PenDragon - the official magazine of Lyford Cay International School PenDragon Vol 2, Spring 2016 | Page 14

a half days [in Inagua] and saw no donkeys during the
first two days.”
Horses have existed and survived in New Providence
under more domesticated conditions. There is a long
history of horse-drawn surreys, or carriages, carrying
visitors, particularly in historic Nassau. During the time
when cars were replacing horses, Arondale Griffin took
passengers on his handbuilt wooden surreys from
Frederick Street as far as Forts Charlotte and Montagu,
and the Nassau Beach Hotel. Griffin’s grandson, Thomas
Harcourt Demeritte - known as “Horseman” - continued
the tradition, giving tourists tours from Parliament to
Frederick, Church, Nassau or Shirley Streets.
Wild donkeys in Inagua.
There were horse races recorded by Nassau’s Royal
Gazette as early as 1805. Governor Sir Bede Clifford
instituted cricket, polo and horse racing to attract high-
end visitors to the colony following prohibition and the
Great Depression. It worked, and former bootlegger
George Murphy opened Hobby Horse Hall behind Cable
Beach in 1934, where it stood until 2011.
The horses were not thoroughbreds, but a smaller local
breed mostly from Exuma known as quarter horses, for
their speed at running a quarter mile. The jockeys were
also small: they averaged 90 pounds and 14 years of
age. The track was owned in succession by the Bethell
brothers, the Earl of Carnarvon and Tim McCauley, Alexis
Nihon and Dr Raymond Sawyer. A wide cross section of
society patronised the track, from international movie
stars to local gamblers - men and women across the
racial and socio-economic spectrum.
Hobby Horse Hall in its heyday.
Canadian horse breeder Edward Plunkett (EP) Taylor,
who developed Lyford Cay and founded LCIS, also
helped foster the island’s connection to racing and
love of horses. It is well known that he owned 1964
Kentucky Derby winner Northern Dancer, but he also
owned a horse named New Providence which became
the first thoroughbred to win the Canadian Triple Crown
in 1959. His thoroughbred gelding named Lyford Cay
won Canada’s top prize, the Queen’s Plate in 1957. The
racing colours for EP Taylor’s Windfields Farm remain the
official school colours of LCIS.
EP Taylor
Photo: Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame | Panthéon des sports canadiens
SPORTSHALL.CA | PATHEONSPORTS.CA
Today, there are at least eight stables offering horse
TODAY, THERE ARE AT LEAST EIGHT STABLES OFFERING HORSE RIDING OPPORTUNITIES
TO VISITORS TO THE BAHAMAS ON THE ISLANDS OF NEW PROVIDENCE, GRAND BAHAMA,
ELEUTHERA AND LITTLE SAN SALVADOR. SOME OF THESE STABLES ALSO SUPPORT A
GROWING EQUESTRIAN SCENE THAT IS CONTINUING THE NATION’S LONG TRADITION
OF RIDING.
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