THE VIRGINIA VOICE
by
CHARLOTTE BARNES Lauderdale Stables Rt . 2 Buchanan , Virginia
Well , Folks , that REALLY big show we work toward and look forward to all year has once again passed , and although Virginia didn ’ t set the world on fire at the Celebration we did better than last year . As long as we continue to increase the number of ribbons coming back to Virginia , I ’ d say we ’ re coming along - slowly , but surely .
We more than doubled our number of ribbons this year , bringing home FIVE , so there ’ s no denying that the Walking Horse business in Virginia is improving . We have some fine trainers in the state who work hard with what they have to work with - which takes us to the owner . It takes more than a good horse and a good rider to tie a horse in Shelbyville - it takes a good owner . If the owner has a good horse and wants to take him " all the way ” he must be willing to go the route with his trainer as far as promoting and backing are concerned . If he doesn ’ t have this kind of horse , he must be willing to take the advice of his trainer , sell the horse and go get a better one .
We have one outstanding owner of this calibre here in Virginia . I ’ m proud to say I know Randall Hicks of Alexandria , for he is one of the finest gentlemen in the Walking Horse business today . Mr . Hicks is in the real estate business in Washington , D . C ., and is a true lover of the Tennessee Walking Horse . Randy , as he is called by his friends , came home with TWO ribbons . His pride and joy is SOUVENIR ’ S TRAVELIN ’ MAN , a Junior stallion trained and shown by Everett Majors , Brookneal . Everett made a flawless performance in the Junior Stake Class to tie TRAVELIN ’ MAN seventh . Randy ’ s other horse , a two-year-old gelding known as DELIGHT ’ S JIM DANDY , tied tenth with trainer Bob Cooley in the saddle . I ’ d dare to say that Randy is probably one of the happiest owners in Virginia today , but he has no one to thank but himself . If he hadn ’ t bought this good stock for his trainers , he wouldn ’ t have those ribbons .
Another happy man who is doing a lot of smiling these days is Charles T . Overstreet of Vinton . Charlie has a beautiful five-year-old bay gelding , by MERRY GO BOY and out of a WARTRACE mare , which was tied Reserve Champion in the Juvenile Class by that outstanding young rider , Miss Debbie Felts of Roanoke . Debbie rode C . O .’ S GO BOY like a real pro , making a perfect show in three gaits . This really pleased and excited ail of us who know this young lady and Charlie ’ s fine horse , trained by John T . Carter of Kingsport , Tenn .
SOUVENIR ’ S STUCK UP GIRL , one of the greatest Walking Mares ever to come out of Virginia , was shown to perfection by Anne Vaughan to tie ninth in the Lady Amateurs on Mares Stake Class . STUCK UP GIRL is owned by Mr . and Mrs . John Vaughan and trained by Joe Houk at Windhaven Stables in Galax . J . D . Stokely , Falls Church , is the other lucky man . His terrific aged gelding , GO BOY ’ S WHIPLASH , was tied seventh by that fine young trainer , Dick Myers . Dick ’ s barn is Marwood Farms , Stuart ’ s Draft , which just opened in February .
Although Dick is still working his show string for a few late shows , he has managed to get two of next year ’ s two-year-olds broken and started .
C . A . BOBO and SON STABLES
SHELBYVILLE , TENNESSEE PHONE : 615 / 294-4161
For the Arpateur One real nice Chestnut Mare that is Six-Years-Old . She is right for a beginner .
Pedigree of 1968 World ’ s Grand Champion GO BOY ’ S ROYAL HEIR
Due to an error we neglected to include the complete pedigree of our new World ’ s Grand Champion in our feature story last month . We have had considerable inquiry as to his breeding and are proud to present a copy of his papers for your consideration . GO BOY ’ S ROYAL HEIR is bred superbly with a beautiful cross of second-generation blood that gives him twelve foundation horses in his background . You will also note that , via GIOVANNI , he has two horses with American Standardbred Registry notation in his breeding . Look these papers over very carefully and when you are planning your breeding program for 1969 you just might get some ideas as to how you can improve your own stock .
Remember that GO BOY ’ S ROYAL HEIR will be officially retired at the 1968 Southern Championship Horse Show in Montgomery , Alabama . Try to attend this fine show and see this great horse as he makes his final appearance in the showring .
26 Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse