It was past midnight when the battered van pulled into the show grounds . Lonny stopped at the gate and asked the watchman which way to barn number four . As they pulled up in front of the stable it was deserted except for a group of grooms who were shooting craps on a tack trunk under a swinging light bulb . One of the boys looked up and said . . . “ what happened to your van , Buddy . . . it looks like you lost a game of chicken .” Neither Lonny or Little Joe answered him . as they slowly climbed out of the cab and stretched their legs .
The group broke up their game and came up to Lonny . A big fellow stepped up and said , “ you Mista Lonny Barnes ain ’ t cha ?.” Look like you had some real trouble . Need any help ?”
Lonny smiled and said . . . “ we had a little trouble alright . Turned this van over about fifty miles outside of town . Our brakes gave out coming down that long grade just this side of the hills .’’ With that , the boys all pitched in to help Lonny and Little Joe unload the horses .
I TV QUEST CMF A . ItlX E by Charles Barry Sanderson
As Lonny turned his van onto the highway , he gave one last look at the stable and beautiful rolling color-filled Fall countryside surrounding his property and wondered if he would exchange this freedom for a little bit more security . He had thought a lot about the proposition that had been made to him and had discussed it at length with Helen , his wife .
The roads to Birmingham were good most of the way . He had picked up a super highway about fifty miles from home and was rolling along at a good clip . He was thinking about the up and coming “ Southern Jubilee ” horse show , wondering if he had done the right thing in taking TIGER BAY . He had mentioned his plans to Mr . Mack Malone and had been assured that it was a good idea . Mr . Malone had even stated that he would “ put in a good word for him .” This brought to mind the fact that up until this time , nobody had ever been interested enough to bother with him or his stock .
Little Joe was asleep in the front seat when it happened . He was awakened by the lurch of the van as the right rear wheels went off the pavement and by Lonnv ’ s loud curse . “ Damnation . . . we got no brakes ” . . . Lonny hollered , as Little Joe suddenly sat up and noticed that they were traveling down a sleep grade at a terrific rate of speed . Lonny broke out into a cold sweat as he maneuvered the six horse van around the curves of the road .
In the back they could hear the slamming of horses ’ hooves as they struggled to keep their footing . A loud
crash and breaking of wood was followed by the whinny of a horse in panic . Lonny knew that at least one of them was down and had probably broken the separator and cross chains . “ Little Joe ,” said Lonny . yelling above the shriek of screaming tires on hot pavement and the roar of the engine as he tried to gear down , “ see what the hell has happened back there .’’ Little Joe was obviously scared to death by now and sat motionless , holding onto the dashboard with both hands . “ Joe . . . look through the window and see what is . . Lonny halted his statement as he saw the curve ahead . He knew he would never make it . “ Jump , Joe , . . jump !”
The next morning , after a sleepless night , Lonny was eating breakfast alone at the motel restaurant when he heard a familiar voice . “ Well , if it ain ’ t Mister Lonny Barnes . . . giant killer .” Lonny looked up in surprise through bloodshot eyes and saw his friend , Dink Fuller . “ Hi Dink . . . had breakfast yet ?” Dink sat down and got the whole story from Lonny about the night before . He heard how the brakes had quit on him and how he had slammed into a clay bank going into a deep curve and laid his truck on it ’ s side for what seemed like a hundred yards before coming to a halt . Dink said , “ you are lucky that you came out of it with no more than cuts and bruises .” Too bad about the marc though ! She was a good one !
When Lonny telephoned Helen , he tried to break the news to her as gently as possible , but she was in tears after she heard that their mare had been killed . “ How about
TIGER BAY . . . was he hurt bad .’ Helen inquired . Lonny assured her that TIGER was fine , although he had his doubts about showing him because of a bruised shoulder and a bad scrape on his flank . Lonny explained about the
• accident and how another trainer had stopped and gotten a wrecker and a crew of men to come out and tow the truck in and get the horses fixed up . He had gotten a vet to come out and examine his four horses and to arrange for disposal of the mare that ’ had broken her neck . After assuring Helen that everything was fine , considering what had happened , Lonny hung up and turning to Dink , said . . . “ well , let ’ s go take a iook at OL ’ TIGER and see if you think I should try to show him .”
It was about an hour before time for the Two-Year- Old Class and Lonny was putting the finishing touches on the braid on IIGER BAY . He had been forced to keep his Junior Horse out of competition the night before and his juvenile rider had tied fifth on her horse , so it was up to 1 IGER BAY to keep the Lonnv Barnes Stables in the limelight . Dink Fuller had worked with him early that morning and was still not sure that he should try to show this World Champion Two-Year-Old after he had been banged up . in the wreck . He appeared to work well enough but just didn ’ t have the bloom that he should have . This worried Dink !
34 VOICE of the Tennessee Walking Horse