Honey Craven
Encyclopedia
Clarence Leo "Honey" Craven (10 September 1904–July 22, 2003), was an equestrian
, ringmaster
and manager of the National Horse Show
at Madison Square Garden
in New York, the Devon Horse Show
in Pennsylvania, and ringmaster at nearly every prominent horse show
in the United States. He also managed the Eastern States Show, the Children's Services Show and the North Shore Horse Show.
Honey Craven was born and raised in Brookline, Massachusetts
(near Boston ). His father was an Irish liveryman who worked for Harris Upham's brokerage firm. Craven said his nickname came from an old vaudeville song, "Honey Boy." He started working with horses at age 12 when, after school, he would pick up horses from nearby estates and take them to a blacksmith's shop, sometimes riding bareback. He left high school after his freshman year to gallop racehorses, then worked as an exercise boy for a wealthy grocer, James Butler, who showed hunters and jumpers. He aspired to being a racing jockey
, and rode half-mile tracks summers in New England, but he never rode races on the big time. He then turned to riding jumpers in shows
.
In 1927, Craven began his association with the National Horse Show, the United States' showcase equestrian competition. He was recommended by W. Reginald Reeves, secretary of the National. Always a meticulous dresser with never a button wrong, Honey recalled, "I think he picked me because I already had classy riding clothes." As assistant ringmaster, wearing top hat, gloves, red jacket and white jodhpurs, he sounded the coaching horn to summon the horses and the riders. He earned $10 a day and generous gratuities. Once, an owner tipped him $500 for pinning a blue ribbon on his horse, which would have received it, tip or not.
In 1928, Mr. Craven was promoted to ringmaster, a job he held for 30 years. He was the president of the Professional Horsemen's Association in February 1958 when he was appointed as the National's manager, a job he held for 25 years. From 1983 until his death, he held the title manager emeritus, even though he retired from the show in 1991.
When he took the job as manager of the National Horse Show, he had never managed a show. At the old Garden, the show could use the National Armory stables for 500 horses, but after the move to the new Garden in 1968, only 311 stalls were available, some of which could only be used for tack
. Each year Craven shoehorned upward of 300 horses into the fifth-floor walk-up that served as the stabling area at the Garden, an after-dark maneuver that often took place while a New York Rangers
hockey game was being played below. It also meant dozens of temporary stalls in horse vans on the streets of the garment district
and headaches for Craven. It was an annual tradition for newspapers to carry a photo of dump trucks unloading tons of loam and binder's clay onto the concrete floor of the Garden - the same dirt that was rented and returned each November for more than 40 years. Craven also had to streamline the show and cut some traditional classes to enable the show to end by 11 o'clock p.m. to avoid overtime pay to Garden employees.
Until it moved from 1989 to 1995 to the New Jersey Meadowlands, the National Horse Show was the second longest-running sporting event in New York City after the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
. In 1999 it returned to the Garden. "Moving it to New Jersey was the biggest mistake ever made," said Honey. "Some nights, there weren't even enough people in the stands to start a bridge game."
At Devon he served successively as ringmaster, manager and manager emeritus. He became manager of the show in 1976. When he began there as ringmaster in 1939, there was no public-address system. He would announce the class judging, determine when the next class would start, then mount a polo pony
and race to the barns to pass along the information so the exhibitors could get their horses into the ring on time. Then he would return to the ring.
As ringmaster, his job was more than blowing the horn to call the classes. He was responsible for policing the ring, assisting the judges and solving any problems that arose. Craven was known as one who wouldn't permit any second-rate behavior, but whose primary concern was always the welfare of the horse and rider.
Sportswriter Red Smith
recounted the tale Honey told of the Sunday when a Monsignor Melton, midway through a sermon, recognized two horse show stewards in the congregation. "The Monsignor was familiar with the hand signals stewards use to advise the judge that a horse has made a half-fault at this fence or one fault at that one. He was going flat out on the subject of sin and salvation when he stumbled on a word and saw a steward's fingers move. Half a fault. The other steward nodded. Monsignor Melton swallowed, took his best hold and went on, but every now and then he saw a hand move. Score for the course: five faults and out." During jumping and hunting events, Craven sounded a wail on the foxhunt horn to give a horse the gate (disqualification).
