The Long Riders' Guild

Named and Shamed!
Below is a chronological list of known authors and journalists who promoted the Hopkins mythology without verifying the background facts.

In 1967, Bob Grey, Editor-Publisher of Horseman magazine, told an eager reporter, "You can readily understand that our magazine would be accused of irresponsible reporting if we printed a story such as this [Hopkins and Hidalgo] without knowing the basis of the background facts."

The following writers would have done well to follow Editor Grey's advice.

Only author, Dr. Don Worcester, and equestrian journalist, Don Blazer, have had the courage to admit that they were taken in by the Hopkins Hoax.  "I was fooled," Worcester said, "because it was such a good story."
Unnamed reporter Article in Philadelphia Public Ledger, 1926
Charles B. Roth Articles in Horse magazine, 1930s
Charles B. Roth Article entitled "The Toughest Race," published in Horse and Horseman magazine in 1937.  The editor of Horse & Horseman was Peter Vischer.
Albert Harris Sections in book, The Blood of the Arab, 1941
Frazier Hunt Mention in book, Horses and Heroes, 1949
Pers Crowell Mention in book, Cavalcade of American Horses, 1951
J. Frank Dobie Mention in book, The Mustangs, 1952
Charles Little Article in Vermont Newspaper, 1953
John Richard Young Mention in book, The Schooling of the Western Horse, 1954.  A revised edition entitled The Schooling of the Horse was republished by the University of Oklahoma Press in 1982
Anthony Amaral Article in Horse Lovers Magazine, 1962
Jack Schaefer, author of Shane and Monte Walsh Mention in book, The Great Endurance Race – 600 Miles on a Single Mount, 1908, from Evanston, Wyoming, to Denver, 1963
Peter Vischer 1937 article by Charles Roth, "The Toughest Race," is reprinted in the book, Horse & Horseman - An Anthology, 1967
Anthony Amaral Article in Western Horseman magazine, 1969
Bradley Smith Mention in book, The Horse in the West, 1969
Glynn Haynes Mention in book, The American Paint Horse, 1976 and recently reissued by the University of Oklahoma Press.
Dr. Donald Worcester Mention in book, The Spanish Mustang, 1986
John Fusco Screenplay for the film Hidalgo, 2001
Susan Wloszczyna Article in USA Today, February 25th 2003
Fran Devereux Smith Article in Western Horseman magazine, July 2003
Jean Llewellyn Article in Horses All magazine, July 2003
William C. Reynolds Article in Cowboys and Indians magazine, September 2003
Debra Bokur Article in Horse & Rider magazine, January 2004
Jae-Ha Kim Article in Chicago Sun Times, February 29th 2004
Cathy Orr Article in American Cowboy magazine, April 2004

For an explanation of how these authors were misled, please click here to read an article which appeared in the October and December 2003 issues of Trail Blazer Magazine.

To read the letter from Editor-Publisher Bob Grey, please click here.

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