CAPTION, R: "Mr. and Mrs. Robert Souther are active organizers of Etowah Riding Club which will hold its first show Saturday near the golf course in Etowah. Mr. Souther is chairman of the event."
CAPTION, L: "Colonel Frank Huyler of Hendersonville [Rugby Road], will serve as Steward of the First Annual Etowah Horse Show to be held on Saturday, September 21 at the Etowah Riding Club. He is pictured above riding "Country Girl" at the finish of last years 100 mile endurance ride, held in Asheville. ..." |
ETOWAH RIDING CLUB Turnpike Rd @ Brickyard Organizing Meeting held August 23, 1966
"The first meeting was on August 23, 1966 at Winborn [and Betty] Gash’s home, here in Etowah. Some of the persons present at that meeting were the Gash family of course (this is James and Tommy’s family), Mary Jon Tilley Allison, Ronald and Donald Smith, Judy Long, Silver Mann, Ike Cairnes, Kline Sintell, Jimmy Shelton, Glen Hunnicutt, Lloyd Thompson, Fred Laughter and the Gillespie family. After this first meeting, the meetings were held at the Grange Hall on Brickyard Road where the library now is [the library moved to the new building in 2008]."
- Sylvene McDowell |
The above photo announces the 2nd show of the Club held May 3, 1969. L to R: James Gash, Mike Pace on pony, Yosihazer Kinoshita, Leon Pace, Philip Goodrich, Judy Long, Tommy Hefner, Charles McCrary, Kline Sentelle. WC Tribune, April 11, 1969.
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When Horses Owned Families - the 1960s
Leon Pace recalls when Etowah was horse country
Club member, 1966 - 1972 "In 1963 in June, me and my wife Jean moved to Etowah. We didn't know we were moving to horse country. We lived on School House Road and that was a freeway for horses and horseback riders. The first one that I encountered was James Gash about 12 years old on an appaloosa pony named Tony. And then I got to see Ike Cairnes and his two boys. They'd ride over the river and back. And Mary Jon (Tilly Allison) would be with them sometimes. And the Smith boys, they lived between my house and the river. And I realized that we were in horse country." Billy Hall and some other children were playing with a little buckskin pony in the subdivision that we lived in. They brought it up so Mike (Leon's two year old son) could see it and take a ride on it. They told us it belonged to some highway patrolman who, I think, lived on old 64 toward the fire department and he wanted to sell that pony. And so I bought that for Mike. Anyhow, Clifford Gillespie stopped down there and talked to me and said, "You know we're starting a riding club and that boy's got a pony. Ya'll need to join the riding club." ... So we attended the first meeting at the Grange Hall [the second meeting of the club]. Club activities included - there were regular meetings held at the Grange Hall. There was a Christmas party and dance each year, either at the Grange Hall or the Lions Club building. We had organized trail rides and some of the places that we rode were the Follies and the trail in the Pisgah National Forest, and the Dupont property. And we made short rides through the neighborhood. Believe it or not, there wasn't enough cars that you could ride on the roads around here then safely. And one other little story I want to tell. We use to ride to Earl Gray's house. Earl would come out and watch us go by. My kid was small so I was afraid to have the pony loose with just him riding it by himself, so I always rode with a lead line. And Earl enjoyed telling people that we started riding when he (Mike) was so little that we had to tie him on the pony. But we never tied him on it. That was a lead line for safety. After the riding ring was constructed, we would sometimes gather there to work the horses. We did overnight campouts and trail rides to places like Cantrell Creek Lodge, Wolf Ford off the Yellow Gap Road in the Pisgah National Forest. We rode from here over to Pinnacle Mountain above where I live now one time and camped out at a little old lookout on Pinnacle Mountain where they come off with hang gliders now. The Wash Creek field at North Mills River, we camped over there on October 12, the same year we had the first horse show (1968). And we used Frank Merrill's place near Cascade Lake. And we camped one time at Neil Hawkins' farm up at Blantyre. And for a fundraiser before we had the first horse show, we sold tickets and raffled off a horse. And a Mrs. [Margaret] Combs, a retired teacher from Etowah School, won the horse. And we took up a collection and provided groceries and toys and clothing and things for needy families for Christmas one year. And one big thing to do back in those days was to go to Greer, South Carolina to attend the horse auction and tack sale. There would be several club members at that occasionally. And then of course put on horse shows. And I'm talking from 1966 to 1972. That was my years in the riding club." |
![]() Richard Brown recalls club fun and work
"We would have fun days where we'd have a picnic and we'd play games and we'd have races. We'd show our horses and let the kids have a chance to walk them around the ring and we'd have announcers that would egg them on and make them feel like they were pretty important. And it was a wonderful family [time]. We did lots of work, you had to keep the fence in repair. You had to keep the Feed Trough in repair. You had to make sure that the place was mowed. ... We all participated and we'd camp out for two or three nights. ... It was a good social interaction we had in the club for young families." above, Dorothy Dalton Brown riding Allegro left, Richard & Dorothy Brown with Chance, joined the club in 1978 |

For more information about today's active ERC, visit the website of etowahridingclub.com
ETOWAH RIDING CLUB is on FACEBOOK
From the FACEBOOK page:
"The Etowah Riding Club is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina near Hendersonville, Brevard, and Asheville. We are a small community who care about horses, enjoys riding, and possess a desire to continually learn how to become better horsemen and women.
ERC meets monthly throughout the year to socialize and learn. During warm weather we sponsor several formal shows and fun events, while members and friends ride together informally throughout the year.
The ERC Show Grounds are located at the junction of Turnpike Rd and Brickyard (Etowah, NC)."
ETOWAH RIDING CLUB is on FACEBOOK
From the FACEBOOK page:
"The Etowah Riding Club is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina near Hendersonville, Brevard, and Asheville. We are a small community who care about horses, enjoys riding, and possess a desire to continually learn how to become better horsemen and women.
ERC meets monthly throughout the year to socialize and learn. During warm weather we sponsor several formal shows and fun events, while members and friends ride together informally throughout the year.
The ERC Show Grounds are located at the junction of Turnpike Rd and Brickyard (Etowah, NC)."
This page is presented based on the generous contributions of
Dorothy & Richard Brown, Sylvene McDowell and Leon Pace, former members of the ERC, 1960s & 70s.
- Thank you -
Dorothy & Richard Brown, Sylvene McDowell and Leon Pace, former members of the ERC, 1960s & 70s.
- Thank you -