NARRATIVE: The crown jewel of the West Point stables in the mid-1800s was a three-quarter bred chestnut stallion named York, who stood seventeen hands high. Though handsome and majestic, he had a particularly difficult temperament and had proved so dangerous to ride, the faculty had considered having him put down. One of the few cadets who had been able to successfully ride York was a young Ulysses S. Grant, who had proven an exceptional aptitude with horses since childhood.

On graduation day in June of 1843, the mounted infantry was performing various formation maneuvers, when a sergeant ordered one of his dragoons to place a bar at arms length above his head and rest the other end on a wall. He then called out Cadet Grant's name. Ulysses, looking even more slight of build than his five-foot, eight-inch frame on York's enormous back, came bounding out of the ranks towards the huge jump. Nobody thought he would do it or, if he did, he would surely break his neck! To everyone's astonishment, Ulysses and York sailed over the bar with ease and grace. And, to prove it wasn't a fluke, Grant did it four more times.

The record-breaking jump of almost six feet, occurred long before show jumping was an established sport and before the invention of the revolutionary forward jumping saddle in the early 1900s that freed the horse's back and neck enabling higher jumping. Ulysses' jump record stood for most of the 19th century, and his expert horsemanship served him well and often saved his life as he advanced through the military ranks to become a general in the Union Army and, eventually, the 18th president of the United States.