Dr Greely was sitting in his car with some friends and T onnv nulled up beside the car m the glow of the big
n^ht lieht that illuminated the h. lside.“ Good evening5
Doctor noctor,”” he saia said, as ^ the four people i got ™ out of the me car car.“__ Hello..’-r Lonny.....»»,” Dr. Hreelv Greely answered,, moving up t0
the neck necK ui of i his *«-------- horse.“ Have you • ever met thes lAA <= se. lolks " I onnv? My wife Madeline and Mr. and Mrs. Lucas’’
Lonny spoke and reached down to shake hands. Dr. Greely moved close to Lonny and in a ow voice said,“ I’ ve been thinking about what you said this afternoon— about the cool reception you ve had and I believe I
know why.”." Lonny nodded and the doctor went VV^1L on—.“ See that group standing by the pickup truck over there?” pointing toward a dark spot along a fence.“ Well, I believe that little group is behind your current popularity.”“ How’ s that?” Lonny said, as he jerked on the reins of his horse who was getting impatient with all the standing
by Charles Barry Sanderson
“ Time sure does fly’ 5... was the impression that Lonny had when he rounded the turn and passed under the famous wrought iron gate onto the Festival Show Grounds. Helen, his wife, was riding with him and they had talked almost constantly for the last one hundred and fifty miles. The big topic of discussion was Lonny’ s health. Helen was sure that the worry and strain of the past two months, especially since he had gotten BEAU GEN TRY, had taken its toll and that her twenty-nine year old
husband had lost some weight.
Helen sat silently as they pulled up in front of the stables where they were to set up fo rthe next two weeks and then she said,“ Honey... I just want you to know that I am awfully proud of you and I... 1... well, you know what I mean.” Lonny smiled, and leaned over and kissed her saying,“ Sweetheart... I know what you mean all right. I also know we won’ t sec much of each other while we are here so you look after the kids and don’ t worry. I’ ll be all right.” With that he opened the door and set to work on what could very well be the biggest two weeks’ work he would ever put in.
People in the horse business harbor a lot of jealousy and ill will regarding each other and rival horses, but Lonny was beginning to believe he had been singled out for some special rebuff. He had always tried to be friendly with everyone, especially other trainers, and he had always tried to show respect for most everyone, but for some reason he was not being received too cordially by some people in the horse business. This would not bother some people but it did bother Lonny, and he had mentioned it to several people including Dr. Greely.
Lonny had arrived two days before the show was to begin in order to let his horses rest. There were a lot of people already on the show grounds and whenever he got his horses out to work them, there was usually a crowd. He had made arrangements with Dr. Greely to work BEAU GENTRY about eleven o’ clock one night and somehow the word had gotten out and as Lonny topped the hill he was surprised to see a gathering of over a hundred people waiting for him. It ' was a cool crisp night, just right for working a horse, and he could feel the energy of his big black stallion as he flat-footed up the hill.
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“ Well,” the doctor went on,“ the fellow with the light jacket is a Mr. Ralph Wild. He is a sort of a go-between in the horse business. He doesn’ t have the money to participate on a big scale so he tries to make an impression by hanging around with the‘ big boys’ and carrying tid-bits of news and rumor from one camp to another.”“ How does that affect me?” Lonny asked.“ From what I can find out, he is telling everyone that he owns a part of my horse and that you are betting on another horse to win the big stake besides BEAU GENTRY.”“ Hmmm.. Lonny queried.“ That gives us all something to think about, doesn’ t it? What say we give him a look at HIS horse.” With that he kicked the big black stud into a flat foot walk and headed across the field.
Lonny worked BEAU GENTRY for about fifteen minutes in a flat foot walk and got him loosened up. He stopped for a change of equipment, removing the light chains and putting on a pair of show boots. Most horses work a little bit better with chains than they do boots... most horses, that is, except BEAU GENTRY. Lonny turned to Dr. Greely and yelled, mostly for for the benefit of the onlookers,“ Hang a pair of sixteen-ounce boots on your horse, Doc, and he is a real scorpion.” He turned around and headed down along the fence in a good fast walk with ol’ GENTRY popping his head with pistonlike precision. They turned the corner at the edge of the field, just barely in sight, and Lonny wheeled around
and kicked his mount, clucking to him.“ Come’ re, hoss, he said,“ let’ s show’ em something.”
The group of men standing beside the pickup truck saw him coming along the fence in a running walk. One
man said“ He don’ t look too good to me. Besides. • he s got no speed to go with.. As he spoke, Lonny
dt? str * de and cracked his horse across the flank- EAU GENTRY dropped his rear end another notch and arched his neck to perfection as he appeared to be climbing for the moon with his front end.“ Damnation ■
1 thought you said he didn’ t have any speed?” one man ke left the group to get a better look. Ralph Wild
fu i-^. neck nervously as he broke sweat on his fore
nead, thinking to himself that he might have started something he couldn’ t stop.
The next morning Lonny was at the stable working
VOICE of the Tennessee Walking Hor ^