( Continued from page 30) In the line-up Lonny was confident that everything was going well. However, when the ringmaster came by with the judge he laughed and whispered out of the comer of his mouth to " get ready for a workout” Lonny kept an eye on the judge as he made his wav to the end of the line-up. He noticed that the judge and the trainer on the end were in some type of discussion. They talked too long to suit Lonny. As the riders mounted their horses he looked up to see the trainer in question wheel around and pass the ringmaster in a running walk on his way out the gate. The judge immediately went into the middle of the ring and spoke to the announcer. Lonny saw that the judge had picked up his card and was making some changes. The announcer took the card and said, " All riders line up at the south end of the ring.” Lonny wheeled around and headed to the end as he was told. He took a deep breath and sat motionless in the saddle... awaiting the call. " Your winner is— how about it, folks?— What number?” Lonny said to himself, " For cat’ s sake, man... get on with it!” ble. The colt that everybody was interested in was a horse named BANJO. He was a chestnut stud with a flax mane and tail, and he was a handful. They ha him braced and ready to go, but he wasn’ t the least bit cooperative. Lonny tried to mount beside the truck and as he got one foot in the stirrup the big colt bolted, slamming him into the truck. Whoa, hoss... whoa!” shouted Lonny. M. L. came up easy beside him and put his hand on his muzzle. " Hey, man... easy now. Play it soft, BANJO-baby! Ain’ t nobody
gonna hurt you.” The big colt responded to the voice that was now well-known to him. Lonny eased into the saddle as a big crowd gethered to watch him
warm up.
M. L. was standing out in front of a group of people with a pair of boots in his hand when a big colored fellow came up to him. " You like to make a little bet on de two-yeah-old class, man?” he asked. M. L. looked at him and said, " Ain’ t no bettin’ here. BAN JO can beat ' em all.” The big fellow pulled out a roll of cash and said, " Put yo money where the mouf is, man!” The young Negro reall }' didn’ t know what to do. He had a lot of faith in Lonny and BANJO, but he didn’ t know what betting at horse shows was all about. He remembered that he had about fifteen dollars in his pocket and said, " O. K.... I’ ll bet you five dollars that our hoss wins the class.” The other man laughed and said, " You sure ain’ t got much faith in yo stock... but if that’ s all you wanna give away, I’ ll take it.” They agreed, and M. L. turned to look at his horse, a little shaken by his betting experience.
As the gate opened for the two-year-old class, Lonny lined up to be the first in. As he got set to go, the big colored fellow that had made the bet with Martin Luther moved in front of him, blocking his way. At that moment Paul Miller brushed between him and the rail. BANJO didn’ t like to be crowded and started backing up. " Whoa... boy. Whoa.” said Lonny as M. L. grabbed for him. Lonny turned to Mr. Middleton, the man who owned the horse, and said, " Well, it looks as if they are going to try and write a new tune for us tonight.” With that he waited to be the last in the ring.
BANJO had always had a lot of bloom but Lonny had never felt him swell up like he did when they entered the ring. The big colt was full of life and obviously felt good. When they called for the running walk on the first way of the ring, Lonny had a lot of confidence in his horse. He knew what this horse was capable of, but few people had ever seen him perform. There were twelve horses in the ring and Lonny watched his competition out of the comer of his eye. He saw only two horses that he felt were even in a class with BANJO and Paul Miller had one of them.
As he made the first turn and headed down the straightaway he called on his colt. A feeling of pure power surged through him as he felt his horse drop down in the back end. BANJO’ S nodding head almost seemed to be back up in his lap. The horse looked right through his bridle and established himself as a showr horse from the start. As they hit the south turn, still in the running walk, Lonny heard Martin Luther’ s voice hollering, " Play dat BANJO, Mr. Lonny.. you done got it won.” On the reverse, Lonny decided to really let out on him. After one turn in the running walk even Lonny Barnes was convinced that perhaps this was the best horse he had ever trained.
After the show was over, Lonny had a hard time keeping up with M. L. Every time he got a chance, he was in the middle of a gathering of grooms over near the food booth. They were unusually loud that night, and Lonny wandered over to get his boy and go home. " Hey, man...” one fellow shouted, " If it ain’ t the giant-killer hisself: the honorable Mister
Lonny Barnes.” Martin Luther was right in the middle ofUhem, laughing his head off. " Mr. Lonny, I like
to fell over when Of Paul got mad and left. He fooled around and bought hisself a red ribbon after they saw BANJO.” He held out five one-dollar bills and said, " Look-a-here what I took offn his groom.” Lonny smacked him on the back and said, " Good for you, of buddy... but you better hold onto your money around these boys— they’ ll clean you.”
( Next month— BEAU GENTRY makes a comeback)
NOMINATE YOUR MARES AND STALLIONS EARLY TO THE NORTH CENTRAL STATES WALKING HORSE BREEDERS ' FUTURITY
Closing date for stallions and mares at MSU May 15: Yearling and Two-Year-Olds, June 15. Show to be in East Lansing, Michigan, Judging Pavillion, September 14, 1968.
mm
For Entry Blanks and Information Write or Call
ATLANTA, GA
LEO BARTH
STEBBINS BUILDING HASTINGS, MICHIGAN
PHONES( 616) 945-5001 765-3742
TRAINER TOMMY HOWELL
Home 964-4897 Barn 964-9189
Te * uteA6 £ e
42 Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse