Carthage Saddle Club
Carthaginian Melvin Abbiatti decided to form a saddle club here in 1953.
It didn’t take long for Melvin to initiate his plan. An ad was placed in the Carthage Press asking interested persons to meet at the old sale barn on Fairlawn Drive. The first club meeting was attended by 27 persons and Abbiatti was named first club president. Other officers were Vice president, Carl Whitman, Jr. and secretary, Gay Straw.
Money to support the club in its early days was raised through pie suppers, white elephant sales, square dances and donkey ball games.
Through the cooperation of the Park Board and park superintendent, the Saddle Club Arena was constructed in 1955 inside Municipal Park. Improvements have been made through the year: improvements include running water, concession stands, bleachers, restrooms and bucking chutes. In the most recent years the cookshack has been replace, the announcer stand rebuilt, new pipe arena fence, flagpole built, a new P.A. system, electronic timer purchased, a covered shelter for handicapped visitors and in 2003 new restrooms were built.
The purpose of the Saddle Club is to promote horseman ship and family entertainment. When the club organized, it was decided that the group would sponsor one open show a year. As interest in quarter horses grew, the club added its annual Register Quarter Horse Show. They also added an annual Appaloosa Show, a Junior Rodeo and a Show De-O. Today we still have the Monthly Sow De-O’s and our Annual Rodeo which was started in 1977. All of these events have drawn people from every state in the Midwest.
The club is a member of the Carthage Area Chamber of Commerce. We regularly donate to various charities and participate in a variety of community projects. The club especially tries to encourage youth to become a part of the organization and stresses that the horsemanship and fair play they learn, as well as responsibility for caring for an animal, is an important part of their citizenship training.
We would challenge you to look around and find another saddle club that has been in existence for over 50 continuous years. We are very proud of our facility and continually make improvements as financial conditions allow.