Will Rogers was a horse man. Throughout his life, he owned horses and his children had horses. For cowboying, acting or playing, Will Rogers had horses. As a young cowboy, his vocation was roping from horseback. He refined his trade into fine arts of trick roping. He mastered horsemanship becoming an accomplished trick rider and polo player with a three-goal handicap. Comanche was his favorite pony as a boy. Soapsuds was his favorite as an adult. There were many other horses–with names like Dopey–that reigned in Will Rogers life and captured his fondness.
His writings about horses are memorable.
“A man that don’t love a horse, there is something the matter with him.”
“If he has no sympathy for the man that does love horses then there is something worse the matter with him.”
“The old horse is coming back in a high lope. Thousands of people are riding a horse today that five years ago couldn’t sit in a Ford with all the doors locked.”
“Polo, racing and horse shows all are doing great work to help the farmer and rancher to raise better horses.”
“Legalize racing in every State. Sure people will bet, but they get to see the horses run and you certain can’t see General Motors and General Electric and General Utility run when you bet on them.”
About fiesta day in Santa Barbara, Calif., Will Rogers wrote in the New York Times, August 19, 1932: “Hundreds and hundreds of beautiful horses in the parade and a man without a silver saddle is a vagrant.”
“Horses raise what the farmer eats and eats what the farmer raises. You can’t plow the ground and get gasoline.”
Commenting on the depression-era possibility that his family may be forced to eat horses because that was all he raised on his ranch, Will Rogers wrote March 2, 1933: “I love horses and I only ask–don’t let me know which one we are eating today.”
“The country has gone sane and got back to horses.”
At Aklavik, Northwest Territories, August 12, 1935, Will Rogers wrote “there is a horse here–the furthest north of any horse, and he eats fish and travels on snowshoes.”
“Horsemanship through the history of all nations has been considered one of the highest accomplishments. You can’t pass a park without seeing a statue of some old codger on a horse. It must be to his bravery, you can tell it’s not to his horsemanship.”
“Money, horse racing and women: three things the boys just can’t figure out.”
“After seeing kids play polo against big guys, it only shows that horses are the greatest equalizer in the world. No matter what you weigh, the little fellow is your equal on a horse.”
“There will never be a time when the old horse is not superior to any auto ever made.”
“They used to take your horse and if they were caught they got hung for it. Now they take your car, and if they are caught it’s a miracle.”
“If everybody (traded his car for a horse) they would be out of debt in a couple of years. Just think, no gas, no tires, no roads to pay for.”
Will Rogers on Horses
Will Rogers was a horse man. Throughout his life, he owned horses and his children had horses. For cowboying, acting or playing, Will Rogers had horses. As a young cowboy, his vocation was roping from horseback. He refined his trade into fine arts of trick roping. He mastered horsemanship becoming an accomplished trick rider and polo player with a three-goal handicap. Comanche was his favorite pony as a boy. Soapsuds was his favorite as an adult. There were many other horses–with names like Dopey–that reigned in Will Rogers life and captured his fondness.
His writings about horses are memorable.
“A man that don’t love a horse, there is something the matter with him.”
“If he has no sympathy for the man that does love horses then there is something worse the matter with him.”
“The old horse is coming back in a high lope. Thousands of people are riding a horse today that five years ago couldn’t sit in a Ford with all the doors locked.”
“Polo, racing and horse shows all are doing great work to help the farmer and rancher to raise better horses.”
“Legalize racing in every State. Sure people will bet, but they get to see the horses run and you certain can’t see General Motors and General Electric and General Utility run when you bet on them.”
About fiesta day in Santa Barbara, Calif., Will Rogers wrote in the New York Times, August 19, 1932: “Hundreds and hundreds of beautiful horses in the parade and a man without a silver saddle is a vagrant.”
“Horses raise what the farmer eats and eats what the farmer raises. You can’t plow the ground and get gasoline.”
Commenting on the depression-era possibility that his family may be forced to eat horses because that was all he raised on his ranch, Will Rogers wrote March 2, 1933: “I love horses and I only ask–don’t let me know which one we are eating today.”
“The country has gone sane and got back to horses.”
At Aklavik, Northwest Territories, August 12, 1935, Will Rogers wrote “there is a horse here–the furthest north of any horse, and he eats fish and travels on snowshoes.”
“Horsemanship through the history of all nations has been considered one of the highest accomplishments. You can’t pass a park without seeing a statue of some old codger on a horse. It must be to his bravery, you can tell it’s not to his horsemanship.”
“Money, horse racing and women: three things the boys just can’t figure out.”
“After seeing kids play polo against big guys, it only shows that horses are the greatest equalizer in the world. No matter what you weigh, the little fellow is your equal on a horse.”
“There will never be a time when the old horse is not superior to any auto ever made.”
“They used to take your horse and if they were caught they got hung for it. Now they take your car, and if they are caught it’s a miracle.”
“If everybody (traded his car for a horse) they would be out of debt in a couple of years. Just think, no gas, no tires, no roads to pay for.”