Although some complained that he had trouble producing an ideal sound from his carriage horn, Craven was recognized as the foremost expert in the United States on English Coaching horns, where every note has to be made by the lip and tongue. The instrument he sometimes called his "yard of tin" was almost as tall as the elfin Honey. Craven said that "I practice every day, no matter where I am. It's the only way to keep up my proficiency." He could be heard practicing under the stands after the show ended at the National at Madison Square Garden. Craven once admired a Boosey
, the "Stradivarius" of coaching horns, in a collection in August Busch
's coach house and the brewing magnate gave it to him. "Mellowest tone I ever heard," Honey said.
He was imaginative enough to persuade Doc Severinsen
, the band leader, to do the job at the National one night. "He hit the high notes and brought the house down," Mr. Craven recalled. "My board of directors wanted him to come back every night, the heck with me." Although Craven gave away most of his instruments when his lungs gave out in 1990, he kept a slender silver carriage horn inscribed from Severinson until his death.
Before and during his horse-show jobs, he worked in Boston, Massachusetts for the London Harness Shop, selling saddles to Gen. George S. Patton
and playing coachman for the Vanderbilts
and other society families.
Honey Craven was depicted in ringmaster regalia on the cover of New Yorker and in 1958 was a guest challenger on the TV panel show "To Tell the Truth." He received the American Horse Shows Association's Devereux Sportsman of the Year award in 1976 and was inducted into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame March 2003. Honey Craven was inducted into the Madison Square Garden Hall of Fame in 1999, having his name etched in the rafters along with other "Garden Greats" from Buffalo Bill Cody to Muhammad Ali
to The Rolling Stones
. USA Equestrian, the sport's national governing body, gave him its lifetime achievement award. The Craven Cup, named in his honor, is awarded annually to the horse accumulating the most points in any of the rated hunter
divisions of the National Horse Show.
In 1930, he married Eileen Griffin who remained his wife for 50 years until her death in 1980. They resided in Cohasset, Massachusetts
and wintered in Florida. C. L. "Honey" Craven died in a nursing home in Guilford, Connecticut
at the age of 98 in 2003.
Equestrianism
Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...
, ringmaster
Ringmaster (horse show)
A horse show ringmaster, sometimes also called a ring steward, is an individual who works in the center of an arena at a horse show and carries out many duties to assist the judge and other officials. Unlike a Horse show steward or the judge, the ringmaster is not a licensed official of the show...
and manager of the National Horse Show
National horse show
The National Horse Show was founded in 1883 in New York by a group of affluent sportsmen. By 1887, the National Horse Show Directory, listing directors and 920 members, formed the basis for Louis Keller's first New York Social Register...
at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
in New York, the Devon Horse Show
Devon Horse Show
The Devon Horse Show, also known as The Devon Horse Show and Country Fair is an annual horse show which has been held late May through early June in Devon, Pennsylvania since 1896. ....
in Pennsylvania, and ringmaster at nearly every prominent horse show
Horse show
A Horse show is a judged exhibition of horses and ponies. Many different horse breeds and equestrian disciplines hold competitions worldwide, from local to the international levels. Most horse shows run from one to three days, sometimes longer for major, all-breed events or national and...
in the United States. He also managed the Eastern States Show, the Children's Services Show and the North Shore Horse Show.
Honey Craven was born and raised in Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 58,732.-Etymology:...
(near Boston ). His father was an Irish liveryman who worked for Harris Upham's brokerage firm. Craven said his nickname came from an old vaudeville song, "Honey Boy." He started working with horses at age 12 when, after school, he would pick up horses from nearby estates and take them to a blacksmith's shop, sometimes riding bareback. He left high school after his freshman year to gallop racehorses, then worked as an exercise boy for a wealthy grocer, James Butler, who showed hunters and jumpers. He aspired to being a racing jockey
Jockey
A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...
, and rode half-mile tracks summers in New England, but he never rode races on the big time. He then turned to riding jumpers in shows
Show jumping
Show jumping, also known as "stadium jumping," "open jumping," or "jumpers," is a member of a family of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes commonly are seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics...
.
In 1927, Craven began his association with the National Horse Show, the United States' showcase equestrian competition. He was recommended by W. Reginald Reeves, secretary of the National. Always a meticulous dresser with never a button wrong, Honey recalled, "I think he picked me because I already had classy riding clothes." As assistant ringmaster, wearing top hat, gloves, red jacket and white jodhpurs, he sounded the coaching horn to summon the horses and the riders. He earned $10 a day and generous gratuities. Once, an owner tipped him $500 for pinning a blue ribbon on his horse, which would have received it, tip or not.
In 1928, Mr. Craven was promoted to ringmaster, a job he held for 30 years. He was the president of the Professional Horsemen's Association in February 1958 when he was appointed as the National's manager, a job he held for 25 years. From 1983 until his death, he held the title manager emeritus, even though he retired from the show in 1991.
When he took the job as manager of the National Horse Show, he had never managed a show. At the old Garden, the show could use the National Armory stables for 500 horses, but after the move to the new Garden in 1968, only 311 stalls were available, some of which could only be used for tack
Horse tack
Tack is a term used to describe any of the various equipment and accessories worn by horses in the course of their use as domesticated animals. Saddles, stirrups, bridles, halters, reins, bits, harnesses, martingales, and breastplates are all forms of horse tack...
. Each year Craven shoehorned upward of 300 horses into the fifth-floor walk-up that served as the stabling area at the Garden, an after-dark maneuver that often took place while a New York Rangers
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...
hockey game was being played below. It also meant dozens of temporary stalls in horse vans on the streets of the garment district
Garment District
Garment District has several uses including:*Garment District, Manhattan - in New York City*Garment District - in Cambridge, Massachusetts*Los Angeles Garment District, also known as the Fashion District*Garment District...
and headaches for Craven. It was an annual tradition for newspapers to carry a photo of dump trucks unloading tons of loam and binder's clay onto the concrete floor of the Garden - the same dirt that was rented and returned each November for more than 40 years. Craven also had to streamline the show and cut some traditional classes to enable the show to end by 11 o'clock p.m. to avoid overtime pay to Garden employees.
Until it moved from 1989 to 1995 to the New Jersey Meadowlands, the National Horse Show was the second longest-running sporting event in New York City after the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is a two-day, all-breed benched conformation show that takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York City every year. The first Westminster show was held in 1877....
. In 1999 it returned to the Garden. "Moving it to New Jersey was the biggest mistake ever made," said Honey. "Some nights, there weren't even enough people in the stands to start a bridge game."
At Devon he served successively as ringmaster, manager and manager emeritus. He became manager of the show in 1976. When he began there as ringmaster in 1939, there was no public-address system. He would announce the class judging, determine when the next class would start, then mount a polo pony
Polo pony
A polo pony is the term used for a horse used in the game of polo. They may be of any breed or combination of breeds, though many have a significant amount of Thoroughbred breeding. They are called "ponies", but that is in reference to their agile type rather than their size...
and race to the barns to pass along the information so the exhibitors could get their horses into the ring on time. Then he would return to the ring.
As ringmaster, his job was more than blowing the horn to call the classes. He was responsible for policing the ring, assisting the judges and solving any problems that arose. Craven was known as one who wouldn't permit any second-rate behavior, but whose primary concern was always the welfare of the horse and rider.
