US Grant was the greatest equestrian president. Everyone says so!
“He was a great horseman and sat his horse as if he were part of the horse, all one figure. There was never a movement of any description that was not masterful and graceful. No one ever saw him disturbed in any way, that is, jolted or taken unaware on horseback, whether he was going fast or slow. He was a born horseman. He had a natural love for animals of all kinds and he was of kindly instincts, without being demonstrative at all, except to his family. He never abused an animal, never.” Corporal M. Harrison Strong Grant, The Equestrian
And then there’s Theodore. Whatever he didn’t possess in grace he made up for with enthusiasm!
Humbug Taft gets rid of Horses
Author Adrienne Morris 
14 responses to “God forbid that I should go to any Heaven in which there are no horses. ~R.B. Cunninghame Graham, letter to Theodore Roosevelt, 1917”
I read some wonderful things about Washington as a horseman too.
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Yeah, too bad there are no photos! I LOVE George. Probably my third favorite president (he was really close to being perfect). TR and Grant were flawed 🙂 I like that.
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Perhaps it was more the way people wrote about icons in George’s day. I’m sure he had flaws too, but it was generations before the way things get done today.
Great post. I love these little sidebars from history.
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Thanks! After reading James Flexner’s biography, Washington: The Indispensable Man years ago I was utterly inspired by Washington. He would be a great man in any age. I expected to be bored out of my mind, but not at all!
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My sister loves horses, had three of them. That’s when I learned how wonderful these creatures are. Those kind eyes, and the patience they have. Plus, such a sense of fun.
Good article, Adrienne.
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Thanks. I used to ride and loved it. I still wouldn’t mind a horse some day, but we have enough animals for now 🙂
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Well not a great president. More like one of the worst. However, the perfect general for the time. He really isn’t appreciated much. Grant’s tomb in NYC should be a top tourist site and I have passed near the area on the Westside Highway often but even though there is a little sign I never quite have made it there.
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Poor Grant. He was pretty awful as president. There’s this crazy trust he had for people–misplaced, but crazy in a way I find sadly admirable. He seems to have expected people to behave the way he would have. By all counts a fantastic husband and father and to me that’s better than being a great president. 🙂
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Well I think you would get some debate on that last line. Probably by a lot of former presidents. The image I have of Grant from my reading is dying from throat cancer unable to eat and yet finishing his autobiography to reestablish his families finances.
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Now isn’t that tragic and sweet? Ferdinand Ward really screwed the Grants over. Maybe they were gullible, but still. We live really close to Grant’s Cottage (where he died) and visited one summer. It’s kept exactly as it was.
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Nice pix, Adrienne. And true, having been around horses a lot in my teens, TR’s style was… a bit carefee?
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The more relaxed I was when riding the better the horse responded. My favorite was a black thoroughbred named Handsome. We looked great together–even though he bolted on me once. He was fast!
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When I lived in Kenya I used to ride near Karen Blixen’s house a mixed Arab small brown “poney”, only a few hands short of qualifyng for a horse. She had a mouth so delicate that I had to use a rubber-covered bit. Once I put her a metal bit and she threw me on the ground like three times before i realized my mistake. Changed the bit and we went out trotting happily together in the Ngong hills! 🙂
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That sounds fantastic!
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