1966-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1966 December Voice | Page 7

MIDNIGHT DUKE was bred sparingly as a three-year-
old in 1965. The colts he sired that year are now on
the ground and showing great promise. 1966 was a most
successful year, with many people bringing select mares
to his court. The coming season will see the first crop
of Yearlings sired by SUN’S MIDNIGHT DUKE and
Mr. Gordon Wilder is on the threshold of truth regarding
his approach to breeding.
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In discussing the DUKE with some of his many fol­
lowers, we learned that “natural ability” is the earmark
of his background. DUKE, while never placed in train-
for showring competition, has been broken to three na­
tural gaits and many unbiased observers state that he
could have been “one of the true showring greats had he
been trained and shown.” With 62/2% MIDNIGHT
SUN blood, he has a right to his claim of “natural
ability.”
In a letter to the VOICE, Mr. Wilder made some
keen observations regarding the breed and the current
status of the Walking Horse business. We print herewith
some general statements from his letter which we feel
have merit.
Regarding the matter of natural gaits vs. the “sore
lick,” he says, We have got to stop this excessive abuse
for own sake, our own salvation. The Tennessee Walk­
ing Horse is doomed to slow extinction as a breed if
such extreme training techniques are not curtailed. Man­
made gaits are a direct product of such techniques and
cannot be passed on. Only natural head-shaking walking
gaits can accomplish this. The general opinion among
breeders is that we need a return to the era of hard and
dedicated riding to perfect the natural inherited gaits.
What has all this got to do with SUN’S MIDNIGHT
DUKE? It merely points up the fact that at least some
within our ranks are thinking about the future of the
breed as opposed to their own present advancement. It
is with this in mind that the DUKE can and will make
a lasting contribution to the Walking Horse business. As
Gordon Wilder said, “records live . . . opinions die” and
SUN’S MIDNIGHT DUKE should produce a record of
which we can all be proud. Gordon Wilder states that he
puts more emphasis on the dams than most breeders. He
carefully checked the dam line - bottom line - of DUKE’S
pedigree, and was told by the owners and riders, mostly
old timers, that these mares were all top natural head
shaking walking mares. DUKE has inherited from this
line of outstanding walking mares his natural ability as
a truly great natural walking saddle horse.
DUKE is out of MERRY HONEY GOLD. She is the
type of broodmre you would dream of as the dam of your
favorite stallion. She was by old MERRY MIDNIGHT
SUN, who was by MIDNIGHT SUN. It is at this point
that we note considerable depth in ALLEN blood as we
see the names of CURLEE’S SPOTTED ALLEN,
ROAN ALLEN F-38, FRANK ALLEN, and JIM AL­
LEN, all major contributors to the early history of the
breed. As for MERRY MIDNIGHT SUN, he and his
dam MERRY GOLD ALLEN won first in the Mare and
Foal class at the 1950 Celebration. The next year he won
the Yearling Colt Division at the Celebration. He also
won the 1950 Colt Weanling Division at the Celebration.
As for MERRY HONEY GOLD, she won the class of
Brood Mares under saddle with 1944 foal at side at the
1944 Celebration. In other words, Mr. Wilder is getting a
double dose of top blood lines, conformation and bloom,
and great natural ability in the dams, plus an outstanding
voung stallion, MERRY MIDNIGHT SUN, and his im­
mortal MIDNIGHT SUN as sire.
December • 1966
At present the Wilders have many horses other than
MIDNIGHT DUKE of which they are justly proud.
They now have eighteen top mares by MIDNIGHT SUN
ranging from three fine fillies purchased during the 1966
Harlinsdale Sale to some other mares bought principally
through Harlinsdale Farm Yearling Sales since 1960. In
addition to this stock they also have three top young
mares by MIDNIGHT MACK K and a younger full
sister to the dam of SUN’S DELIGHT which has just
w eaned a top stud colt by MIDNIGHT SUN, making
him a full blood brother to SUN’S DELIGHT.
The top colt at the Harlinsdale Sale this year was
SUN’S ELKHORN TOM CAT, a stud colt sired by
MIDNIGHT SUN and out of LINDY LOU LONG, one
of the hand-picked mares of the ELKHORN STABLES
of Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Wilder. He brought $4,500 at
auction. His full brother, DESIGN AT MIDNIGHT,
sold for $5,000 at the 1964 sale and both are the pro­
perty of Mr. Charles Corley of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Witth regard to their home stable, Mr. Wilder says
that they arc just beginning to make progress but that
the name “ELKHORN” should be cropping up on the
pedigree of some fine Tennessee Walking Horses, as they
plan to make this part of the registered name of all of
their young stock.
SUN’S MIDNIGHT DUKE will continue to stand at
famed Harlinsdale Farm in Franklin, Tennessee, for the
1967 season. His stud fee will remain unchanged at
$100.00. Anyone interested in booking to this fine stallion
can contact Mr. Harlin Hayes, Manager. Phone:[phone]
in Franklin.
Harlinsdale Farm Sale
Reflecis Caution of the Market
The story here is not so much on the details of the
annual Harlinsdale Farm Sale, which was held over two
months ago, but rather to - cast an eye at the long term
results of this sale and determine if there are any indica­
tions regarding the current status of the market. The
center of the financial stock market is Wall Street and a
Bear or Bull market can be predicted by astute observers
who follow the business trends. The Harlinsdale Farm
Sale of MIDNIGHT SUN colts has, for many years,
acted as a trend-setting event for the Walking Horse
business. It is this that we discuss!
The death of MIDNIGHT SUN in November of 1965
had a profound impact on the thinking of many in the
Walking Horse business. The feeling was that consider­
able long-term gain could be obtained by gathering up
as many young colts sired by this great horse as possible.
The market was in a dither for several months. General
opinion conceded to this reasoning and the prices of
MIDNIGHT SUN colts went sky high, depending upon
the individual and his dam breeding.
It should be remembered at this point that the econ­
omic conditions of the nation at large changed consider­
ably from November 1965 until September 1966. By mid­
summer the Viet Nam war had made an impact on the
economy of the nation and President Johnson had entered
a plea for business to curtail spending as a curb to pos­
sible inflation. By early fall, money was tight and this
effected everyone, including those who considered spend­
ing their “fun” money for horses.
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