1963-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1963 June Voice | Page 7

5
Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse
White Star To Live
Again in Marble ^
PARTY LINE
Show Horses Become
Pleasure Horses
An interesting letter comes from
I-T. W. Martin, P. O. Box 1389, Rome,
Ga. and we pass it on to you because
there has been much discussion on this
subject. Mr. Martin writes: "I have
noticed in the Voice that ex-show
horses are not recommended for pleas­
ure riding. I think your authors are
underestimating the ability of Walk­
ing Horses to adjust from show' to
pleasure riding.
"As a youngster I rode quite a bit
but until about a year ago, I had not
ridden for 25 years. A good friend
retired early last year and he gave
me two of his show' horses, one a geld­
ing about 14 and a mare about 13
years old. Both of these animals spent
their lives in the show ling, the mare
having won Lhe World’s Champion­
ship for 2 year olds at Shelbyville in
1953. She is Son’s Dark Star, listed in
your Biography. With very little in­
struction, I have ridden them for
pleasure. I use a Western rig on the
gelding but have not tried it on the
mare. They are spirited but very
gentle, and their years of show work
have made them very obedient. I am
using ordinary shoes rather than the
heavy show ones.
"My 14-year-old son, who had never
ridden horses before, rides, as does
my wife. My horses may be the excep­
tion to the rule, but the long disci­
pline of the shour ring has made these
horses outstanding for pleasure rid­
ing.”
s
*
s
Filly—Joy Of Her Life
“My 21-month-old (Stately Go Boy)
filly is the joy of my life. I cook grain
mashes for her on cold evenings and
sweep her stall floor as clean as my
kitchen. She thrives on this treatment
and I glow' with the feeling of accom­
plishment. We need each other. For
Christmas I gave our children a pony,
which is a line stable mate for my
lonely filly. Can you imagine how my
8-year-old daughter and 1 are looking-
forward to riding together this sum­
mer in our California hills? It is all a
lovely dream — but you know — it’s
real!” The writer of this letter is
Nancy Southard, 4130 Walnut Boule­
vard, Walnut Creek, California.
(Happy riding, Nancy!)
'' /
r
1
White Star—the noble white mare who did something no other -white
Walking Horse has done in the history of the 25-year-old National Celebration
at Shelbyville—will “live again" in marble on the farm of Dr. and Mrs. W. V.
Gamier, Bastrop, La. Above is a photograph of the plaster of Paris model
made of White Star. She will be memorialized with a w'onderful marble statue.
Dr. Gamier displayed this photograph at the 29lh annual meeting of the
Tennessee Walking Horse Breeder’s & Exhibitor’s Assn, at Lewisburg, Tenn.,
May 11. He is an association director and a vice-president of the International
Paper Corp., that has a huge plant at Bastrop. Dr. Gamier explained that the
model w'ill be somewhat revised—and made more life-like in the actual statue.
"We are in no hurry,” said Dr. Gamier, w'hen asked on what date the statue
w'ill be completed. 1-Ie and Mrs. Gamier visited in Italy to view' sculpture of
centuries gone by, preparatory to memorializing their cherished horse. The
mare—only white horse to win the TWH Grand Championship of the World
—was more than a mere animal to the Gamier family. She was a “precious pos­
session.”
White Star died in December, 1961, just eight years after she had been
given to Mrs. Gamier by the Doctor as a birthday present. Just a few weeks
before her death, White Star had been a “constant guest” at the Gamier home.
She drank Coca Cola from a bottle, visited the house daily, and answ'ered every
call from any member of the family.
The children and the parents wept when White Star died at age 12 years
of a stomach disorder. It was at the 1954 Celebration when White Star became
the Grand Champion of the World. She was ridden by 23-year-old Percy Moss-
then the youngest rider ever to saddle such a champion.
Time passed. White Star—daughter of Sir Maugray and Crain’s Merry Legs
—became just another World’s Grand Champion in the records. But notv she
will live forever—in everlasting marble—and she will become the first of the
breed thus remembered for all time. When the statue is unveiled we feel
quite sure two ladies from Willow Oaks Acres of Arkansas will be present.
They are Misses Addys Brown and Jimmie Nicholas—who occupy a niche all
their own as breeders of Tennessee Walking Horses, including White Star.