No Need to Hold these Horses: Announcing New Free to Use and Reuse Set

In the Library’s latest Free to Use and Reuse set of images drawn from the collections, the focus is on the horse, and all the myriad ways these noble animals have been part of our lives, including sports, recreation, agriculture, transportation, and so on.

I spotted one image that for me, and maybe for many people, reflects my first experience “riding a horse” – a spin on the back of a colorful carousel horse:

A carousel ride, often fondly called a "merry-go-round," at the annual Iowa State Fair in the capital city of Des Moines. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2016 Aug 11. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/highsm.39499 — *A carousel ride, often fondly called a “merry-go-round,” at the annual Iowa State Fair in the capital city of Des Moines.* Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2016 Aug 11. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/highsm.39499

Another photo reminded me of the first time I ever sat atop a real horse as a young girl, and couldn’t get over how high up I was, and how I enjoyed the chance to view the world from a totally new perspective:

Thomas W. Beede, resettlement client, Western Slope Farms, Colorado gives his youngest daughter a ride. Photo by Arthur Rothstein, 1939 Oct. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8a12591 — *Thomas W. Beede, resettlement client, Western Slope Farms, Colorado gives his youngest daughter a ride.* Photo by Arthur Rothstein, 1939 Oct. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8a12591

You can almost see the youngest daughter of Thomas Beede imagining what it would be like to take this horse for a ride across the farm, but my guess is this working horse has no interest in a leisure stroll.

Do these photos or others in the set trigger a memory for you? Browse a selection below and check out the entire set for an equine adventure.

Horses. Leaping a 3 ft. 6 hurdle. Photo by Eadweard Muybridge, 1881. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3g13748 — *Horses. Leaping a 3 ft. 6 hurdle.* Photo by Eadweard Muybridge, 1881. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3g13748

Ringling Bros. Galaxy of Champion Riders. Poster (lithograph) copyrighted by Courier Litho. Co., 1899. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.55080 — *Ringling Bros. Galaxy of Champion Riders*. Poster (lithograph) copyrighted by Courier Litho. Co., 1899. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.55080

Montauk Point, Rough Riders, Col. Roosevelt. Photo (cyanotype) by Frances Benjamin Johnston, 1898. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ds.04492 — *Montauk Point, Rough Riders, Col. Roosevelt.* Photo (cyanotype) by Frances Benjamin Johnston, 1898. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ds.04492

Shepherd with his horse and dog on Gravelly Range, Madison County, Montana. Photo by Russell Lee, 1942 Aug. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsac.1a35022 — *Shepherd with his horse and dog on Gravelly Range, Madison County, Montana.* Photo by Russell Lee, 1942 Aug. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsac.1a35022

[Inez Milholland Boissevain, wearing white cape, seated on white horse at the National American Woman Suffrage Association parade, March 3, 1913, Washington, D.C.] Photo from George Grantham Bain Collection, 1913 March 3. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsc.00031

The horse wrangler / Erwin E. Smith, Bonham, Texas. Photo by Erwin E. Smith, copyrighted 1910 June 24. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.07350 — *The horse wrangler / Erwin E. Smith, Bonham, Texas.* Photo by Erwin E. Smith, copyrighted 1910 June 24. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.07350

Union engine no. 3 - York, Pa., fire department. Photo copyrighted 1911. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c01290 — *Union engine no. 3 – York, Pa., fire department.* Photo copyrighted 1911. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c01290

Learn More:

Explore the entire set of Free to Use and Reuse: Horses, as well as additional sets of images from the Library of Congress.
Revisit Picture This entries including compelling images of horses from the Prints and Photographs Division’s collections:

Comments

Virginia A Rebyak says:

May 15, 2020 at 12:36 pm

Then why is our government trying to get rid of our wild horses? Reduce their sizes, mess up their DNA by cruel fertilization? The government along with special interests including ranchers, oil industry, mining, etc have destroyed our taken away most of the land the horses once roamed. And then they claim overpopulation and destroying the environment when wild horses are conducive to the health of the ecosystem and cattle destroy it along with man’s drilling, mining, etc. The horses roam a very small portion compared to cattle. And the government ignores the concerns of most Americans. They are destroying the last icons of our history and heritage. They have been here for millions of years and wild life and the environment survived. Interesting how the environment isn’t the same. It is because man is destroying the environment and much of the wildlife that has sustained the land and our dependency on it (plant life, water, food, etc).

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