1966-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1966 September Voice RS | Page 18

ring. He and Helen had been invited to go to the Midvale Farm Auction Sale with Dink Fuller on Sat­ urday morning and, while they were waiting for Mr. Fuller’s groom to bring the car, they talked about the stake class. "Dink,” Lonny asked, "tell me the truth. Can I win that blue with Tiger?” "I’ll be hon­ est with you, Lonny,” Dink said. "From what I hear, they’re going to try to tie the black horse again. He’s got a blood line that has had a lot of pushing but they need a World Champion to keep things mov­ ing.” Helen butted in, "What do you mean, they are going to try to tie the black horse again? Do you think they would do anything crooked?” Dink scratched his thinning hairline and answered, "Helen, it’s not a matter of being crooked, it’s just a matter of a judge’s opinion. What I’m saying is that Lonny can beat the other two horses hands down, but he is going to have to put it to the black horse BAD in order to get the blue.” Lonny thought this over all the way to the sale and back again. by Charles Barry Sanderson Lonny Barnes was finally there! The Annual Na­ tional Tennessee Walking Horse Festival . . . the place where the world champions are crowned. As he pulled up in the ring for the line-up, he noticed that the seventy-two horses made a complete circle around the ring. As the grooms came in and went to work, he asked Little Joe how they looked. "They’s a lot of good horses in here, Mista Lonny. I jes’ hope they saw you.” Tiger Bay stayed with them through the second workout and was pulled in on the grass toward the last. Lonny didn’t think that his horse could make the final workout but, as luck would have it, a horse threw a shoe just as the last workout started, giving them a much-needed rest. There were twelve two- year-old stud in the final workout and after what seemed like four hours, the judges turned in their cards. The waiting was excruciating! Hope upon hope wouldn’t get the job done, and Lonny remembered the words of Dink Fuller: "It takes more than a good horse and desire to carry out a blue.” The next morning, Lonny and his wife were to have breakfast with Mr. and Mrs. Larson and the other owners of Tiger Bay. They met at the familiar Dixie Plantation Restaurant about nine o’clock. As they entered, they were pleased to be greeted by a host of well-wishers. "Good show, Lonny” . . . "Great horse you got there, buddy” . . . "I’ll trade you two ten-thousand-dollar cats for your big bay horse, Lon­ ny” ... it all sounded good, even though they had only tied fourth. As they sat down with their group, the old man with the diamond stickpin looked up over his cup of coffee and said, "Lonny, I was real pleased with your performance last night.” Thoroughly convinced that he had over-ridden his horse during the preliminary workout in the stud class, Lonny set about planning his ring tactics for the upcoming Two-Year-Old Stake. He was sure that he had learned a lot in his first real test in the big 18 The Two-Year-Old Championship at the Festival is always held as the first class on the last night of the show. It is considered one of the best because these are going to be the great horses of the future. As Lonny fined up outside the gate with the other train­ ers and their- horses, he looked around and made a comparison with the mass of horseflesh that had come into the first class. There were only thirty-two horses in the stake, including fillies, geldings and studs. Lonny had decided to try something: he had eased his way up toward the front and, as the gate opened, he quickly moved in between two other riders and entered the gate first. He had not broken any rules and had not touched a horse in his way in, but he had picked up a bit of the crowd’s attention. Pulling up alongside him in a fast flat-foot walk was the black horse that had won the Two-Year-Old Stud Class. As they rode side by side, the rider said, 'Young feller, that was a bad move and you better be on your toes, 'cause you ain’t got a chance,” and then he pulled off in his all-too-fast flat-foot walk. Tiger did well in the first workout and, when they fined up for the grooms to come in, Lonny was sur­ prised to see Dink Fuller walk up to him. Dink said with a grin, "I told Little Joe I’d had a lot more experience at grooming than he had. Is it all right with you?’ Truthfully, Lonny had never been more pleased to see anyone in his life. As Dink went to work on the horse they talked about their progress so far. Don’t worry — you’re in the workout and your horse isn’t tired,” he said. Lonny admitted that Tiger was in better shape than he was himself. Lonny was considerably encouraged when he no­ ticed two of the judges studying Tiger with great care. The third just glanced over him and moved on. He also noticed that they were all very interested m J?16 ^.act ^at Dink Fuller was grooming for him. e big test got under way with seven horses on the rail. Lonny tried to find himself a good spot, but VOICE of the Tennessee Walking Horse