Avid horseman Theodore Roosevelt had a stable full of horses during his time in the White House. Riding horses, carriage horses, and even a pony all resided in the prestigious White House stables. Some horses are mentioned more often than others, such as Bleistein, Roosevelt’s unabashed favorite or Algonquin the Shetland pony.
Jocko is rarely mentioned, likely taking a back seat to the more famous horses in the bunch. However, Roosevelt does bring him up in a letter dated November 28th, 1902 to his son Kermit. He talks about the family going for a ride and states that “mother” (presumably wife Edith) “rode Jocko Root.”
Written in 1902, this places Jocko with the family as early as Roosevelt’s second year of his first term of the Presidency. In his letters, Roosevelt often mentioned horses such as Renown who would kick up a fuss around automobiles or trains, or those who were high-spirited and tougher to train. With this and the fact that Roosevelt’s wife was a frequent rider of Jocko, we can speculate that Jocko likely had a fairly even temper – which kept him in Roosevelt’s good graces, but out of written record.