1967-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1967 April Voice RS | Page 18

(Continued from Page 14)
Our findings lead to the following conclusions! Lets
draw a parallel. You buy a new automobile, put gas and
oil in it for a year, put on a set of new tires, pay loi
maintainance and upkeep for a year and spend some
money for accessories. Twelve months later you have put
10,000 miles on the car and have kept it in good shape.
When the time comes to sell this car do you add all
these expenses together and make it part of the re-sale
price by adding it to the price you paid for the car, or do
you consider depreciation and wear and sell your car
for less money then you paid for it? You know the
answer? NOW ... by contrast. You buy a young horse,
put him in training, pay for blankets, farrier bills, verteri-
nary services, hauling etc., plus training bills and at the
end of the year, regardless of “the ability of the horse.or
his improvement,” you add all these expenses together with
what you paid for the horse and say that you have that
much in him and can’t take less for him.
We know that your first impression of our conclusion
will be that “the value of a horse increases as he gets
older and as his ability improves.” This is true PRO­
VIDED that he does respond to training and his ability
docs increases as a show horse. It is our belief that most
of us “travel on hope.” We hope that with another
trainer, or one more year of training that he will become
that “one in a hundred” that makes a top show horse.
What happens to the multitude of horses that don’t make
the grade? They are shifted from stable to stable and
sale to sale, by an owner that is convienced that he is
entitled to “get his money back.” The eventual outcome
is a discouraged owner and a useless horse. Both of
which will probably get out of the main stream of our
horse activity with the owner getting into something else
and the horse being put out to pasture.
Lets recognize the facts as they exist! If your horse
doesn’t make the grade, the best approach is to sell him
as a pleasure horse and buy one better next time.
TOP
JUNIOR HORSES FOR 1967
When the three year old classes were over at last years
Celebration, the bam talk was more than the usual pass­
ing comments about this or that great horse. The general
concensus seemed to be that there were a larger number
of top horses in the three year old class than had ever
been seen before in a single class, with any one of them
capable of winning the championship on a given night.
Trainer after trainer repeated this idea throughout the
winter months and as show season bears down on us, it
is well worth exploring this interesting and pleasing
development.
What caused die sudden rash of top horses in this
particular age grouping? Well there is no doubt that the
Tennessee Walking Horse has made great strides in the
past several years. The conditioning and performance of
this breed has evolved in dramatic form to the stage
where the Tennessee Walking Horse is doing more in his
gaits than was formerly thought possible. The condition­
ing of the breed has improved noticably during this
span and classes arc now filled with superbly conditioned
animals who can stay with the best of them.
Playing an important if usually unnoticed part by the
horse show fan, is the. increase of selective breeding by our
breeders, trainers and owners. Careful crossing of blood
lines has helped the evolution of the Tennessee Walking
Horse improve at a record pace. Breeders at large es­
18
tablishments realize the desirability of selective breeding
and have played a prominent role in the increase of this
aspect of breeding.
Modem training developments, with the emphasis on
keeping the horse sound, have also been a strong force
in the improvement of our breed. Trainers are spending
the time in the saddle to make their horses while utilizing
the vast store of knowledge already accumulated to fur­
ther their training techniques. The abuse of the Ten­
nessee Walking Horse is a thing of the past and a look
at the two year olds around the country will bear this
out in graphic terms.
Remember . . . last years three year old horses are this
seasons junior horses and, from stables all.over the country
the word is spreading of junior horses with the ability to
win the championship who have heretofore been un-
shown. This bears out the idea that trainers are not push­
ing their horses to get them ready as a two year old but
arc rather looking to the future years of the horses career.
From material that has been sent to us, bam talk, and
from things we have seen, we have compiled a listing of
some of the junior horses who are blue ribbon material
wherever they show.
Naturally enough a listing of this sort should begin
with the reigning three year old grand champion, THE
ENTERTAINER. Joe Webb is kidding no one when he
says this is a great horse. As a two year old this stallion
won reserve honors to GOLDFINGER in an extremely
talented class. This year promises to bring more blue
ribbons. Joe will have the defending champion ready, you
c&n count on it.
BIG SHOT’S T BIRD is the current three year old
reserve grand champion and word has it that he is looking
better than ever. T BIRD has one of the biggest licks ever
exhibited by a horse and as he fills out he becomes even
more formidable. Billy Brantley has taken this horse along
slowly and only time will tell when this top trainer decides
to pull out all the stops on this big bay stud.
SUN UP R and J. W. Renfroe are contenders any
time they come into the show ring and the so-called pop­
ular favorites had better w^atch this team very ‘carefully.
Jimmy Holloway, no stranger to top horses, is all set with
GO BOY’S BIG SHOT. Jimmy can get the best from a
horse and this horse has plenty to give. Dudley Sledge in
South Carolina has a real contender in JET’S GO BOY
SOUVENIR. This horse made a sterling show at the
Celebration and has improved since then. But Dudley’s
older brother, Bill, could be the one to take the honors
for the family on INVASION PERSUASION. This horse
has been coming on strong during the winter and his
showing in Gainesville, Florida, indicates that he is ready
for a top year.
John T. Carter has a real blue ribbon glow in his eye
when he talks about his junior contender, WARLOCK.
This horse is for real and his reputation will become even
more enhanced every time he enters the show ring. John
T. knows what his horse can do and that’s plenty.
Jim Babb on the West Coast has one of the best around
in MY SECRET SUN. This gray gelding has the ability
to go all the way and Jim Babb is just the man who could
get him there. Wink Groover has a real top horse in
SENSATIONAL SHADOW. This horse was a big winner
as a three year old at Montgomery and Wink has him
looking better than ever. If Wink has ridden a better
horse, he couldn’t recall his name, so brother, you better
watch out.
(Continued on Page 22)
VOICE of the Tennessee Walking Horse