Lucy Scribner Library - Library Collections - Special Collections

Skidmore's Equestrian Tradition

The roots of Skidmore’s equestrian tradition pre-date the founding of Skidmore College and derive from a close historical association between horses and the Skidmore family. The Skidmore school shield itself demonstrates the family’s strong identity with horsemanship, featuring three stirrup irons and leathers. According to Skidmore family historian Emily Hawley, "During the splendid days of the barons, the Scudamore [Skidmore is a variation of Scudamore] family was celebrated for its splendid horsemanship, and superior breed of horses. From this fact, I judge, came the emblem on the shield-field in the family coat-of-arms.” There are numerous mentions in various genealogical sources of the Skidmore family’s talent for horse breeding and riding.

The exact year horse riding came to be considered an activity offered under the auspices of Skidmore College is a matter of some dispute. A commission looking into the riding program at Skidmore in 1995 states that riding at Skidmore began in 1935. All student handbooks from 1915 onwards mention riding and rules for riding, but do not indicate that riding was an official Skidmore activity until the 1930’s handbooks. The Skidmore News, however, has front page reports of Skidmore sponsored horse shows and riding clubs starting in the 1920’s. In 1928, the News reports the election of Doris Speir as the manager of the College Riding Team and reports that the Skidmore Horse Show is “one of the most important events of the sporting season.” A September 30, 1931 article on Skidmore traditions states:

Athletics have their share in college tradition, too. First there is the horse show: everyone bundles up warmly and hikes out to the old race track to watch the girls who participate in the events.

What is clear is that horse riding was considered an ordinary part of life at Skidmore from the school’s beginnings.

Lucy Scribner, despite her Skidmore genealogy, was herself not a horsewoman and did not appear to take anything but a practical interest in horses. She kept high-quality horses and staff to care for them for her personal carriage but when it became apparent that the automobile was here to stay, she told her saddened but stoic head stableman that he would have to adapt to the new technology : she was swapping the horses for a motorized vehicle. There is no indication that she either promoted or discouraged riding as part of Skidmore life. Perhaps she didn’t give it much thought. Horses and equestrian activities would have been much taken for granted as a routine aspect of life for both her and her husband’s families and social circles.

A first clue pointing to why Skidmore may have decided to incorporate riding into official school activities is found in the 1916-1917 Handbook. This shows that a Hygiene regulation was instituted requiring each student to have at least one hour of exercise in the open air each day. This requirement was taken quite seriously. Students were required to keep a daily schedule of this exercise on school-issued cards and hand them in regularly to the Physical Director. The school may have had expectations that students would choose school regulated athletic activities for this requirement. However, according to ads beginning with the 1922 issued Handbook, forty percent of students and faculty were going to a local riding academy for their daily exercise. This groundswell of support for riding may have motivated Skidmore, for very practical reasons, to climb on the equestrian bandwagon.

An ad in the 1924-25 Skidmore Student's Handbook for the Saratoga Riding Academy declares that nearly 40% of Skidmore's students and faculty were taking their daily exercise on horseback.

Student handbooks starting in the 1920’s each year find cause to make several statements about where a student cannot wear her riding costume, which was essentially everywhere but the stables. The 1924 Student Handbook worriedly writes:

Riding habits may be worn only for riding, and coats should come well below the hips. If short coats or sweaters are used, a long coat must be worn going to and from the stables.

While riding clothing had become cause for great concern, simultaneously and rather inexplicably, students were no longer required to get permission from the Dean to go riding or to bring along a chaperon, unless there were to be men riding with them. Remarkably, for a few years at least, riding appears to have been a way to slip by the many restrictive rules imposed on students both on and off campus at the time. It appears that a young woman at Skidmore would have been able to find her greatest liberty in her college (and possibly home) life by going to the stables and renting a horse to go out riding on.

1927 Skidmore students riding out. Click on photo for larger version of image and related photo.

Three stirrup irons and leathers feature on the Skidmore family coat-of-arms and the Skidmore College shield. Skidmore Coat-of-Arms from The Skidmore Genealogy, Thomas Skidmore and His Descendants, 1911, compiled and published by Emily C. Hawley.

Lucy Skidmore Scribner, standing at right, with her two carriage horses before the September 1900 Floral Fete parade.

The institution of the Hygiene Regulation. Skidmore Circular of Information for Students, 1916-1917.

Riding was certainly very popular with early Skidmore students. Student Handbooks from the 1920’s do not indicate that riding was officially considered part of Skidmore’s athletics program, but the 1920-21 Skidmore School of Arts Student Handbook Athletics section mentions horses for rent to ride in Saratoga. The same handbook also contains an advertisement for a saddle horse rental business in town. The Athletics section of the 1922 Eromdiks yearbook has a full page paean to riding. This piece offers a glimpse into the attraction of riding for a Skidmore student of the time. The description of a thrilling ride on a frosty night to the Skidmore tea room door has an edge of wild excitement and freedom combined with culture and elegance that undoubtedly drew many women of the time to riding.

1922 Eromdiks, Athletics section.

Starting in 1920, students could go riding without the Dean's permission or securing a chaperon - unless they were to ride with men - but riding attire was under close scrutiny by the college. Student's Handbook, Skidmore College, 1924-1925.