Theodore Roosevelt’s love of fine horses was legendary and played a part in shaping his vigorous personal image and his advocacy of the “strenuous life.” Roosevelt had been a rancher in the Dakota Territory, and his volunteer-mounted “Rough Riders” emerged as national heroes after the famous charge at San Juan Hill during the Spanish American War. After the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901, Roosevelt brought his image as a rugged outdoorsman and war hero to the White House. He made it his stage and “bully pulpit”. The Roosevelt family loved horseback riding and driving and did both often in the public eye. Late in his tenure, Roosevelt’s presidential schedule included daily rides to Potomac and Rock Creek Parks with military aide, Archie Butt, a superb horseman. These excursions, often captured by newspaper photographers, had special rules governing the conduct of any guests riding with the president that were devised so as not to impede the pace of the ride. The Roosevelts were the last family to fully utilize the White House stables. When offered an automobile, the president said, “The Roosevelts are horse people.”