1968-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1968 August Voice RS | Page 140

A Mas
His Horses
and Eighty-Five fears
By Bonnie Nichols
In the summer of his eightv-fifth year, Boyce Hogan
drives forty miles a day to work his horses in prepar­
ation for showing every week. This is nothing unusual
for Mr. Hogan for, you see, horses have always been
a part of his life. It seems it all began somewhere
around the late 1880's in Lincoln County down in
middle east Georgia. Mr. Hogan, then a young boy of
ten, would anxiously await the visits of his aunt and
uncle who would ride over on their "Tennessee Planta­
tion Horses," WATT and JAKE, to visit the Hogan
family. The aunt would ride sidesaddle on JAKE with
a child in front and one riding behind. JAKE would
allow the younger children to run around and around
him and make a game of bumping his stomach. It
appears that, even then, the good disposition of our
present-day Y . Iking Horses was already taking hold.
Mr. Hogan never forgot these mild-mannered, easy­
going horses even while the years took time for him
to marry a pretty young lady, Miss Maude Gassaway.
Their marriage was to last for over fifty years, and
they would raise a family, run a farm of several thou­
sand acres in Lexington, Georgia, and begin a lumber
company. It was through that bustling farm that Mr.
Hogan became acquainted with Dr. Milton P. Jarni-
gan. Dr. Jarnigan was one of the early pioneers in
the Walking Horse industry, and he and Peter Beasley
and Jack Slay den judged the third (1941) Celebration
when HAYNES PEACOCK walked his way to his
second Shelbyville victory. Mr. Hogan and Dr. Jerni-
gan both bought cows out of Tennessee; as there were
few trucks around at the time for hauling, Mr. Hogan’s
truck would also bring Dr. Jarnigan’s cows to nearby
Athens, Georgia.
It seems that Dr. Jarnigan was not only bringing
cows out of Tennessee; he was also purchasing a
breed of horse that went by the name of Tennessee
Walking Horses, and was making some very wise se­
lections indeed. At the time Mr. Hogan was riding a
single-footing horse and showing him at the College of
Agriculture shows at the University of Georgia. In
one of these shows Dr. Jarnigan showed his Tennes­
see Walking Horse to take the blue and Mr. Hogan
"single-footed” to the second ribbon. It was not long
before Boyce Hogan too was bringing home a Walking
Horse from Tennessee. So began an association with
the Walking Horse show world that would include such
names as HAPPY DAYS K, SHOWBOAT, SUN’S JET
140
PARADE and FLAMING STAR, and a van full of
memories.
Perhaps it was when he attended the second Cele­
bration that this man knew he would like to own hor­
ses that would one day hold their own with any horse
in a Celebration ring. It was after a brief ownership
that Mr. Hogan sold HAPPY DAYS K, later a reserve
World’s Champion stallion under Hugh Sample’s own­
ership, and turned his interest to a young black stal­
lion owned by E. P. Riley. He had that certain feeling
that he would make a good one, simply because he
had MIDNIGHT SUN’s way of going and MERRY GO
BOY’s looks. The purchase completed, Vic Thompson
campaigned this black horse far and near. After a
fourth in the big stake at the 1956 Celebration, Vic
headed south with "BIG JET,” stopping off to win the
Albany, Georgia show, making what some say was
one of the best shows of his career. It was during the
Stallion-Gelding Class at the Dixie Jubilee that the
G. G. Gardebleds of New Orleans saw this black beau­
ty and became so enthused that JET was bought that
night and won the Saturday championship under their
ownership. 1957 saw SUN’S JET PARADE become
the World’s Champion Walking Horse and no one
could have been more proud than Boyce Hogan for
this champion, his owners, and his rider.
While these horses were gatheringhonors, Mr. Hogan
was not content to merely watch at ringside. The
term "showboat” had come to mean someone who
relishes the lion’s share of attention. Thus aptly nam­
ed was Mr. Hogan’s personal mount. He and SHOW-
BOAT formed a team that followed a ribbon-laden
trail. Taking a ribbon every time they entered the
Celebration ring, the man and the gray horse became
known to fans across the country. Today SHOWBOAT
rests between two giant trees on the Hogan farm, a
granite marker his memorial.
Many people with a keen love for horses know how
it is to be the only horse lover in the. family. However,
with seven children, fourteen grandchildren and five
great-grandchildren, some fellow enthusiasts are bound
to happen along. "Papa” has started many a one of
this brood in the saddle. Son Sim Edward raced Stan-
Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse