1966-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1966 June Voice | Page 4

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BIG SHOT'S T BIRD
WHAT’S A T-BIRD? Casting a glance at his namesake, Big Shot's
T Bird takes a breather as trainer Billy Brantley works him for
owners Mr. and Mrs. Billy Robinson. Daughter Kathy and son
Bill look on.
ONE OF THESE DAYS, HE GOING TO CATCH'EM ALL FLAT FOOTED!
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A top horse is hard to find and, nine times out of
ten, when one turns up it is a sure thing that it was
not planned that way. Such is the case with Big Shot’s
TBird.
In the summer of 1963, little Miss KATHY ROB­
INSON of Chattanooga, Tennessee, daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. BILLY Robinson, prevailed upon her dad
and mother to take her to Battleground Stables in
Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, just across the state line.
As is the case with most nine-year-olds, she was
"nuts about horses” and had heard about this Walk­
ing Horse business. Throughout the summer, the Rob­
inson family, including seven-year-old BILL, followed
trainer BILLY BRANTLEY with a passing interest.
This was the year that he was riding Setting Sun’s
Apollo as a two-year-old.
Finally, as the Celebration approached, the whole
family had become "horse oriented” and had made
an indirect approach to get Mr. Brantley to find a
horse for them. As Mr. Robinson put it, "one that
Kathy can ride some time in the future." During
the Celebration week, Billy Brantley went to the Har-
linsdale Sale in Franklin, Tennessee, and late in the
evening of the final day a gangling bay stud colt by
Sun’s Big Shot went through the sale. This was one
of the two that he purchased that year
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A note of interest crept into the sale of this horse
to Mr. Billy Robinson, who is Sales Manager of Bert
Brown Ford Company in Chattanooga. The horse’s
registered name was Big Shot’s Rambler. For ob­
vious reasons, this would never do ... so his name
became Big Shot’s T Bird.
As a two-year-old, T Bird did quite well. He won
the Columbia Spring Jubilee in 1965 and tied third
in the Two-Year-Old Stake at the Celebration. When
discussing T Bird, Mr. Brantley gets a satisfied look
on his face and, smiling, will point out that "we are
not in a hurry with this horse.” As a two-year-old
he was doing so much that "he had a hard time
finding out where his feet were going.” He is one of
those rare horses that does nothing but walk. He
just walks all over. It’s the way he’s built! Billy points
out that many people say that the Walking Horse
business has produced three types of horses: Walk­
ing Horses, Show Horses, and Walking Show Horses.
He feels that T Bird is a Walking Show Horse.
Big Shot’s T Bird is now a three-year-old. He stands
sixteen hands and has filled out considerably since
last year. A judge at a recent horse show defended
his second-place tie of T Bird by saying, "He was
just too much. Everything he did was exaggerated
. . . or something. I had to tie him down.” His owner
VOICE of the Tennessee Walking Horse