McKENZIE STABLES
Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse 31
Striking TWH Tribute By Teacher In School Journal Going To All
( Editor’ s Note— A most remarkable tribute to lire Tennessee Walking Horse appeared in the NEA( National Education Assn.) Journal in December, 1961. That publication goes to hundreds o £ thousands of school teachers. It is here reprinted by special permission of the NEA Journal officials.)
I REMEMBER...
We spent the summer of 1946, she and I, as constant companions at a Rocky Mountain forest-ranger station miles from the nearest road. It was, of course, no formal school, and I would not then have called her my teacher. It was much later that I realized how naturally and how beautifully she introduced me to that country where she had lived all her life and where I intended to establish my new home.
Nor did I understand at the time how modern were the educational methods my teacher used. She took me along unpeopled trails in the primitive areas of the Flathead National Forest, exposing me without warning to majestic mountains, small waterfalls tinkling like music boxes, tart berries hidden in deep groves of pine, deer that crossed the trails more quickly when they heard us coming, chipmunks and squirrels with upright tails and endless chatter.
She left me free to scan a landscape or to examine the petal of a wild flower as it pleased me. With equal approval from her, I might pursue a doe and her fawn pell-mell over a hillside, or sit beside a stream for an hour, idly watching an inch worm measuring blades of grass. Nor was my study always and entirely by observation.
With my teacher’ s tacit approbation, I made constant notes with my camera and took questions she had no answers for back to that walking encyclopedia of Western wildlife, my ranger husband.
My teacher allowed me, then, to follow my own interests without restraint, merely making sure that the whole panorama of the West was set before me. But she did more than that. She encouraged me to go farther than I could have gone alone. She warned me of false and dangerous paths, without curbing my desire for discovery. She provided me with companionship in learning, based on mutual love and respect for the subject before us. Fler attitude was unfailingly that of affection, patience, and understanding. Although Montana will never give her a teacher’ s certificate, I learned more in that summer session than I have ever learned in any other, and I shall always be grateful to her as an unforgettable teacher. Her name was Nan, and she was a chestnut mare of that superior breed called Tennessee Walker.—( Elizabeth Paine Schafer, District 6 High School, Columbia Falls, Montana.) NEA Journal of December, National Education Association.
MORE PARTY LINE New Recruit In Mississippi Mrs. Fred Bailey of LamberL, Miss., remarks“ We are very new in the Walking Horse business; 1961 was our first year. We are cotton and soybean farmers, and horses are a sideline for us... We need a trainer. We should have advertised in your first issue but failed to do so. We need someone now. We have horses to show this year... We need someone to work at our barn on our farm. I surely hope this letter isn’ t too confusing...’’
( Note— The Voice Editor talked aTound in Shelbyville, and hustled out a suggestion to the Baileys. They may have found someone by now. The letter was dated April 2. Glad to welcome such fine folks to the Tennessee Walker family of followers. BAG.)
# * # Walkers At Salem, Va.“ My wife and I own three registered Walking Horses and we really enjoy them,” writes William B. Myers, Jr. Upland Dr. RFD No. 2, Salem, Va. He and Wilma like the magazine and also liked the book. And they like to have Walkers treated right too.
* * * Virginia Lamb, Trail-Rider A young lady named Virginia Lamb, 2901 37th Ave., Sacramento, Calif, is secretary of a riding club and knows a lot about trail-riding. We are trying to get more information from her— Planning special treatment soon.
Standing At Stud
MERRY BOY ' S MAJOR No. 462820
Sire Hinkle ' s Allen 440552 by Merry Boy. Dam Allen ' s Majorette 421306 Bright sorrel, bald, 3 high stockings, flaxen mane and tail. Sire of natural run walk colts.
$ 75.00 to reg. mares
LIBERACE ' S PLAYBOY No. 590720
Sire Eagle ' s Mr. Liberace 541209 Dam Bond Rally 453170 Bright sorrel, bald, 4 high stockings, white flaxen mane & tail. First colts from him this spring good run walkers with class.
$ 100.00 to reg. mares
Walkers for sale at all times CALVIN MILLER
Rhame, North Dakota 13 miles west of Bowman on U. S. H. 12
Phone BR 9-3420
McKENZIE STABLES
Peterstown, West Virginia
WALKING HORSES FOR ALL AGES SUITABLE FOR AMATEURS READY TO SHOW
VISITORS WELCOME
J. M. and DAVID McKENZIE, Owners
Phone PLS 3-4303