The Mystery of the Other White House Pon(ies)

1962 White House Christmas Card/Photo courtesy of John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, Massachusetts

Macaroni on the 1962 White House Christmas card, photo courtesy John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, Massachusetts

Thanks to mass media, Macaroni the pony became world famous.

Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson had given Macaroni to Caroline and John-John. But did you know that LBJ gave the children two ponies?

Or did he? Conflicting reports abound.

One of the ponies from LBJ, a gift for John-John, was named Tex. But we rarely ever seen anything about Tex. It’s like he’s a small footnote to history.

Macaroni, however

Of course, Macaroni is immortalized in countless photo ops, like visits to Dad on the doorstep at work:

John and Caroline Kennedy show their new pony, Macaroni, to their father, President John F Kennedy(Photo by Robert Knudsen)

(Note: I’m not embedding the photos because I’m a little nervous about copyrights, but I can link to them.)

• Scroll down to see a photo of Caroline riding Macaroni in the Rose Garden
• Macaroni greeting the press down by the Ellipse
• Here’s Macaroni nibbling distinguished grass on the South Lawn
• Macaroni greeting a dignitary

According to a list of Kennedy family pets from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston, Macaroni was a 10-year-old part-Shetland gelding.

The entry goes on to describe him as a roan (the only color specification)  with four white stockings and a star. The reference also adds that Caroline learned to ride on Macaroni.

But LBJ also gave Tex to Caroline in 1961. Tex is listed as a three-year-0ld gelding, a Yucatan bay pony, brown with one black shoe.

(FWIW, I can’t find any other references to a Yucatan pony anywhere on the Web. Hello, readers, am I missing something?)

And the library archives also list Tex as a resident of the White House.

So, where was he? Certainly not in any of the news photos.

The Horsey Set Net investigates

An email to the reference department at the library brought this response:

According to the book White House Pets, by Margaret Truman (David McKay company, Inc.; NY 1969, pg 156), Lyndon B. Johnson gifted Tex to the family and he lived at the White House with Macaroni and Leprechaun.

Leprechaun? Was there a third pony at the White House?

The JFK Library lists Leprechaun, a Connemara pony as having been a gift from the People of Ireland. Not as a gift from LBJ.

As Fran Jurga also points out in her blog, LBJ also gave a pony named Tex to Jon-Jon.

And here’s another somewhat conflicting report from the History Channel, which mentions that John-John had inherited his father’s allergy to animals.And that LBJ’s gift was Leprechaun.

I’m confused. I believe Fran. She has tremendous authority with me. But then there’s Margaret Truman. The former First Daughter probably saw the pon(ies.) Probably had Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis on what passed for “speed dial” in those days.

Also, knowing now that JFK was allergic to horses sort of puts an interesting subtext to the photo above outside the Oval Office.

Interpret it how you want: was he being a savvy political operator? Or family man at his home office with his children and their pony?

Reading between the lines

Okay. Here’s what I think happened in the mystery of the missing White House ponies.

Macaroni may have been the most suited to life in the limelight and with small children. He was a 10-year-old gelding. Tex was 3. I have no data on Leprechaun.

A 3-year-old horse, even a short one, is likely to be a little too lively to be a pal for small children. Mrs. Kennedy was skilled enough to handle, even train, a young horse, but I’m sure she didn’t have the time. Especially as a US First Lady.

I’ll keep looking into this more. Especially since I just returned from a trip to northern Virginia horse country, which I will blog about in upcoming posts. That’s why I haven’t posted for so long. I’ve been away.

Happy 92nd, JFK

At any rate, as I write this, we look forward to what would have been the 92nd birthday of JFK.

Much of America marks the date of his death, but few remember the date of his birth: May 29, 1917.

So, Happy Birthday, to the man who was allergic to horses yet allowed his children the experience of having a pony, as well as other pets, at home.

Even if he suspected that it would make for charming news photos.

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Tags: Caroline Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, JFK, John F. Kennedy, Macaroni, Margaret Truman, White House, White House pony