1969 Press Photo Mr. & Mrs. Ray Ely with Bingo in their living room. - nox20997

"They're pets, all right. Yes, you'd certainly have to say that. But to me, they're more like collectors' items." That's the way Ray Ely Describes the herd of mini-horses he's raising at his mini-ranch on the outskirts of Oakland, California. Ely values each of his little steeds at prices from $2,500 to $25,000. But none of them is for sale. He plans to use them as breeding stock, in keeping with his goal to breed the world's smallest horse. An auto dealer (small foreign cars), Mr. Ely is himself one of a rare breed of Eohippus fanciers. Eohippus is supposedly the original ancestor of all horses, and is believed to have been about the size of a fox. It flourished during the Eocene epoch about 70 million... A horse in the living room? Mrs. Ray Ely pays little attention to housebroken Bingo, one of the mini-horses her husband breeds.

Photo is dated 1969.

Photo measures 10 x 8.25 inches.