The dream of the White Horse Ranch began with Cal and Hud Thompson. The twin brothers, already successful Hereford breeders, dreamed of having the perfect horse. This perfect horse was a snow white stallion with pink skin and dark eyes. They finally found Old King in 1917 in Ohio. With $300.00 of Hud's wife Hilda's egg money, Old King came to the Thompson ranch. Their program began by breeding Old King with Morgan mares. Cal had been told white animals with pink skin and red eyes were mistakes. But Cal's horses didn't have red eyes, they had dark eyes and they weren't mistakes. Cal was developing a breed, the white horse.
World War I, the Depression, drought and hard times followed. Farmers and ranchers were going bankrupt everywhere. Cal and Hud were determined to stay with their rare white breed which was the only herd of its kind in the world. Hud finally decided to quit and took up the gospel ministry. Cal met and married Ruth in 1936. They settled at the present site overlooking the north banks of the Niobrara River where they raised and trained these rare white horses. They even painted all the buildings, house, corrals and fence posts white and had other white critters at the ranch. These critters included white spitz dogs, trained white goats, a white skunk as a mascot, white deer, white coyote, a flock of white peacocks, white geese, white chickens, white cats, white pigeons and two white Pekinese dogs.
Friends and neighbors were well acquainted with the Thompson horses. Once hearing of them strangers came to see them. Before long the Thompson's were putting on regular Sunday afternoon shows. They enjoyed the shows and felt they were good advertising for the Hereford cattle. After being asked to lead the parade and perform at the Butte rodeo, the fame of the trained white horses spread like wildfire. The Thompson White Horse Show soon became very popular. They began receiving inquiries on how to train horses, how much training cost, and where people could learn to ride. Youngsters were especially interested in riding lessons. The Thomspon's decided to open a riding and training school. The fee was $25.00 a week for the school, room and board and laundry. This was still not affordable for some. Some students worked doing chores to pay the fee. Often the children came from anything but desirable homes. Most students were at the ranch only during the summer months. Others did stay and attend the one room schools or were schooled by Ruth who was a teacher. Still other students took high school correspondence courses. During the height of the school the ranch had five cabins for the boys and five cabins for the girls.
Students strived to achieve the skills necessary to become members of the famed White Horse Troupe which was traveling the United States and southern Canada during the mid 40's. The troupe began with mostly boys. During the mid 40's they went coed and by 1952 was all girls. There was a time that Cal and Ruth each had separate Troupes on the road performing. Although Cal and Ruth had no children of their own, they always stressed a Christian, family life-style. They made certain the youngsters traveling with the Troupe had the opportunity to visit cultural events and places of interest. They visited Niagara Falls and the Alamo, they swam in the Gulf of Mexico, and toured the New Orleans French Quarter.
Carley and Dean Daugherty have dedicated themselves to fulfilling the dream of Ruth Thompson in preserving the breed of "The American White Horse". They are restoring the White Horse Ranch home and buildings five miles south and two east of Naper, Nebraska. Carley Daugherty was 6 years old when she first came with her mother to the White Horse Ranch. Her mother was a cook at the ranch. Due to serious health problems, Carley's mother gave legal guardianship of Carley to Cal and Ruth. She joined the Troupe at the age of 6 and performed regularly. She was often portrayed as being a bit younger than she actually was. At 14 Carley was the star of the show. She remembers the thrill of performing in Montreal Canada and hearing the French announcer introduce her as Mademoiselle Car~ley. Carley could perform all of the Troupe acts including a 5 horse roman jump with only a bridle and totally bareback.
I asked Carley, "Tell me what you remember most about the bright lights, the roar of the crowd, and the thrill of it all." She leaned back a bit, smiled and said, "Yes, I can still hear them and I can even feel the tenseness, the enthusiasm to perform. We were in Chicago performing for underprivileged children at the armory. Cal and Ruth loved performing for these special people. Anyway, to open the show the Troupe was behind curtains and for the opening we were to burst out as the curtains opened. I was to lead riding Roman style on two beautiful white horses. Their pink skins and white hair simply glittered under the spot lights, and with our sparkling, shining costumes the crowd went wild. It was a thrill!"
The last performance of the Troupe at the White Horse Bowl was Father's Day weekend in 1963. Ruth had been hospitalized and a big show was planned. Many members of the horse club and breeders came to the ranch early. Meetings were held and plans completed. The day before the performance, Cal resigned his Presidential duties of the horse club. Before retiring for the evening, Cal told the Troupe about the importance of always providing quality, family entertainment and that the show must always go on. Cal died that same night in the upstairs room of his headquarters building where he slept. The show went on as scheduled the following day. The Alumni Troupe performers meet every other year at the ranch with their families for a Father's Day reunion as they did June 15, 1996.
At one time the White Horse herd was 170 head. By the time of Cal's death the herd was reduced to 70 head. Ruth chose some breeders across the country to help preserve the breed. In 1996 she gave Carley and Dean a pair of whites but they have produced no white babies. The mare did produce one white baby from another stallion. Today there are 8 white horses at the ranch and they do produce white babies.
The ranch is now owned by Ruth's sister, Ruby Shumaker and is listed in the National Register of Historical Places. However, this does not entitle them to any funding. All restoration is done with private or donated funds and their own or volunteer labor. The White Horse Ranch buildings - the house, registry office, old blacksmith's shop, long barn, horse barns, and museum appear in relatively good condition. However, after nearly 27 years of little, if any, up-keep they are in need of almost immediate repair to preserve this historic place of beauty.
The White Horse Ranch is open to the public 9 AM to 6 PM on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and 12 Noon to 6 PM on Sunday. They have camp grounds both primitive and with electric water and have fine fishing. You might possibly enjoy some vacation time at this scenic 2400 acre ranch. You may even want to donate some well needed labor in exchange for your camp ground. If not, just drive up and return with us to those thrilling days of yester year with a visit to the White Horse Ranch. We think you'll be glad you did.
Visit the White Horse Ranch website or email them at carleyd@juno.com.
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1996, Niobrara Valley Electric Membership Corporation. All rights reserved.