1915 Birthday?
Approx 1915 Clio or Davidson, Genesee County, Michigan area? Who are the kids?
The Lady holding the horse on the left is Ella Pringle Dutcher, the second child on the horse from the left with the big bow in her hair is My Grandmother, Daisy Dutcher, born 1908(approx. 7 yrs old). I think that the girl next to her with the horse that is shaking his head is her sister Vivian, born 1905. The other kids are unknown.
Again, aside from Daisy and Vivian Dutcher I don’t know who these kids are. The one boy on the left is interesting, he looks like he is in a fancy riding outfit. The Dutchers are very poor farmers, I can’t believe that they have rented these horses for a a kids birthday party, but that is sure what it looks like. Also this is circa 1915, all these kids have grown up with horses, it doesn’t seem like a pony ride would be that big of a deal to them? My grandmother always talked about how much she loved horses, but, that was about 60 years after this picture was taken and probably 50 years after she last had a horse.
Do we know if the horses are owned by the Dutcher’s? Maybe they aren’t there for a B-day party but the kid in the “riding outfit” brought them to share with his neighbors. It is very posed, like the horses are a novelty.
Many folks had their pictures taken with their beloved ponies or horses. My father was born in 1901 and they often possed outside the homeplace with their favorite animals. In the 50’s machines were replacing their four footed frinds and more ponies were used for small garden work and children’s entertainment. A few were still using them to go to the one room school house, but that too faided and the country school houses were closed and merged into bigger schools systems with bus services.
One of those children is Grandma Daisy, maybe the girl standing.
I found this picture looking totally black, and lightened it with photoshop. I had no idea what I would find. Grandma Daisy is the little blond on the horse in the middle with the big bow in her hair, I think the tall girl next to her might be her sister Vivian. Her mother Ella is the lady holding the horse.
This looks like a scene from Kern River Valley.