Mrs , Edith Puckett Route 4 , Box 110 Tyler , Texas
TENNESSEE WALKERS IN TEXAS
EDITORS NOTE : We knew it would only be a matter of time before the Great State of Texas would be adequately represented in the VOICE It gives us great pleasure to introduce Mrs . EDITH PUCKETT as a new Contributing Editor from Texas . We would also like to add that her interest in the VOICE was fostered by our own BILLY JOE ANN ESTESS who writes " The Hi-Line from the Deep South ." With such mutual interest in " spreading the good word about the Tennessee Walking Horse ” 1 do not see how we can miss . Mrs . Puckett offers the following letter as a means of introduction to the Walking Horse World :
Dear Sir .
My family and 1 have always loved horses but did not own any until our son was about eleven yearsold . He saved his allowance until he had " almost ” enough money to buy one . From that time on , we have lived and breathed horses . We gradually added to our herd until we were forced to move to the country to take care of them . After our son went off to college we cut down to five — three Tennessee Walkers and two Quarter Horses , which will always be our son ' s first love .
My husband and I are both active in the local saddle club — trail rides , play days , shows , etc ., and our ambition for this summer is to attend every East Texas Horse Show and Rodeo Association Show - all fourteen of them .
We are indeed pleased with the opportunity to contribute to the national Walking Horse scene from Texas and request our readers ’ support with news and views from the " Lone Star State .”
Many East Texans will have an opportunity to see Tennessee Walking Horses for the first time this summer . East Texas is primarily Quarter Horse country , but our beautiful Tennessee Walkers are coming into their own at last . We have an East Texas Horse Show and Rodeo Association , made up of clubs from fourteen towns in East Texas , and each club has a show every year . This past winter a few die-hard Tennessee Walking Horse and gaited horse lovers prevailed upon the Association to allow us to have one class each in their shows - so now we have a place to show ' our horses almost every weekend all summer long ! One of the conditions placed upon the " high-tailed ” horse people was for us to furnish our own judge for these shows at no expense to the host club . So , if any of you know of a qualified judge in this area who will judge two classes in one of these shows , for only car expense and our undying gratitude , please let me know . We feel that showing our horses in these shows will do more to promote the breed than anything that has happened lately . They cause more favorable comment and enthusiasm than the rest of the show combined , even from people who are seeing them for the first time . And our ranks are growing steadily .
We recently visited with C . C . ( BOOSIE ) WILLIAMS at his Cypress Acres Stables and from what we saw there , the Tennessee Walker will be taking over Texas before long . Boosie started this operation in January of this year by converting part ofhis one-thousand-acre cattle ranch at Harleton , Texas to raising , breeding and training Tennessee Walking Horses . He brought NEIL CLARK from Charlotte , North Carolina to be his trainer . Neil had his own stable in Charlotte and comes from a Tennessee Walking Horse family : his father , GARNER CLARK , rode Midnight Gold Sun to win the two-year-old futurity stud class at the Celebration several years ago , and his uncle , FRED WALKER , rode Midnight Sun to the championship twice . We think Neil will definitely follow in their footsteps . He is already bringing home Texas honors — he won the twoyear-old class at the Dallas Charity Horse Show this year on his Gold Sun ’ s Walker .
Some of the horses in training at Cypress Acres are : Merry Boy ’ s G . Sun , owned by KAY HARMON , daughter of Dr . and Mrs . ROGER HARMON ; Sparkling Cavalier , owned by Tyler Mayor TOM CLAY ; Cotton ’ s Go Boy , owned by JULANE JIMMERSON , daughter of Mr . and Mrs . DELMER JIMMERSON ; Don Juan , owned by JANNA ALBRITTON , daughter of Mr . and Mrs . ALLEN ALBRITTON ; Haynes ’ Roan Gobbler , owned by J . E . HAYNES ; Big Bad John , owned by DENISE DODSON , daughter of Mr . and Mrs . K . W . DODSON ; and a top mare contender owned by SAM and DICK FORD . These horses are already making their marks in the local shows : in the Tyler Youth Show three of the horses in training at Cypress Acres Stables took the first three places . And Kay Harmon ’ s Merry Boy ’ s G . Sun won first at the Gladewater Association Show , with Julane Jimmerson ’ s Cotton ’ s Go Boy taking fourth . We are looking forward to seeing all these fine horses in our Association shows , as well as many of the larger shows .
JIM BRENT of Greggton tells us that he has his former trainer HERBERT DAVIS back and that he is working , among several young horses , Clark ’ s Tel Star that Jim recently purchased from OTIS CLARK of Tyler .
We enjoyed visiting with HERB MURRAY of Texarkana at the Gladewater Show . Herb was to have been the judge for our class in the show , but the show moved along much faster than expected and Herb arrived too late to judge that class . However , he did judge the pleasure class and the gaited horse class , and did a fine job .
June 12 was the big day for theState Walking Horse Show in Stephenville , Texas . This was the first annual show sponsored by the Texas Walking Horse Association and was under the auspices of the Stephenville Junior Chamber of Commerce . Complete results will be in the July VOICE . The address for the Texas Walking Horse Association is 2309 Glendale Drive , Waco , Texas .
14- VOICE of the Tennessee Walking Horse