1968-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1968 May Voice RS | Page 18

M. L. had been kicked in the mouth by an unrulv
filly EverythinS had come to a halt when M. L
hurt and Dr. Greely had arrived just in time. The
colored boy was bleeding all over the place and Lonnv
was getting ready to take him to town when Dr. Gree
ly pulled up. The injury was not serious even though
the lip was split and the gum cut. Dr. Greely dressed
the wound and said, "There you are, oP buddy. That
ought to take care of you. You’re luck you just got
nicked, though; that could have been really bad ”
M. L., in a thick tone, said, "Thanks, Doc!” as the
doctor handed him some pills to take for pain later on
during the day.
by Charles Barry Sanderson
The horse-show season was in full swing and Lonny
Barnes had really been in the thick of things. He was
getting along very well with his good two-year-old
horse named BANJO, and also with CHUG-A-LUG, a
three-year-old stud that could make out in just about
any class. His prime concern was, as could be expect­
ed! BEAU GENTRY, his stake horse. Things had
taken a turn for the worse early in the season and
he was not getting along with BEAU too well, but
lately he had just about figured out his problems. He
had not yet shown the big black stud and everyone
was interested in knowing just when he would bring
him out.
It was a beautiful Wednesday morning and Lonny
was busy working horses. He had arranged for his
farrier, Tom Post, to come to the stable and shoe
BEAU GENTRY. He had stopped in the shade of the
trees near the south end of his work ring for a smoke
and, as he settled back in the saddle and lit a cigar­
ette, he noticed a car pulling up the drive. "M. L.,”
he shouted, "sweep out the cross-tie area. We got
some company coming.” The young boy hastened to
clean up a bit as he liked for the barn to look neat
when customers were around. The big car pulled
around the ring and eased up into the shade. The
sound of the electric window coming down caused the
colt that Lonny was on to bolt slightly. "Whoa . . .
hoss. Stand up here,” Lonny said.
A well-dressed man stuck his head out the window
and, removing a pipe from his mouth, said, "Good
morning, Mr. Barnes . . . nice-looking colt you’ve got
there.” Lonny acknowledged his good taste and, dis­
mounting, went over to meet his visitors.
"Mr. Barnes,” the man said, "we’re from out of
state and are interested in buying a top horse. A
friend of yours told us to come see you. How about
that?” Lonny smiled and said, "We got some pretty
good stock, all right. At least, we like 'em.” After
introductions, he added, "How about calling me 'Lon­
ny,’ fellows? You sound too business-like.” The man
with the pipe said, "OK, Lonny . . . but we did come
down here to talk business.”
About two hours later a lot had happened. Dr.
Greely had arrived to meet with the men from out of
state. Tom Post had been busy shoeing several hor­
ses. Lonny had ridden three of his best horses and
16
Getting down to the business at hand, Lonny told
M. L. to get BEAU GENTRY out and put him in the
cross-tie. The big stud was in the best condition of
his life and Lonny was explaining his feeding program
as M. L. took off the tail set and started grooming
him. Dr. Greely was content to stand back and let
Lonny do the talking. "Well ... as you fellows know,
in the horse business we got top horses and then we
got TOP HORSES. It all depends on what you want
and what you can pay for.” The three visitors looked
at each other and smiled their own little joke, as if
to say money was no problem. "I’ll try to be truthful
with you about this horse. I think he is one of the
greatest, but like all great horses he’s got his prob­
lems.” Looking at Tom Post he added, "but we think
we got most of 'em beat.” Tom laughed and said, "If
I can’t straighten him out this morning, thar ain’t a
cow in Texas.”
A week had passed and Helen was still trying to get
everything straight. "Honey,” she said, "are you sure
this is what you and Dr. Greely want?” Lonny looked
up from his coffee and said, "Well ... for that kind of
money, I don’t see how we could go wrong. Besides
. . .” he added, "Dr. Greely checked everything and
these men are all right according to what he could
find out.” "Maybe so,” she said, "but it looks like
they would have taken longer to look for a top horse.’
About that time the phone rang. Lonny answered it,
and his conversation was filled with the details of his
recent sale of half-interest in BEAU GENTRY. When
he hung up he looked at Helen and said, "Man, the
news sure does travel fast in this business! That was
the lady from the Walking Horse magazine wanting
the details on BEAU GENTRY for a story and an ad.
They are going to run a double-page spread next
month announcing the new syndicate.”
For the last three days Lonny had been working
overtime to get his stock ready for the first big show
of the season. It was a Saturday afternoon and even­
ing show that was highly regarded as a preliminary
or the Festival. The records show that a high per
centage of the horses that have won this show have
gone on to win the Festival.
Lonny was deep in thought as he and Dr. Greely
waited at the airport for their partners to arrive.
Voice of the Tennessee Walking Hor^