President Kennedy had a lifelong fascination with the sea and was an avid sailor. Mrs. Kennedy recalled how he could escape the cares of his office—and the telephone—while at sea.
"It was really the boat that relaxed him the most. . . . It was for what getting out on a horse was for me, in the air, no phone . . . He loved the sun and the water and no phone." - Jacqueline Kennedy President Kennedy sailing off the coast of Rhode Island on the Coast Guard vessel, Manitou, August 26, 1962
Photograph by Robert Knudsen |
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For Jacqueline Kennedy, it was riding that replenished her spirit. She learned to ride as a child and grew to be an accomplished equestrian.
He liked to see me ride—he always said Daddy told him "Keep her riding and she'll always be in a good mood." - Jacqueline Kennedy
Jacqueline Kennedy riding in Middleburg, Virginia, September 25, 1962
Photograph by Robert Knudsen
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Note from Jacqueline Kennedy to her press secretary, Pamela Turnure, responding to five questions submitted by a reporter who was preparing a story on the First Lady and Queen Elizabeth as "horsewomen:"
1. What was the name of Mrs. Kennedy's first horse and at what age did she get it?
2. Of all the horses she has owned and ridden, which was her favorite?
3. What does she feed her horses—carrots?
4. Has she ever been thrown from a horse?
5. Does she remember her horses's birthday in any special way?