1963-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1963 July Voice | Page 10
July, 1963
8
Introduction—This is a new article for
the VOICE. It is designed to be about
people and not horses and to introduce
outstanding people in the Walking Horse
business with opinions regarding the
business to be expressed freely. The
opinions expressed herein do not neces
sarily represent the editor or his staff.
MR. REX WATTS-
We met Mr. Watts for the first time
at the Chattanooga Pilot Club Horse
Show, where he was judge of the Walk
ing Horse classes. 1 learned from talk
ing with him that he was about as
active as a trainer can be. He had
shown a 2-year-old in the Carolina’s
that afternoon and had flown over to
Chattanooga to judge the evening
show. On describing our idea of this
new article, to be about people rather
than horses, Mr. Watts stated that he
thought it was an excellent idea and
was delighted to be our first subject.
Rex Watts resides in Hudson, North
Carolina with his wife Grace, daugh
ter, Brenda, who is a high school math
teacher and son Rex, Jr., who will
enter college in the fall. He was born
in Wilks County, N. C., and was raised
in Hickory where he attended grade
school and high school. He was a
three year letter man in 3 sports while
in high school.
Rex served in World War II in
Italy with the U. S. Infantry as a
Platoon Sargeant. It was after the war
that Rex got into the horse business.
While attending Lenoir College in
Hickory on the G. I. Bill, he, like
many trainers, began training at night
in his spare time. He first used stable
facilities at the Catawba Fairgrounds
in Hickory and for many years was
located at several places within a 25
mile radius of the town. One im
portant note which Rex pointed out to
us was that he has several people who
have had horses in training with him
for 15 or 20 years without interuplion.
To the writer, this indicates that here
is a reputable, hard working man who
is a definite asset to the business.
Rex has shown Walking Horses
since 1916 and has had many of the
finest horses shown in the powerful
circuit of the Carolinas and Virginia.
While working and showing horses
himself, he has not overlooked the
amateurs and has taught many chil
dren to ride and developed them into
top juvenile and amateur riders. Mr.
Watts has been operating public
stables in Hudson since 1959 and was
in Newton, N. C., for 13 years prior
to moving there.
To the writer, a good indication of
a successful trainer is his record and
reputation as a judge. Rex Watts is
reputed to be one of the finest. In the
past 18 years he has judged over 200
shows in both gaited and Walking
Horse classes. He has judged shows as
far west as Los Angeles and as far
South as Miami and has many of the
top shows including the Tennessee
State Fair to his credit.
When asked what his plans for the
future were, Rex stated, “I plan to
stay in the Walking Horse business
for I believe the sport is growing by
leaps and bounds and I feel that the
next 10 years we will see the greatest
boom the horse business has ever
experienced. Riding for pleasure and
amateur showing is just beginning
as a big field and there are more
people looking for good horses for
this purpose than in all the years I
have been in the business.” When
asked direct questions about the vari
ous phases of the Walking Horse busi
ness, Rex made no hesitation in indi
cating his feelings. On the question
of current judging methods Mr. Watts
said, "I feel that on the whole there
is more consciencious judging than
ever before because more people know
more about horses and the finer points
of showing since the Breeder’s Associa
tion rules are well circulated in all
shotv circles.” He also had some defi
nite ideas as to how we might up
grade the business. "It can be up
graded by better selling of horses in
that we sell horses for the price and
purpose they are to be used for.
Don’t sell horses that are not suited
to green riders or sell horses to be
ridden by children that are too much
for their limited experience to
handle.” The area of the business
most neglected, according to Rex is
the pleasure horse field. He pointed
out that “the pleasure horse field is
being neglected because Loo many
horses are kept in training too long-
in an attempt to make show' horses out
of them. Many more should be gentled
and taught to do 3 easy gaits without
weighted shoeing so more pleasure
horses would be available at a pleasure
horse price.”
We stuck our neck out and asked
him w’hat he thought about current
training methods and he stated, “The
methods of today are faster than ever
before as they must be to develop
young horses to be ready to show as
2 year olds.”
Our thanks to Mr. Rex Watts for
allowing us to delve inLo his back
ground and to get his thinking of
various phases of the Walking Horse
business.
THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE
FOR EXPERIENCE
MORE THAN THIRTY YEARS
I HAVE PROMOTED, SUPPLIED
AND SERVICED THE BEST
INSURANCE FOR SHOW HORSES
AND REGISTERED LIVESTOCK
AVAILABLE
REST AT EASE
WHEN YOU INSURE THE
"RICHARD WAY"
SEE, CA