GAINESVILLE CHARITY HORSE SHOW
6
Florida is famous for its warm weather but those of us at the Gainesville Chairitv Horse Show would like to find out just where in Florida that warm weather is. Cold weather and rain marred the Gainesville Show to a degree but‘‘ the show went on”, as all horse shows do.
The show covered four days( February 9-12) and totaled 128 classes. Two rings were used to take care of the great number of classes.
There were only twelve Walking Horse classes but these classes had some of the top horses showing entered. The spectators, though not always well informed of what they were watching, were generous in their applause of the Walking Horse classes. Most of the time the loudest cheers came when the trainers put their horses on the rail and went running walk.
The show management had their hands full in keeping the show running smoothly and the uncooperative weather further hindered their efforts. However, these capable people had the situation well in hand despite all the handicaps. Running a horse show is a difficult job under excellent conditions and when several things are working against you, it is even more than the best can handle.
The big news of the show for Walking Horse enthusiasts was the fine showing of SENSATIONAL SHADOW with Wink Groover up and INVASION PERSUASION with Bill Sledge in the irons. Both of these horses captured the blue ribbons in their classes and had the fans at ring side buzzing about their showings.
Wink showed this four year old horse in the stud and gelding class and came back later to capture the stake over some rugged competition. In the stallion * and gelding class the ring was in pretty good condition and Wink showed his horse to best advantage. Tying reserve in the class was Ronnie Spears on GO BOY’ S FLYING CLOUD. J. P. Eidrid ge owns this fine looking stud and Ronnie made a top ' showing. Preach Fleming and SILVER SHADOW ' S ■ ' R5 ' were the third place tie in this class.
In the stake class Wink again duplicated the blue ribbon with reserve honors again going to Ronnie and GO BOY’ S FLYING CLOUD. Moving up to the third slot with a steady and determined performance was MERRY BOY’ S SECRET and Bill Sledge. SECRET was in good early season form and looks like he started towards one of his. best years ever.
In the Junior Walking Horse class it was INVASION PERSUASION and Bill Sledge in the blue ribbon spotlight. Bill had his horse just right and that was all it took. Wallace Brandon guided LITTLE SPREE to the reserve honors for a good evenings work. Wink Groover and BEL AIRE’ S MERRY ME tied third for owner F. H. Harbin. Guy Whitener, Jr., owner of INVASION PERSUASION, was very pleased with his horses showing and is planning on showing this top junior contender at the leading shows this year.
The two year old class showed some horses with plenty of promise. Ronnie Spears and FANCY’ S BONANZA tied the blue ribbon in a class of seven. Reserve winner in this class was Wink Groover and SUN’ S MIDNIGHT BAY. Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Ellison are the proud owners of this fine two year old. MARK’ S LITTLE JANE with Preach Fleming in the saddle, took the third place ribbon for owner R. D. Keene,
Mrs. Paul Randolph and SPECIAL’ S SONATA captured top prize in the Lady Amateur class. Second placr w(.„ t to MACK K’ S DELTA and Rosanne Dovlc while the third place ribbon was awarded to Carol Cox and THE NEW LOOK. These ladies did a fine job showine their horses and battled for the blue ribbon as only
ladies can.
The mare class had nine entires and the winners of the honors in this class were HOT CARGO and Wallace Brandon. Wallace is a veteran exhibitor and he used his know how in getting the best from his horse. The Preach Fleming-R. D. Keene combination took the reserve rihbon on a fine looking marc, SHADOW’ S PRIMROSE Paul Smith came on strong to win the yellow ribbon on cttxt’ c a NTH FT. for T,. Frank Roner.
The adult amateur class was hotly competitive with SUN’ S ZENITH and C. E.“ Dude” Riddle walking lo the title. Second in this class went to MR. FASHION TWO-TWENTY and V. G. Gochncaur. Closely behind the top two in this class was Pete Robinson on GO BOY’ S FANCY PANTS.
The Walking Horse Pleasure class attracted only two entries with STORMY MIDNIGHT and Janet Thomas
winning the ribbon. SUNNY AIRE and Saundra Spangler gave the winner plenty of competition in this small ciass.
Winner of both the junior exhibitor class and stake was Bill Sledge, Jr. on BILLY’ S HI FIVE. This talented 18 year old youngster handled himself in fine fashion in winning these two classes. The horse is owned by Guy Whitener, Jr. of the Silo Hill Stables in Newberry, South Carolina.
The adult amateur championship was captured by GO BOY’ S FANCY PANTS and Pete Robinson. This entry tied third in an earlier class but came back in good form to win the championship. SUN’ S ZENITH and“ Dude” Riddle won the reserve championship with MR. FASHION TWO-TWENTY7 and V. G. Gochneaur capturing the yellow ribbon.
The Walking Horse judge was F. W.“ Lightning” Gregory of Greenville, South Carolina. The Alachua County Riding Horse Association helped present the show for the Gainesville Junior Chamber of Commerce. These fine individuals and organizations worked dilligcntly for the shows success and are to be commended for a job well done. Although the weather failed to cooperate and attendance did not live up to expectations, the show was a success for all concerned.
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