Loula (Long) Combs
Loula Long, the younger daughter, was born January 30, 1881, and was the tomboy of the family. She loved animals, especially horse. She was the most renowned horse woman of her generation – the only woman ever to be named in the Madison Square Garden Hall of Fame.
According to her father, R. A. Long, Loula’s first sentence was, “Please buy me a pony.” Breeding and training horses became Loula’s life-long passion. She entered her first horse show in 1896 at a fair in Kansas City’s Fairmount Park. Miss Longs show career took her to 26 states, Canada, an England. Her shows took her in every direction; Denver, Ft. Worth, Chicago, Washington, and New York. Her phaetons and runabouts came from Kimballs’ in Chicago and Brewster’s In New York. Her saddlebreds and Hackneys were champions, of the finest bloodlines. Loula’s Hackney, Revelation, won more than 6,000 blue ribbons in his lifetime. She won the most ribbons at Kansas City’s American Royal, where she made a yearly appearance well into her 80s. The audiences’ delighted in seeing Loula as she always wore a spectacular hat as she drove her carriage around the show ring.
In 1911 while the family was in England so Loula could enter her horse in London’ s Olympia Horse Show construction was finished on a 72-room French Renaissance mansion named Corinthian Hall, located on Gladstone Boulevard. The mansion had a large stable, but was soon overcrowded with Loula’s equine purchases. R. A. Long purchased land in eastern Jackson County to build Longview Farm where he had 42 buildings constructed, giving Loula plenty of room to keep and train her horses.
Loula advocated equality for women in the horse show ring. One of the first things she toward gender equity was discarding the traditional side saddle and its habit of ankle length skirts and road astride like her male peers. She found the sidesaddle handicapped her ability to do her best and opted for the split skirt or jodhpurs so that she could compete equally with the men.
Even as a young girl, Loula Long was an especially aggressive horsewoman. She ignored the accepted rule that women should ride in ladies classes only. She competed in, and often won, the open roadster classes that were traditionally for men due to the strength required to manage the horses. Often turning corners on two wheels and flying past her competitors to the cheers of the audience.
Loula married R. Pryor Combs on June 30, 1917. Mr. Combs was a Kansas City banker, the son of Miss Long’s pastor at the Independence Boulevard Christian Church. They moved to Longview Farm in 1919.
Their relationship was one based on equality and respect. As she wrote: “Very often, after women are married, their husbands object to their doing things that keep them away from home, or to having them in the public eye. But Pryor has always been most understanding .He encouraged me to go on and enjoy my horses and my shows. He even suggested that I show under my maiden name, but we decided the entries would be made in the name ‘Loula Long Combs.’”
Despite all the wealth and grandeur that surrounded Loula for most of her life, she as a down-to-earth wholesome, religious woman.
Mr. and Mrs. Combs are remembered fondly by the Longview Farm employees for their kindness and generosity. They demonstrated genuine interest and concern about their employees.
Loula collected sale items from her favorite department store, Emery, Bird and Thayer. But the end of the year the room full of clothing would be sorted and boxed. On Christmas morning each resident would find on their porch enough clothing and shoes for the entire family, along with quilts, lines and yard goods. Her generosity extended to the education of the children raised on the farm. Over the years Mrs. Combs paid the colllege tuition for mayn of the children who had grown up on the farm.
Mr. Combs directed the farm dairy to provide a quart of milk daily to each child on the farm under the age of 18 and he paid the cost. Mr. Combs would travel by horseback around the farm stopped and greeted every farm employee and asked about their health, their concerns, and handed out chewing gum to the children.
Like her father, Mrs. Combs had various philanthropic interest and she sponsored many annual benefits for worthwhile charities at the Longview Farm private driving track and grandstand. The most frequent beneficiary was the Red Cross and the Kansas City Animal Rescue League, and organization for the protection of animals.
The Women’s Chamber of Commerce in Kansas City recognized Mrs. Combs with a luncheon in her honor on October 13, 1953 at the Hotel Phillips. They presented her with a plaque with this inscription: “World Famed in horsemanship, Mrs. Combs whose activities also extend into philanthropic, cultural and religious fields, participates as well in civic affairs for the community.”
Following in the family tradition, Loula Long Combs attended church services every Sunday. She was a firm believer of temperance and did not drink alcohol, smoke, dance or swear.
Loula died at Longview Farm in 1971. Her and Mr. Combs had no biological children.