Sportswriter Red Smith
Red Smith (sportswriter)
For other uses, see: Red Smith Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith was an American sportswriter who rose to become one of America's most widely read sports columnists.-Career:After graduating from Green Bay East High School, site of Packers home games until 1957, Smith moved on to...
recounted the tale Honey told of the Sunday when a Monsignor Melton, midway through a sermon, recognized two horse show stewards in the congregation. "The Monsignor was familiar with the hand signals stewards use to advise the judge that a horse has made a half-fault at this fence or one fault at that one. He was going flat out on the subject of sin and salvation when he stumbled on a word and saw a steward's fingers move. Half a fault. The other steward nodded. Monsignor Melton swallowed, took his best hold and went on, but every now and then he saw a hand move. Score for the course: five faults and out." During jumping and hunting events, Craven sounded a wail on the foxhunt horn to give a horse the gate (disqualification).
Although some complained that he had trouble producing an ideal sound from his carriage horn, Craven was recognized as the foremost expert in the United States on English Coaching horns, where every note has to be made by the lip and tongue. The instrument he sometimes called his "yard of tin" was almost as tall as the elfin Honey. Craven said that "I practice every day, no matter where I am. It's the only way to keep up my proficiency." He could be heard practicing under the stands after the show ended at the National at Madison Square Garden. Craven once admired a Boosey
Distin
The Distin family was a family of British Musicians in the 19th century who performed on saxhorns and were influential in the evolution of brass instruments in then popular music...
, the "Stradivarius" of coaching horns, in a collection in August Busch
Gussie Busch
August "Gussie" Anheuser Busch, Jr. was an American brewing magnate who built the Anheuser-Busch Companies into the largest brewery in the world as company chairman from 1946–75, and became a prominent sportsman as owner of the St...
's coach house and the brewing magnate gave it to him. "Mellowest tone I ever heard," Honey said.
He was imaginative enough to persuade Doc Severinsen
Doc Severinsen
Carl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen is an American pop and jazz trumpeter. He is best known for leading the NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.-Early life:...
, the band leader, to do the job at the National one night. "He hit the high notes and brought the house down," Mr. Craven recalled. "My board of directors wanted him to come back every night, the heck with me." Although Craven gave away most of his instruments when his lungs gave out in 1990, he kept a slender silver carriage horn inscribed from Severinson until his death.
Before and during his horse-show jobs, he worked in Boston, Massachusetts for the London Harness Shop, selling saddles to Gen. George S. Patton
George S. Patton
George Smith Patton, Jr. was a United States Army officer best known for his leadership while commanding corps and armies as a general during World War II. He was also well known for his eccentricity and controversial outspokenness.Patton was commissioned in the U.S. Army after his graduation from...
and playing coachman for the Vanderbilts
Vanderbilt family
The Vanderbilt family is an American family of Dutch origin prominent during the Gilded Age. It started off with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and expanded into various other areas of industry and philanthropy...
and other society families.
Honey Craven was depicted in ringmaster regalia on the cover of New Yorker and in 1958 was a guest challenger on the TV panel show "To Tell the Truth." He received the American Horse Shows Association's Devereux Sportsman of the Year award in 1976 and was inducted into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame March 2003. Honey Craven was inducted into the Madison Square Garden Hall of Fame in 1999, having his name etched in the rafters along with other "Garden Greats" from Buffalo Bill Cody to Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
to The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
. USA Equestrian, the sport's national governing body, gave him its lifetime achievement award. The Craven Cup, named in his honor, is awarded annually to the horse accumulating the most points in any of the rated hunter
Show hunter
The show hunter is a type of show horse that is judged on its movement, manners, and way of going, particularly while jumping fences. The horses are shown in hunt seat style tack, and are often of Warmblood or Thoroughbred type, though a hunter-style pony is also seen in youth classes...
divisions of the National Horse Show.
In 1930, he married Eileen Griffin who remained his wife for 50 years until her death in 1980. They resided in Cohasset, Massachusetts
Cohasset, Massachusetts
Cohasset is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, though it is not contiguous with the main body of the county. The population was 7,542 at the 2010 census.- History :...
and wintered in Florida. C. L. "Honey" Craven died in a nursing home in Guilford, Connecticut
Guilford, Connecticut
Guilford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, that borders Madison, Branford, North Branford and Durham, and is situated on I-95 and the coast. The population was 21,398 at the 2000 census...
at the age of 98 in 2003.