Celebrating > 50 Years in White Rock
Still hoofin’ in Lake Highlands after 61 years
Tex Oddson, Jr. owns 14-acre White Rock Stables just north of Flag Pole Hill.
Growing up in White Rock meant hayrides for many occasions − school picnics, birthday parties, July 4th celebrations − and how especially exciting those got to be in junior high and high school! For many of us, horseback riding at Flagpole Hill was another fun pastime we enjoyed regularly.
White Rock Stables provided us with those memorable times, and is still serving the area. While renting horses for riding and hayrides are no longer available due to insurmountable liability rates, the beautiful 14-acre ranch near Flag Pole Hill and within a mile north of White Rock Lake, remains very much in business after 61 years. It is a serene, pastoral oasis, well separated from the surrounding residential neighborhoods, schools, heavy traffic, highway construction, and general chaos of the city.
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Legacy of Horses
On Tex Oddson’s 14-acre White Rock Stables, white peacocks roam the serene, pastoral oasis that feels far away from city life. Some people believe that seeing a white peacock brings eternal happiness.
Oddson opened White Rock Stables in 1948, when he began boarding services, while offering horse rentals and horse-driven wagon hayrides. The couple had two sons, Terry and Texas, Jr. “Growing up I had a lot of work, but it was fun, and good exercise,” Tex shares. “My brother and I worked seven days a week when we weren’t in school. We worked with the horses, maintained the barn, and the fences, and mowed the grass. It was clean living.” Tex says the family didn’t have air conditioning, like many homes in the White Rock neighborhoods that were surrounded by the area’s mature trees. They cooled the house with a traditional attic fan with the windows open. In that regard, it was like “country living.” The young rancher attended Richardson High School, which served Lake Highlands residents at that time.
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Tex’s Treasured Companions
Tex enjoys spending time with his pets: his dog, Dooley, and two miniature horses. His black and white miniature stallion is a 22-year-old national grand champion Roadster Desert Shadows Renegade. “I’ve had him since he was 1½ years old. He’s very laid back and easygoing.” Buffy, Renegade’s daughter, is Tex’s 10-year-old miniature horse.
Tex says his favorite thing about his business is the horses, and he enjoys knowing the boarders’ families. “It’s very good therapy.” He says he has no plans of retiring or going anywhere else. “I’ll be here for a very long time.”
The hard worker says his hobbies are his horses — and his 1962 red-on-red Corvette convertible. “I’ve owned it for almost 25 years. I’m only the second owner, and it has less than 63,000 miles on it. Everything on it is original, except I added Vietnam Vet plates.” When asked what his biggest challenges are, Tex replies, “I don’t have any.” Apparently, this entrepreneur is doing many things right!
