[Three girls on horseback as their horses jump a hedge]

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Three girls, each mounted on a horse, are caught in midair as their mounts clear a hedge, a moment of action that stands out among the more posed equestrian portraits of the period. The picture comes from the National Photo Company Collection, whose staff produced large numbers of photographs for commercial sale in the 1920s and early 1930s. Informal riding scenes like this one show how children's horse riding had become a familiar leisure activity for families with the means to keep horses, and the image captures the confidence and nerve that jumping required.

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