INCREASED INTEREST IN PLEASURE HORSE ACTIVITY EXPOUNDED BY READER
The following letter was received by The Voice Editor. We feel it represents a point well taken and is worthy of the attention of all our readers. We appreciate such inquiry and interest.“ Dear Mr. Green:“ This is a plea for recognition of the“ forgotten man,” the small stable owned and operated by one who loves horses and would like to raise pleasure Tennessee Walking Horses for sale, and a modest profit. Perhaps the small operator hoping for a modest profit is a thing of the past. I abhor this thought, since I belong in this category. While living on the West Coast, and keeping a few Quarter brood mares, I bought for my personal riding horse a Registered Tennessee Walking mare. She is a granddaughter of ROAN ALLEN, and almost old enough to vote. I loved riding this old bald faced mare, but found my time taken up with my young Quarter horses, so I bred her to one of the Bishop stallions. Soon after this we sold our ranch and moved to Virginia. This old mare and her filly, out of GOLD BOOTS, have become the foundation for a setup to raise registered Tennessee Walking Horses for pleasure riding.
Being a newcomer to the Walking Horse field, I began to look around for stallions, and a market for my young stock. What I have found has not been encouraging. The emphasis in publications and shows seems to be on the show horse. While I have nothing against show horses. I realize that sires of show horses do not always produce the temperament required for a pleasure horse. The breeder of pleasure stock should look for good conformation, good disposition. and intelligence in a sire. I found many good stallions available for breeding, but most of them were out of show lines. I can understand why a stable would prefer to stand a GO BOY or MID NIGHT SUN line; these are well known lines the public has seen and heard about. Their foals sell themselves. I am sure there ate good stallions available for breding pleasure horses. The question is. where are they, and what will it take to make them known to the public and potential breeders?
In trying to find a market for my young stock. I went to small, local shows and some larger ones. I found the same problem. The small shows have a class for Walking Horses, but these are only stepping stones to the big one. If there were a pleasure class, all breeds and grades were classed together. As for the larger shows, the classes for show horses outnumber those for pleasure horses. It’ s quite true that the paying customer comes to see the high stepping horses, but if he wants to buy a horse for a pleasant ride, he hardly knows where to start looking. Potential owners I have talked to seldom realize that a show horse does not often make a quiet pleasure horse. They want a well bred good looking horse with an easy gait, gentle and intelligent.
How do you stimulate and educate this potential buyer? We all know the Tennessee Walking Horse has the qualities the buyer is looking for. The best way to interest this buyer is to show him this horse he wants. Small local shows should have a class for registered pleasure horses. The stable area should be convenient and open to the public so the horses could be seen under all conditions. Perhaps Mama could be persauded to stop cleaning tack and show how easy it is to wash and groom the family pet. The atmosphere around local shows is usually friendly, so I am sure the owner would be delighted to show and talk about his horses. The biggest problem would be to shut him up. Area workshops could be of great assistance to the small owner-breeder-trainer, and the potential buyer. An entrance fee would be necessary and
FEBRUARY, l964
perhaps owners could get together and underwrite the expense. An experienced trainer should be engaged to conduct classes in handling and training from young foals to the finished product." I am
aware that in a class of this kind the trainer would only be able to give suggestions and a general plan. Halter classes for brood mares, weanlings and yearlings would provide a showcase for your breeding lines. A discussion group where owners could talk over their problems with each other, and thereby benefit from the experience of others, would be interesting. The most valuable item on the agenda could be a discussion conducted by an expert, on how to sell both young stock and finished pleasure horses. I attended a workshop held at the C. C. Turner Farm. It was both interesting and informative, but again the emphasis was toward show horses. Another suggestion for stimulating interest in the pleasure horse would be for the Voice to recognize the potential interest in the pleasure horse and his owner. Give us some news or articles about this side of the breed.
Perhaps the greatest need is to acquaint the buyer with what it costs the breeder to produce a well trained pleasure horse. The breeder’ s initial investment is in equipment; barns, fences, pasture, tack, etc. Then his investment in brood stock: stud fees and transportation for mares to the stallion. This is only the beginning. The foals arrive: the mares handle this board bill for a couple of weeks, but the foals soon have their heads in the feed trough along with the mares. The mares should be re-bred, so back to the stallion they go and in come bills for breeding, board and transportation. The mares are back home and eating heartily. By this time the foals should be handled and taught some of the amenities. By late summer the foals are weaned: they need supplementary feed to offset the shock of weaning,
and more constant handling. Grass is getting short, so more hay and grain is required; winter comes
( Continued on Page 17)