to ride a World’ s Grand Champion?” In an instant Lonny got a fleeting vision of millions of people out there in their living rooms, just waiting for him to make a mistake. He had thoughts of all the Walking Horse people in the country looking to him as the representative of their breed to do a good job for them. His voice was weak as he said, " Well, Mr. Daniels.. ■ I suppose it feels just the same as winning the top spot in any sports event. I feel mighty proud to.. His voice got gravelly and he cleared his throat. " I feel proud to have had such a top horse and such fine people helping me.” The announcer turned to Dr. Greely and said, '' Doctor, how about you? Does this represent a long-time effort on your part as owner?” Dr. Greely, not wanting any trouble with his partners, said, " Darrell, first of all I want to point out that I sold part interest in BEAU GENTRY shortly before the Festival to a group of businessmen called 4 SQUARE Enterprises.. and he went from there to briefly tell the story of BEAU GENTRY— how ne had acquired tne norse, and a little about his background and breeding. Both
I TO QUEST
The hot lights seemed to penetrate everything around Lonny Barnes as he squirmed in his seat, trying to get comfortable. He looked about him... thing deeply as if the air were thin. His heart r ded, • ad he took out a handkerchief to wipe the
!.- i fro nis face as a trickle rolled down past his He thought to himself, " I’ m not sure I’ m ready n; believe I had rather go through the big again.” Lonny squinted to see past the lights, ing to see who had just come into the studio. He ognized Dr. Greely being greeted by the program ector. Looking at his watch, he noticed that it was jst four minutes until they went on the air. Dr. Greely came over to Lonny and extended his hand. Lonny stood up, took another deep breath, and shook hands. He had a weak smile as he said, " Let’ s hurry up and get this over with. I’ m not much for interviews... especially on television.”
Everyone got quiet as the announcer took his place. The director said, " One minute.” It seemed like an eternity until the director spoke again, saying, " You’ re on.” " Good evening, ladies and gentlemen... and welcome once again to the Darrell Daniels sports show... brought to you tonight by that old favorite of yours and mine...” All through the introduction and the preliminaries of the sponsors, Lonny sat in mute, strained silence... waiting for his cue. " Tonight we are privileged to have with us two men who have recently made a little sports history themselves. As most of you know, the Tennessee Walking Horse National Festival— one of the greatest sports events of the year— was held recently, and tonight we are lucky enough to have with us the man who rode the World’ s Grand Champion, BEAU GENTRY, to one of the greatest victories ever seen. On my left is Lonny Barnes, a professional Walking Horse trainer for many years, and the fellow with the big smile is Dr. George Greely.” Turning to his left, the sportscaster looked at Lonny and said, " Mr. Barnes... how7 does it feel
A BLUE by Charles Barry Sanderson
Dr. Greely and Lonny Barnes were very much aware of the tremendous opportunity and responsibility they had— to do a good selling and public relations job for the breed— and they did it well.
After a few7 minutes, Lonny relaxed and really became involved in the discussion of the Walking Horse business and the role of the professional trainer. He told a little about his personal background and mentioned that he was a member of several national organizations, including the Professional Trainers Association. He began to anticipate the next part of the show and sat Dack in nervous excitement as the sportscaster said, " And now, folks, let’ s see some of the highlights of the Grand Championship Stake and watch Lonny Barnes and BEAU GENTRY in the last few minutes of the Festival.” Turning to Lonny, hef said, " Would you and Dr. Greely like to narrate this film for us, Lonny?” By this time Lonny and Dr. Greely were in the swing of things, and he turned to his right to view the film on the studio monitor. " Darrell,” he said, " this looks like it might be right after we started to the rail for the last workout. That’ s me coming up at the right of the screen and the horse between me and the camera is the one that tied third.” He went on, saying, " You will notice that the big stadium is jam-packed and there ain’ t much room nowhere.” He raised an eyebrow and looked at Dr. Greely with a sheepish grin, since the doctor had admonished him to use good English instead of barn talk during this interview. He regained his composure and continued his step-by-step review of the big stake. As Dr. Greely took over the mike, Lonny settled back in his chair and watched.
Lonny had an eerie feeling as he watched the excitement of his last performance unfold before him. Sweat broke out on his forehead and in his mind he was back in the midst of the contest. He could hear the roar of the vast crowd as the horses reversed and he stopped to loosen the curb chain on his horse.
10 Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse