Central Park c. 1970. Paul Goldfinger photo. NYC Street Series. ©
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
When I see horseback riders I think of cowboy movies from my childhood or adult cowboy movies like “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” I remember “High Noon,” Roy Rodgers, Mexican sombreros, and Indians. I don’t think of equestrian competitions like they had in my last hometown–Chester Township. I had a neighbor on my street named Bill Horsey, and whenever I rode by his house, I whinnied, sending my sons into hysterics. As someone with a funny last name, I found humor in Bill’s dilemma. These days the “boys” are less likely to laugh out-loud at my jokes.
There was a horse-drawn wagon in Ocean Grove which we all enjoyed seeing clopping down Main Avenue. But that horse is gone now.
And finally I think of the dopey Mayor of New York City trying to put the horse-drawn carriages out of business. He lost that battle, and one quaint memory of old New York remains.
I recall taking this photo from one of those stone bridges in Central Park. The two riders were moving along briskly on a wintry day, and it seemed nostalgic even though I never rode horses except one time at Kutscher’s in the Borscht Belt where I got knocked off my mount; but that’s another story.
Here’s a song which evokes another horsey era, recalled by a Jewish guy from Minnesota—–Robert Allen Zimmerman, aka Bob Dylan, with “Romance in Durango.”