1967-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1967 September Voice RS | Page 6

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as hard to find as "good horses. He
his horse in both 1965 and 1966 in an e °
the roses and both times victory was not theirs,
big black stallion was fourth in 1965 an
1966 with trainer Bud Dunn in the saddle. 1
then determined, by mutual consent of all concern »
that perhaps a change should be made. After a co
siderable amount of thought, discussion an a o o
sleepless nights, Dr. Henry decided that he wo
try to find another trainer.
This is a job within itself, especially when a top
horse is involved. You just don’t go out and nn a
top trainer who can take such responsibility with
ease. Dr. Henry had to find a trainer who, first o
all, had the ability to train and show a winner. He
also had to find a trainer who didn’t already have a
serious stake contender in his barn. After several
months of deliberation, it was announced in March
of 1967 that Douglas Wolaver would get GO BOY’S
SUN DUST.
The rest of the story is history! Everyone knows
of the maximum effort that Doug Wolaver made in
working with this horse. He had to learn what type
of bit to use, how to boot him, how much work he
could take at a given time, how to have him shod
and, most important of all, how he would react un­
der showring conditions. In a scant six months he
had to study the conditioning of his horse to deter­
mine just the right time to have him "reach a peak.”
If he had tried too hard to "get him right” early in
the season he might have overdone it and taken
the "edge” off him. If he had gone too slow, he might
not have had him ready for the Celebration. We can
well understand that Mr. Wolaver spent many a night
looking at the ceiling, wondering if he was doing the
right thing. After all ... a lot was resting on his
decisions and his ability as a trainer.
It is true that Doug has always had a lot of fine
help. His father, Myron Wolaver, is no newcomer to
the horse business. He has a reputation of being
one of the most critical judges of Walking Horses in
the business, and many times has called his son
aside with some "words of wisdom” at the right time.
Doug and GO BOY’S SUN DUST also had a lot of
other help. For one thing, he is popular with other
horsemen and, also, the Saturday night horse en­
thusiasts. He is also a good showman who knows
his way around the showring, sensing just when to
put the maximum pressure on his horse.
GO BOY’S SUN DUST has been shown sparingl
this season. As the summer progressed, it was ot
vious to astute observers that the black stallion wa
"getting better and better” with prospects of read
ing his peak at just about the right time. After
rigorous workout at the Columbia Spring Jubilee i
June, GO BOY’S SU N DUST was tied reserve Othe
than this, he was undefeated throughout the 196
season.
men the big gate swung open for the Aged Sta
lion Class on Wednesday night at the Celebratioi
the gaze of the record crowd was spread over tb
large field of popular entries. After two workouts
was obvious that one horse was outstanding in th
class, and that horse was GO BOY’S SUN DI7Sr
Mr. Wolaver had planned everything just right! R
horse was consistent in three good gaits both wave
of the ring, and just to top off an already great Der
formance, he made one spectacular pass on the
verse that convinced many doubters that the blart
horse from Alabama ready had the makings 0f a
World Champion. He proved this again on Saturdav
night when he was crowned the "World’s Grand Cham
pion Tennessee Walking Horse.”
It should be pointed out here that, in a recent
news release to the Times Tri-Cities Daily, a Flor­
ence, Alabama newspaper, regarding the recent vie
tory of his horse, Dr. Henry put credit where credit
was due and stated that "Bud Dunn trained him
three years and deserved at least 75% of the credit
for making the horse what he is today.” We feel that
this is a glowing tribute to a fine trainer who justly
deserves a lot of credit. It takes more than a good
horse and training ability to achieve stardom in the
showhorse world and sometimes the "breaks” just
don’t come.
Our new 1967 World’s Champion is a worthy rep­
resentative of this great breed. He stands fifteen-
three hands and has excellent conformation. He is
solid black without any distinguishing marks. He
carries the traditional MERRY GO BOY traits of
being close coupled with a fine neck and keen head
with small pointed ears that almost touch. His show­
ring performance over the past five years serves as
ample proof that this horse should be ranked with
the true greats of the breed.
By MERRY GO BOY, the World’s Grand Cham­
pion of 1947 and 1948, and out of SUN DUST SIL­
HOUETTE, the newly-crowned champion carries en­
viable blood in his royal veins. This particular cross
represents the very best in pre-planned inbreeding
of both the MERRY BOY and the MIDNIGHT SUN
lines, with both going back to foundation stock in
ample proportions (see pedigree).
What of the future? It is almost a certainty that
GO BOY’S SUN DUST will get an opportunity to
prove his worth in the ranks of major breeding stal­
lions. He is the first World’s Grand Champion to be
sired by MERRY GO BOY since GO BOY’S SHADOW
won the big stake in 1955 and 1956.
Our wholehearted congratulations to Dr. and Mrs.
B. S. Henry and their daughter, Janis. We under­
stand that the Henrys have gone on a well-deserved
extended trip to Europe, and trust that they leave
with fond recollections of the 1967 Tennessee Walk­
ing Horse National Celebration. Our congratulations
also to Douglas Wolaver for an excellent job. Every­
one involved in the career of GO BOY’S SUN DUST
is a credit to this great breed and to the people in
the Walking Horse World!
MONTGOMERY HORSE SHOW
ANNOUNCES DATES
Dates for the Southern Championship Charity H°r^
Show at Montgomery, Alabama have been announce
^ S"
^avis> President and General Chairing
as November 7-11, Tuesday through Saturday-
show will be held in the Garrett Coliseum, Alabama
multimillion-dollar State Coliseum.
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VOICE of the Tennessee Walking