( Continued from page 17 )
It is at this point that the story of MERRY GO BOY begins to become somewhat of a miracle . It is stated that Winston bred this stallion to over three hundred mares during both his three- and four-year-old years . This , plus the fact that he was also showing him , attests to the remarkable stamina of this horse . In 1946 Mr . C . C . Turner of Broadway , Virginia , a wellknown Walking Horse enthusiast and a strong member of the Breeders ’ Association , purchased MERRY
GO BOY for 345,000.00 . Mrs . Winston Wiser , in relating the purchase of GO BOY by Mr . Turner , recently stated that " the papers reported the figure as S55 , - 000.00 and when we made out our income tax return the Internal Revenue Service wanted to know what happened to the other $ 10,000.00 . We finally convinced them that the report in the paper was wrong .”
Mr . Turner owned MERRY GO BOY when he won the big stake at the Celebration in both 1947 and
1948 . After his final victory , he decided to carry the " champ ” to his farm in Broadway , Virginia . The story goes that he had a beautiful stall prepared for the arrival of MERRY GO BOY , and had a big plateglass window put in it so people could easily see him . Shortly after his arrival , MERRY GO BOY rolled over in his stall and rammed his leg through the glass , injuring himself severely . His recovery was slow and , on the advice of a nationally-famous veterinarian , he was turned out . It is reported that his reproductive capacity was reduced considerably during this period . The following spring , MERRY GO BOY was moved back to Middle Tennessee to stand at stud at the farm of Mr . J . French Brantley in Wartrace . By this time , Mr . Turner had reportedly made up his mind that GO BOY would never make a breeding horse , but Mr . Brantley , falling back on his years of experience in the Walking Horse business , handled him gently , breeding him wisely and sparingly the first year . He recalls that they bred twenty-two choice mares in 1949 , when GO BOY was a six-year-old , and got twenty of them in foal . Mr . Brantley recently pointed out that " he was lame in his ankle when we got him and we let him run out most of the time .” This was the beginning of an illustrious career for MERRY GO BOY as a major breeding horse . In 1952 , GO BOY ’ S SHADOW was foaled and , with the original mentor in the saddle , he became the first World ’ s Grand Champion to be sired by GO BOY . Winston rode SHADOW to even greater acclaim than he had his sire and laid the foundation for Walking Horse trainers for years . Everyone tried to emulate Winston
in the saddle . They copied his training techniques as best they could and everyone dreamed of owning a GO BOY colt . Little by little , trainers mastered the
time-consuming trick of " making ” a show horse that was a little bit trotty as opposed to the customary
pacy trait . Since that time MERRY GO BOY colts have won almost every title available in the Walking Horse world . His latest claim to fame is the 1967 World ’ s Grand Champion , GO BOY ’ S SUN DUST .
In 1954 MERRY GO BOY moved to the S . W . Beech Stables in Belfast , Tennessee to stand at stud . Mr . Beech purchased one-half of the horse from Mr . Turner in that year . After several successful years at
Retired but Undefeated
f- C . Turner broadwav . 1 / a .
CONTACT j- French Brantley
MANCHESTER . TENN
YESTERYEAR — This advertisement appeared in 1950 on the back cover of a national breed publication . He was then a seven-year-old and now - eight een years later - he is still the " Nation ’ s Leading Walking Horse Sire '
DAILY ACTIVITY — J . C . Cole ( right ) and his son Ronnie remove the blanket on MERRY GO BOY prior to the picture-taking session . J . C . has taken care of this fine stallion ever since he was moved to the Beech Stables
in 195-L
42 Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse