Ottawa Creek Farm circa 1970
Note the original central barn. The wings were added in the 1930's.
A view inside the barn
During the
1930’s and 40’s there were numerous horse shows in the tri state area of Ohio,
Michigan and Indiana to attend on a weekly basis. Many no longer
exist, but Ottawa Creek Farm would take its show string out several times a
month during show season. The 50’s and 60’s continued at a somewhat
lesser pace, but Dr. Elrod still showed regularly. By the 1970’s,
Dr. Elrod was winding down as a showman, however, in 1972 he showed one of his home
bred horses. Ottawa’s Miss Vanity was a Junior 5 gaited mare that
year. In September, they showed together at Detroit in the old
Coliseum at the Michigan State Fairgrounds. Miss Vanity was the only horse in the class,
but she put on a flawless performance with her 75 year old rider guiding her
every step of the way. He was not a flamboyant horseman, he showed the horse, not himself. After that show, Doc turned over the reins to
Bob Jr & later his grandson Brad.
Dr. Elrod aboard Ottawa's Miss Vanity.
She was a 4 year old in 1972 at Detroit.
Ottawa's Miss Vanity on her way to winning the Jr. 5 Gaited class.
Ottawa's Miss Vanity with Robert Elrod Jr, still winning a few years later
Ottawa's Miss Vanity and Bob Elrod
Ottawa's Miss Vanity and Brad Elrod.
Ottawa's Miss Vanity and Brad Elrod at Northville Michigan in 1975.
An early
proponent of pleasure horses, one of his sales mottos was “ For show or
pleasure, a horse you’ll treasure”. He organized trail rides along
the Maumee River as far back as the 1930's, and in 1971 went along with a group to Traverse City,
Michigan for a trail ride. He felt every horse could be useful, even
if it wasn’t a show horse.
Traverse City Michigan trail ride, Dr. Elrod is on the far right
He sold horses
to such saddlebred icons Mrs. L. Victor Weil, Oscar Smith of Carolanne Farm, JL Younghusband of
Valley View Farm, Dr. Geraldine Meanor, Ambassador Albert Silvera, and Frank
Connor among others. He also sold horses to a lot of first time
buyers, including many teenagers. Dr. Elrod introduced the American
Saddlebred to numerous people in the Toledo, Ohio area. In
particular, he encouraged young people and in many cases made it possible for
them own a horse.
The American Playboy was purchased as a yearling in 1966
from Dr. EC Moore's Harmony Farms dispersal.
Dr. Elrod sold Playboy to Laurie Lamb in 1970. Laurie showed Playboy
extensively and owned him for the rest of his life.
Dr. Elrod also gave discounted rates to young breeders who bred to his stallions.
This mare was bred by a teenager and ended up Michigan's 3 gaited champion.
Alloway's Bonnie Lassie was sired by Bellaire's Anacacho King
The same teenager raised this colt sired by Grand View's Matinee Idol.
Alloway's Tam O'Shanter was shown as Big News.
Dr. Elrod faithfully attended horse sales and was
a regular at Tattersalls. In 1981, he bought a yearling at Jim B.
Robertson’s sale. In The Money was the last horse he ever bought, and at
the time, he was just shy of turning 85 years old. Trained by Derek
Repp, this horse was sold 4 years later at a tidy profit. A name
change took place, and In The Money became none other than Dom Perignon. Doc Elrod
still knew how to pick horses!
In The Money as a 2 year old in long lines with Derek Repp
In The Money making his first show.
In The Money became CH Dom Perignon
Dr. Elrod loved
going to horse shows and sales. He attended Louisville and
Lexington for years. In 1979 at Louisville, his friend Garland
Bradshaw told him to watch for the 2 year old his grandson was
showing. In came Mitchell Clark showing none other than Sky Watch,
and they left the ring as a World’s Champion. Dr. Elrod had
box seats at Lexington for many years, and was looking forward to the 1997 Jr.
League show when he passed away in June, just a month before the show.
Dr. Elrod was
the oldest living graduate of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine at
the time of his death. He had retired from practicing medicine at
age 78. After he turned 100, he said he had reached another
milestone, so his family told him if he lived to the year 2000, he could live
in three different centuries. This was probably the only goal he
didn’t attain, but his lifetime was chock full of achievements, both personal
and professional. Dr. Elrod was a man of great motivation and
success. When asked by his grandchildren what word best described
his ability to reach his goals, he said it was "perseverance." He had
that in spades.
Bob Elrod, Brad Elrod and Dr. Robert Elrod Sr.
To sum it up, Dr. Robert
Elrod lived for 100 years. He was a physician for 75 of those years, and he actively practiced medicine for 53 years. It's hard to know at what age he sold his
first horse, but the last horse he sold was at age 88. His first
show came at age 6, his last one as a participant was at age 75, and the last
show he attended was at age 99!
Here are some of the horses from Ottawa Creek Farms in the 1970's
Ottawa's Matinee Girl in 1974 as a 4 year old
Grand View's Matinee Idol X Lafitte's Gifted Lady by Jean Lafitte
Her dam was born at OCF in 1952, raised 11 colts and lived to age 21 at the farm.
Her dam was born at OCF in 1952, raised 11 colts and lived to age 21 at the farm.
After showing for OCF and becoming a broodmare, Matinee Girl, AKA Blondie,
was sold to Leslie Lane Farm in Midland Michigan in 1981.
She was the dam of the stallion The Kentucky Count, and 2nd dam of
CH Another Asset and CH Assets & Attitude.
Ottawa's Wing
Society Buck X Ottawa's Matinee Girl
His barn name was Dagwood, Woody for short.
After Dr. Elrod quit leasing Grand View's Matinee Idol in the early 70's,
he sent his mares out to be bred to other stallions.
Society Buck X Ottawa's Matinee Girl
His barn name was Dagwood, Woody for short.
After Dr. Elrod quit leasing Grand View's Matinee Idol in the early 70's,
he sent his mares out to be bred to other stallions.
Ottawa's Slick Chick in 1974 as a 2 year old, she was a
full sister to Matinee Girl. She was later owned by Edward R. Bennett
and Virginia Hedden.
Ottawa's Diamond Jim at Detroit in the early 1970's.
Grand View's Matinee Idol X Vanity's Virginia
which made him a half brother to Ottawa's Miss Vanity
and a full brother to Buddy, Best Saddlebred Ever.
After her show career was over, Miss Vanity traveled to Lakeview Farms
in Washington Pennsylvania in 1981.
She was bred to Penny's Superior Stonewall, who was the son
of World's Grand Champion Superior Odds shown here, who was also
owned by Lakeview Farms.
In 1982 Miss Vanity produced Ottawa's Charmer.
She was one of the last colts bred by Dr. Elrod.
Ottawa's Charmer
Penny's Superior Stonewall X Ottawa's Miss Vanity by Bellaire's Anacacho King.
Dr. Elrod and Ottawa's Charmer in 1985 at his other barn
at his home in Toledo. Charm sold in 1985 to Anissa Baker
who owned her for the rest of her life, which was her late 20's!
Charm was the very last horse sold by Dr. Elrod.
Man O'Dare has the distinction of being the very last horse at Ottawa Creek Farm.
Purchased by Bob Elrod in Lexington Kentucky, this handsome horse
was out of the grand mare Vanity's Belle, making him a half brother to
the World's Champion and World's Grand Champion sire, Santana's Charm.
He lived to age 29 and was laid to rest at Ottawa Creek Farm.
I have enjoyed writing this series like none before it. The first time I saw Dr. Elrod was at the Detroit horse show in 1972, then a year later a friend took me to his farm to look at horses. I was a full time college student with a part time job; translation: no money. After showing me some horses, and to make conversation, he asked me what my father did. I explained my mom was a widow. Instead of writing me off, Dr. Elrod made me a deal on the best horse I ever had. He let me make payments and also let me board my horse down at his other barn with my girlfriends for free. He encouraged my interest in bloodlines and all things Saddlebred, so you could say he's responsible for this blog. In hindsight, after pouring through his horse records journal, and seeing prices on other horses, I know he cut me a deal on Buddy so I could afford him.
Buddy, Best Saddlebred Ever
Grandview's Matinee Idol X Vanity's Virginia
He had 17 Hall of Farm Broodmares in his 5 generation pedigree.
Dr. Elrod spent a great
deal of time jogging horses, and if you were lucky, you got to ride
along in his Houghton high wheel jog cart. One of my favorite memories was sitting in the jog cart with
Dr. Elrod behind Ottawa's Miss Vanity. We drove down Sylvania
Metamora and talked horses and bloodlines. He mentioned that Miss Vanity
was the only offspring of Vanity's Virginia that drove. All the others
were too hard on his jog carts. That road is crazy busy these days, but back then, it was an incredibly peaceful experience.
My husband said if he
needed to talk to Dr. Elrod, he'd hop in the cart with him and off they would
go, east on Sylvania-Metamora, then right on Kilburn for a half mile and then
loop back. The 3 mile jog didn't take long. There would be another horse ready for him when he got back.
Dave Bedell, who was in the service with Bob Elrod, and bought several horses from Dr. Elrod also told me a jog
cart story. One 4th of July morning, Dave & Dr. Elrod were
jogging his current fine harness champion down the shoulder of the road.
This mare was exceedingly pretty but sometimes failed to exhibit enough show
horse ways. As they jogged along, a bunch of kids drove by and threw
a sizable string of firecrackers under her feet. Dave was driving
and had the reins to steady himself, but poor Doc was left without a thing to
hold onto and nearly went out over the back of the cart. He "cussed
out" the kids under his breath; but after regaining his composure, he
looked over the side at the mare and, horseman to the end, exclaimed,
"Wow! It really made a horse out of her, didn't it?"
He was indeed, a horseman to the end. I sincerely hope you enjoyed this series on a fantastic horseman.
Remember to visit The American Saddlebred Blog's Face book page and like it!
A few last random notes, which are not horse related. Dr. Elrod and I exchanged Christmas cards for many years. Although he spent most of his last decade in Florida, when he was in town, we would feed his sweet tooth with a plate of cookies. My husband learned a lot about working horses from Dr. Elrod and although not 100% accurate, Doc took credit for introducing us. He gave my son a Tonka truck 35 years ago that my grandsons are still playing with. Bob Elrod sold us one of Dr. Elrod's high wheel jog carts, so I can reminisce back on my ride with Miss Vanity. My sincere desire is that more people will learn about Dr. Elrod, and those that knew him will get a smile after reading this series. Thanks to Bob Elrod for all his great stories, and Brad Elrod for sharing these photos with me.
