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.”

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