Riding Halls & Other Horse Related Buildings

[Philip S]

In the northern climates especially cavalry troops usually had an indoor riding hall. Some of these were quite elaborate and survive to this day. It would be interesting to share pictures of these halls. Pat, for instance, has told me about a very unusual one in Casper, WY.

Below are postcard views of the two large riding halls at Fort Riley.

[Joseph Sullivan]

Interesting. Note the mirrors so the riders can see and correct themselves. Wish I had one now. Video tape is nice, but it cannot be seen st the exact moment that you are on the horse.

Joe

[Philip S]

I had not noticed the mirrors...good observation. There are a lot of jokes about the mirrors in old editions of the Cavalry School annual "The Rasp."

Below is the interior of the West Point Riding Hall.

[Philip S]

This is a smaller armory in Bellefonte, PA. The troop (103 PA Cav) moved to newer quarters at the edge of town in the 30's (still existing as a Guard Armory). The old building has been remodeled into apartments.

[Philip S]

Another still existing cavalry armory in Tyrone, PA. I have several of their last horse show programs. The nearby Grier Girl's School participated in these shows. Grier still exists and has an active horse program. I understand that the riding area was paved over. From the alley to the rear you can see the stable windows. It is still in active use by the PA Guard.
http://www.tyronehistory.org/paguard.html

[Pat Holscher]

Originally posted by Philip S
Pat, for instance, has told me about a very unusual one in Casper, WY.

There was indeed a very unusual one here in Casper which had been built for the 115th. I'll come back and post some photographs of it when I dig them up.

The armory, which was large enough to allow for indoor riding, was oblong in shape and fairly large. The local high school used it for indoor football practice at one time, and dances, and even indoor polo matches, were held in it. When it came down in the 80s, it was supposedly one of the last, if not the last, round armory left in the country. Unfortunately the brick which had been used to build it was of very poor quality, and the building was beyond hope when it came down. Nonetheless the old troopers of the 115th were opposed to it being torn down, and organized opposition to it. A bronze memorial in the shape of its likeness, which I also have some photos of, stands in the center of a park where it had been.

Pat

[Redhorse]

I'm at Fort Leavenworth on TDY, and have noticed that several original buildings are intact. One riding hall is now a gymnasium. Several of the original stable buildings now house the Stable Actvity for horse owners assigned to the post.

Stephen P. Wuensche
Captain, US Army
Field Artillery

[Philip S]

Do you think you could get some pictures to share? I visited there a couple years ago and wondered if the Army Frontier museum was at one time a riding hall.

[Redhorse]

I've been taking pictures where possible. The building the museum is in is a leftover WWII gymnasium. They were all built to the same pattern and are identical no matter which post you visit.

The stables are quite nice, even though they show their age inside.

Stephen P. Wuensche
Captain, US Army
Field Artillery

[Ron Smith]

The 2nd & 3rd photos are of Kingdom Hall (I think), which is now a gymnasium. It sits across from the Cavalry Museum, and is a grand looking building. It is a shame that such great places fall to the wayside.

Regards,
Ron Smith

[Pat Holscher]

The memorial to the 115th Armory in Casper, WY.








And the results when it all came down.

Pat

[Paul Scholtz]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Redhorse</i>
<br />I'm at Fort Leavenworth on TDY, and have noticed that several original buildings are intact. One riding hall is now a gymnasium. Several of the original stable buildings now house the Stable Actvity for horse owners assigned to the post.

Stephen P. Wuensche
Captain, US Army
Field Artillery
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Steve,

Great to hear from you! Glad you have good duty at a great post. Just beware of all the scrambled eggs. While you are there, can you find out something about the 1840's cavalry group? like whether it's a recognized military horse group or just a group of volunteers. They usually come to the American Royal Horse show in November and make a big splash, they even have a fine set of artillery pieces, and they have used them at the Concert of Champions in the 1812 overture and other pieces needing fast and accurate percussion.
Go redleg!

At your(mounted)service,

Paul Scholtz

[Philip S]

Thanks Pat. The Casper armory was definitely distinctive.

Below are two more Pennsylvania armories. The Philadelphia 1900 dated armory is downtown near Rittenhouse Square. It is still in use by the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, though the riding ring has been paved. There was a second cavalry armory just west of 30th Street Station. The Waynesboro armory and stables was one of a group of armories built in the 30's. Most of them still survive.

[Pat Holscher]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Philip S</i>
<br />

The Philadelphia 1900 dated armory is downtown near Rittenhouse Square. It is still in use by the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, though the riding ring has been paved


<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Wow, that armory is really unusual. I'm surprised it is still in use.

Pat

[Pat Holscher]

Here's some photos of the 115th Armory in Casper as it came down.



This is of the Armory just before it came down. The crest is that which the 115th used. The crest here was a bit of a protest, as the old troopers actually formed an association to try to keep the armory from being torn down.





The second and third photos show the interior of the armory as tear down was underway.


Pat

[Philip S]

Here is a link to a very large riding ring at Yale University which was built in 1916 for cavalry training and continues in use as an equestrian and polo center (note the links to more pictures at the top):
http://www.yale.edu/athletic/Facility/A ... istory.htm

[Philip S]

This is an interesting conversion of the Albany, NY New Scotland Ave. cavalry armory into a hotel/conference center:
http://www.state.ny.us/governor/press/y ... 5_2_99.htm
http://www.universityheights.org/about_uha/index.cfm

[Pat Holscher]

Philip, on the First City Troop's Armory the building next door has "Riding Hall" on it. Was this part of the Armory?

Pat

[Philip S]

It actually says "Riding Academy." I do not think it was part of the armory. It was, however, quite common for a National Guard troop to be associated with civilian riding programs. This gave added revenue to maintain the expensive horses and also gave the horses needed exercise. I have come across a few such relationships with girls' schools. Surprisingly some troops also leased out their horses like a boarding stable.

[Pat Holscher]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Philip S</i>
<br />It actually says "Riding Academy." I do not think it was part of the armory. It was, however, quite common for a National Guard troop to be associated with civilian riding programs. This gave added revenue to maintain the expensive horses and also gave the horses needed exercise. I have come across a few such relationships with girls' schools. Surprisingly some troops also leased out their horses like a boarding stable.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

That's interesting. I'd run across that with the NG unit in Douglas, WY, which sponsored a high school girls mounted drill team, as I've posted in the NG horse thread. I wasn't aware that sort of thing was common.

Pat