Re: Robert's at the Beach

07/05/02 - posted by Laurie Colton

I remember the St. Francis Riding Academy. My mother and her friends used to ride there in the '30s and '40s. I was a student there in the '50s. What a great old place. If you were a real devoted rider, they used to let us water the polo ponies boarded there. They were high steppers so you really had to be on your toes to keep ahead of them. There was a dark dustiness to the indoor ring in daylight and riding two by two in the park was a special Saturday morning treat. There were two instructors that I think were called Mr. Boris (short, stocky and rather European), and Mr. Scott (very stiff in the British manner and ramrod straight in the saddle.) "Heels down - hands, hands!" My favorite horse was "Lisa", a sweet black mare - like riding a rocking horse, and my nemesis Little King - stubborn as a mule - delighted in trying to throw me. My daughter carried on the tradition down at
Cal Poly Pomona - home of the Kellog Arabian Stud Farm. Glad someone else still remembers.