Will Rogers Loved Horses:
Linked Races, Rides, Bets

By Joseph H. Carter

Will Rogers was a lifelong horse owner who worked cattle, played polo, trick rode and seldom missed a day without riding.      “You never saw a good horse grow where a good man didn't grow,” Rogers wrote.      Born in 1879 on the western frontier when Oklahoma was Indian Territory, Cherokee cowboy Rogers worked cattle on his father’s sprawling ranch and pushed livestock over the famous cattle-drive trails.      Will Rogers’ lariat, which became a legendary stage prop, was a working tool for calves.      Topping Broadway as a stand-up humorist who performed trick roping amid his act, Rogers’ homespun humor led to syndicated columns that were published in more than 600 newspapers. Together with books and radio talks, he spread views and spared no controversy.      “Horse racing,” he said, “that’s where the money is. That’s what the crowds pay to see.      “Legalize racing in every state,” he wrote when the subject was hot. “Sure people will bet, but they get to see the horses run. You certainly can't see General Motors and General Electric run when you bet on them.”      “Racing is doing great work to help the farmer and rancher to raise better horses,” he said.      “The man that doesn’t like a horse—there’s something the matter with him.      “Horsemanship; through the history of all nations has been considered one of the highest accomplishments.”      Rogers said, “money, horse racing and women are three things the boys just can’t figure out. A man that is not betting can dope out the winner.      “The old horse is coming back in fast lope,” Rogers said. “Thousands of people are riding a horse today that five years ago couldn't sit in a Ford with all the doors locked.”      A race horse is almost sure to breed another race horse. He may not be as fast as the old father horse. But he will show a lot of speed nevertheless. Dogs follow along in the make of their ancestors.      For buyers, Will Rogers said, “if I wanted good horses I would never leave America for 'em.”      Will Rogers owned many horses. In early day wild west shows, Comanche was his pride. Following the death of his mother at age ten, Will Rogers’ father gave him the dun horse.      Another, Teddy, mounted vaudeville stages across the country, and Will Rogers would rope the rider and horse. In the movie, Ropin’ Fool, Will Rogers exhibited his extraordinary roping skills with such feats as throwing three lariats at once: one caught the rider, another the horse’s head and the third swooped under to catch all four legs.      A bronze equestrian statue dominates the tomb of Will Rogers in Claremore, Oklahoma. It memorializes Will Rogers on a favorite horse named Soapsuds. The heroic-sized statue is entitled Riding into the Sunset.

 

Note: Will Rogers’ quotes are from the archives of the
Will Rogers Memorial Museums of Oklahoma.
Carter, a former wire service correspondent and
newspaper reporter, is author of the 1991 Avon book,
Never Met A Man I Didn’t Like:
The Life and Writings of Will Rogers.