' rHey, well-all right-now, what’ re-ya-gonna-give-me
boys?” Thus the 1968 Murray Farm auction sale got underway with a three-day extravaganza of registered Tennessee Walking Horses going to the highest bidder. There were over four nundred horses consigned, including brood mares, young stock, pleasure horses, colts and show horses. As expected, this was the sale that attracted the largest volume of buyers from across the nation. Every spring the mass of Tennessee Walking Horse lovers converges on the little hamlet of Lewisburg in the middle basin of the Volunteer State and with great enthusiasm and pleasure sets the stage for the year in the Walking Horse business. This year was no exception. It is impossible to tabulate an accurate count of those in attendance but from our observations we are sure that well over three thousand people were there at one time or another during the three days of active selling. According to our personal observations there were people from at least twenty states who came from as far away as Oregon to buy some top stock. And buy they did! The ground crew this year did an excellent job and after two days they were near exhaustion. Auctioneers Pete Yokiey, Herb McClain and Eddie Bryant did an outstanding job of keeping things moving and the most energetic gal in the horse business, Barbara
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Wiggins, did her usual superb job of handling the details of registrations and paper processing. Mr. S. W. Beech, co-owner of the Murray Farm Sale, could be seen acting in his capacity of counselor to many buyers who wanted an expert’ s advice. Sam Yarbrough could be seen at his post in the information booth just outside the big tent, advising the barn area of the progress of the sale and calling for the next number. He too did an excellent job.
There were several highlights of the sale but a few horses were outstanding in their drawing capacity. The Jeffcoat Farms of Cordova, Tennessee featured two top horses for sale. SUN’ S STRADIVARIUS, a top Junior horse, and GO BOY’ S RENDEZVOUS, a fine three-year-old, both brought top dollar. Dr. D. L. Putman of Huntsville, Alabama purchased SUN’ S STRADIVARIUS for $ 10,000. This figure was topped by Mr. and Mrs. Lew Williams of Eugene, Oregon, owners of Mitzi-Lew Ranch, who purchased GO BOY’ S RENDEZVOUS for $ 10,500. Mrs. Marie Jeffcoat, consignor of these and some other fine horses, stated that ample credit should be given to her trainer, Neil Robinson, who made both of these horses and showed them well for the Jeffcoat Farms. GO BOY’ S REN DEZVOUS will not be trained by Chester Gillespie, with Mitzi-Lew Ranch.
Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse