staff Reporter ol
The Wall Street Journal

\'Vhen neighbors of the F. P. l{uders

in Akron, Ohio, look to see what the
five Ryder chiidren are up to these
days, they often find them galloping
about thc back lot on trvo Western
ponies^

The same scene is not uncommon
in the suburbs and outlying neighborhoods of Atlanta, Omaha or New
York City. Horseback riding, a sport
once largely limited to the wealthy or
to rural folks, is making a comeback
among the families of Suburbia, r.t'ho
nften orvn their own horses and stable
them in places like converted garages
or backyard barns.

Some riding instructors credit the
trend to the influence o[ television
lVestcrns, a desire to be "one up" on
thc neighbors, and the natural attraction a horse has for many people.
Some 288,000 suburban families in
the U. S. now own horses, estimates
Dr. M. E. Ensminger, chairman of the
Dept. of Anirnal Science at \'t'Iashington State University in Pullman,
Wash.

He figures pleasure horses now total
million, about 300,000 more t.han
in