It is quite common for details about Old Time tunes to get lost and the names to become confused over time. In this case, we have two somewhat similar melodies, but an accidental mislabeling of a recording played a substantial role in blurring the titles of both. The end result? Thanks to the misprint, time, and the folk process, the melody that most of us know today as "Spotted Pony" is actually “Snow Shoes.” Let's learn more about both tunes.

Spotted Pony

“Spotted Pony” is a square dance tune in the key of A with lots of references to support a Missouri/Ozarks origin. It became the signature tune of Missouri fiddler Carol Hascall (1936-2019). Carol, who was from Humansville, Missouri, said she learned this tune as a young girl while her family was temporarily living in Oklahoma. This confirms the West/Midwest connection, and also infers that the tune was being played and passed around as early as the 1930s. Adding that Carol said she learned many tunes from her great grandfather, and from her grandmother (who introduced her to the fiddle), it is not much of a stretch to consider that “Spotted Pony” may be even older. 

As a child, Carol was relegated to playing guitar in the family band, as her father was the fiddler. Later, as an adult, she took up the fiddle and, in 1968, won second place in her first fiddle contest. “Spotted Pony” was one of her selections. Her recording of that tune (plus several others) appears on Voyager Records “Now That's A Good Tune: Masters Of Traditional Missouri Fiddling” which was originally released in 1989.

Snow Shoes

“Snow Shoes” is best known from the playing of Country Music Hall of Fame, National Fiddler Hall of Fame and legendary A-list Nashville session fiddler Tommy Jackson (1926-1979). Jackson was widely considered to be the most prominent fiddle player of his time, and many credit him with literally defining “country fiddling.” Learn lots more about Tommy Jackson and his enormous influence on country music and fiddling in this bio from American Songwriter.  

Tommy played on hundreds of albums and also recorded prolifically himself. When the popularity of square dancing surged in the 1950s and 60s, Tommy recorded 11 different albums of fiddle tunes that were marketed to dancers. In 1962, “Snow Shoes” appeared on an album in this series called "Swing Your Partner." Jackson is credited as the composer, but unfortunately, there is not much additional information. The melody, which Jackson plays in the key of D and in his signature style, can be interpreted as resembling the Missouri/Ozarks “Spotted Pony”, but it can just as easily be recognized as a completely different tune. Jackson toured the country widely in his youth, and it is entirely conceivable that he heard one of the multiple regional variations of “Spotted Pony” in his travels. Did that influence his “Snow Shoes,” or is the resemblance coincidental? 

Enter The Mislabeled Recording

In 1972, Voyager Records released an album called “'More Fiddle Jam Sessions,” taken from field recordings collected in Weiser, Idaho. This album became an influential recording in West Coast Old Time music circles. Famed fiddler and archivist couple Phil (1936-2017) and Vivian Williams (1938-2023) were behind this project. Well known Missouri fiddler Pete McMahan played a tune for one of the original field recordings, but did not announce the name. Later, when Vivian Williams was editing the tape for production of the album, she heard someone say “Spotted Pony” and assumed that it was the name of the tune Pete played. According to the Washington Old Time Fiddler’s Association, Pete McMahan, and Phil Williams, it was actually “Snow Shoes.” The accidental misnaming on the “More Fiddle Jams” record was apparently very much a sore point with Phil Williams. (ed.note: scroll down to “Spotted Pony vs. Snow Shoes”)

What We Play Today

As a result of the popularity of that album, the mistaken title, and along with the accompanying folk and festivalization process over the years, the melody most of us know as “Spotted Pony” is actually “Snow Shoes.” Most of today’s versions closely resemble Tommy Jackson’s recording. The Missouri “Spotted Pony" still gets played though, and there are reports that, in the name of staying historically accurate, at least one jam group keeps the two tunes separated by jokingly calling one “Spotted Pony,” and the other “Not Spotted Pony.” No matter what name is used, they are both fun to play! 

Carol Hascall’s “Spotted Pony” (played in G by Paul Kirk) and Tommy Jackson’s “Snow Shoes” are in the videos below. Carol Hascall’s recording (in A) from the 1989 Voyager Records album is in the mp3 player.

"Snow Shoes"

From the 1962 Dot Album "Swing Your Partner" by Tommy Jackson