Western Horseman Collections
bandera, texas
I was born and raised in Chicago but spent my summers at a YMCA Camp riding horses, where I got hooked! I bought my first Western Horseman in 1977 and have subscribed since 1983; I loved articles about cowboys and big ranches.
I later joined the Marine Corps and hung out with a rodeo crowd. Camp Pendleton in SoCal had a huge base stable with lots of trails. I went from renting a horse every weekend to buying one. I rode many miles in those SoCal hills in the early ’80s.
In 1994, I answered an ad by an old saddlemaker (Jack Thomas) selling his entire Western Horseman collection from the first issue in 1936. A couple of days later, I was on his doorstep, and he helped me load 50-plus years of Western Horsemans in my truck.
He picked up on how excited I was to obtain his collection and invited me to his house, where he spent the afternoon showing me his horsehair bridles, miniature saddles, bits and spurs, etc. I was a kid in a candy store! It took me two years to read all those back issues. So much history!
My Dad was a great horseman; after 30 years as a Chicago policeman, he retired to Prescott, Arizona. He befriended some ranchers who needed help working cattle and became a good hand. Dad brought me out, too, and I was able to fulfill a dream of working on some big Arizona ranches (7Up, P-Bar, Hozoni and Westfork). I would plan my leave from the Marine Corps around the fall and spring works. I got to ride some rough but beautiful country.
When I retired from a career in the Marines, I bought a little place just outside of Bandera, Texas, where I could have a couple of horses and continue riding. I rode many miles and even got into a Craig Cameron clinic to improve my horsemanship.
Western Horseman magazine taught me so much through its almost 90 years of publication, and my collection is one of my prized possessions!
mack dunnavant
Crewe, virginia
I have been reading and collecting Western Horseman for more than 64 years. Various moves have lost a lot of my earlier editions. I still have more more than 400 Western Horseman editions, the earliest starting in December 1990. Then, every edition for every year from January 1991 to March 2024. I still enjoy reading the older editions as well as the current.
Jason & vonda hutchinsongreenville, virginia
My husband is not a hoarder or someone who “keeps” things lying around. But since the day I met him, he has been adamant that his Western Horseman magazines be kept.
We were married in May 1987 and are only missing five issues since that time. The earliest magazine we have is June 1971. From June 1971 until 1987, we only have 58 magazines. But we have 499 different magazines in total and probably close to 300 are duplicate issues. We also have the postcards.
Fun fact: In high school, Jason would take other horse lovers’ magazines. He would give his “Horse and Rider” magazines away, but never his Western Horseman magazines. His dad had the magazines back to 1972, but that collection, unfortunately, has been lost.
don bailey
simla, colorado
The three oldest issues I have saved are from 1940, 1945 and 1947. I have 35 copies from 1953-1958. I have 46 copies from the 1960s. In the 1970s, I only saved 17 copies. From the 1980s to the present, I basically have all copies of the magazine. I purchased and read my first copy of Western Horseman during the summer before my 8th-grade year in school on my way to California with my family. I still have that issue, and once I was an adult, I began to buy occasional issues. Then, in the early 1980s, my wife began our subscription. In my Saddleland Museum, I have a file cabinet with all these issues and roughly 30 Western Horseman calendars.
Thurmon johnston
kingston, tennessee
My Western Horseman collection began in 1957. At that time, the only places magazines were sold in my little eat Tennessee hometown were drugstores and five-and-dime stores. Any magazines that were unsold at the time had the front covers removed, and the body of the magazine was trashed. The store owner then turned in the front covers to the distributor for credit.
A classmate found two copies of Western Horseman and, knowing my interest in horses, gave them to me. These issues were April 1957 and May 1957. I still have them.
In July of 1958, my parents bought a horse for me. At the age of 13, I had what I had wanted since I was 7 years old. My older sister started a subscription to Western Horseman, which began with the September 1958 issue.
I have all issues since then up to the current issue of April 2024. I bought May, June, July and August 1958 issues and added them to the set. Also, I have January, May, June, August and November 1949; June, September and October 1950; May, July, August, November and December 1951; February, March, April, August, October and December 1952; June, July, August, September and October 1953; January, April, June and July 1954; February, June, July, August, September, October and November 1955; May, August, September and November 1956; and May and November 1957; March, June and July 1958 are other editions I have added.
Also, I have the 80-year DVD set of Western Horseman and 31 of the Western Horseman books dating back to “Beginning Western Horsemanship” by Dick Spencer III, with his daughter Bobbi Joe pictured on the front cover. Numerous caps, T-shirts, a blue-and-white satin jacket with George Phippen artwork on the back, a denim jacket and a black jacket with “WH” embroidery on the back are collectibles, as well as the 50th, 60th and 75th-anniversary belt buckles.
In 2015, my wife Audrey and I went to the Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering in Fort Worth. While there, we went to the Western Horseman office, and Fran Smith, the editor of many of the Western Horseman books, gave us a tour. We keep in touch with Fran and frequently talk with her.
In August 2018, we were so pleased to have Christine Hamilton come by our home to see us. …Words cannot express how flattered and pleased we were that she would take the time to visit us.
I gave a copy of Western Horseman to a good friend. He switched to Appaloosas and Quarter Horses from Tennessee Walking Horses as a result of that magazine. He had State and Regional Champion Appaloosas, Quarter Horses, and one National Champion Appaloosa mare and Reserve World Champion.
I am so glad I found out about Western Horseman, and I still look forward to getting it from the mailbox about the 15th of the month. The 1930s produced three epic beginnings: The Sons of the Pioneers singing group in 1934, the Chuckwagon Gang gospel group in 1935 and the Western Horseman magazine in 1936. All are still going strong, and I hope they always will.
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