1969 Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1969 August Voice RS | Page 90

have appeared on the pedigrees of many champions.
The Celebration of 1954 witnessed an exciting stake
class as the best of the breed gathered for the final
contest. The World Champion that year was . . . that’s
another story, but the Reserve World Champion was
an exciting, true-gaited son of MIDNIGHT SUN nam­
ed SUN’S BIG SHOT, ridden by J. B. Smith for Mrs.
G. W. Livingston of Quitman, Georgia. He is perhaps
the oldest living Reserve World Champion.
1955 _ Fate again played a trick on the MIDNIGHT
SUN line as the awards were called out for the Grand
Champion Walking Horse of the World in 1955. Mak­
ing a fine show but again denied the blue was SUN’S
BIG SHOT. He was reserve again, but this time to a
GO BOY horse. It is significant to note that the horse
that won the blue the previous year was tied seventh
in the stake class in 1955. The "star” didn’t shine
bright for long.
1956 — The Tennessee Walking Horse was beginning
to gain national acclaim by the 1950’s and the Cele­
bration continued to expand and grow in keeping with
the breed. Our trainers were learning more and more
about the horse and what he could do, and he was
fast becoming an entirely different "breed of cat.” One
of the most exciting horses ever to show at the Shel-
byville classic was MISTER SENSATION, a fancy bay
gelding that could do strange and wonderful things.
He was Reserve World Champion that year, winning
one of many ribbons that would earn him fame as a
great show horse.
1957 — The name of Paschal was well-known through­
out the Walking Horse world and it became even more
prominent in 1957 as an ailing Sam Paschal of Mur­
freesboro, Tennessee piloted SETTING SUN to the
Reserve Grand Championship in a top class of con­
tenders. They were to make a great comeback a year
later to achieve the peak of Walking Horse excellence
tne name of SETTING SUN was added to the list
World C.lampions after an uphill struggle for both
- and ::der. He was owned then, as he is now. by
Bullard of Newport, Tennessee.
The attraction of the "World Series” of our
usiness continued to grow and each year wit-
ie\v records for attendance and horses entered
Celebration. Trying to make it "two in a row”
. coming increasingly more difficult as top horses
appearing from almost every quarter, but the
a anted Vic Thompson of Shelby ville, Tennessee
ded to bring his 1957 World Grand Champion
a for another go at the title. This time the situ­
ation was reversed and it was SUN’S JET PARADE
that was awarded the Reserve title as Mr. Paschal
and SETTING SUN carried off the roses.
1959 — New blood . . . new trainers . . . new owners
... all added greatly to the enthusiasm and interest
surrounding the Celebration in 1959. Several relative
newcomers were achieving a measure of stardom as
the big stake approached, and the extra-large crowds
then numbering almost 15,000, could sense the com­
ing contest. In the final workout two horses came to
the forefront . . . one was to wear the red roses the
other the red ribbon. After a grueling workout’ rn
BOY’S INVASION, ridden by George Witt, was tied
1959 Reserve World Champion for owners Mr and
Mrs. Pat Hamm of Huntsville, Alabama. INVASION
has never made the trip to the big ring again.
1960 _ By the time 1960 arrived, the Walking Horse
business and the Celebration were "picking up a head
of steam.” Everything kept getting bigger and better,
including our horses. The winner of the big stake that
year was one of the most popular victors in modern
times, but the Reserve Grand Champion was not to be
denied his share of the applause. Four years previous­
ly, this horse had been awarded the Reserve title and,
despite his age (he was more than ten years old), he
was a popular number-two horse again. It was MIS­
TER SENSATION, with Vic Thompson riding for Mr.
and Mrs. Emmett Darby of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
1961 — This was a year of surprises for Walking
Horse lovers. The Celebration was taking on even
more importance and boasted of having the Vice Pres­
ident (then a Reserve Champion himself) of the United
States on hand to present the roses to the Grand
Champion. As the class continued, the popular favor­
ites began to dwindle. The top mare threw a shoe.
The leading contender was not at peak performance.
The stallion winner of a few nights before was not to
be entirely denied, however, as he made a perform­
ance fine enough to earn the Reserve Championship
title. It was MIGHTY SUN with Elmore Brock of Spar­
ta, Tennessee riding for Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Lewis of
Georgetown, Kentucky.
1962 — The "comeback trail” holds a mysterious at­
traction for a lot of people and in 1962 we witnessed
an eff ort that almost made history. A World Grand
Champion of two years back made a bid for a double
crown and he came within a hair of doing it. After
winning the World Stallion Championship, MACK K’S
HANDSHAKER, with Douglas Wolaver riding, failed
in his bid to capture the title after a two-year lay-off.
HANDSHAKER has since proven himself to be as
great a breeding horse as he was a show horse, and
his defeat in 1962 apparently did not hurt his attract­
ion as a sire.
1963 — The big-time Tennessee Walking Horse had
really walked into stardom by the time 1963 arrived.
Major horse shows from Florida to Texas were includ­
ing Walking Horse classes and the leading contender
that year was a big powerful bay stallion that was
hauled over 16,000 miles to compete in every major
contest available. With Harold Kennedy riding for the
vDTtfr J* ^anch
J* Glen Turner, the incomparable
KIPLE THREAT entered the Celebration a solid fav-
°r^esP^e a great performance, the bay monarch
2,^“® showring was to fall short of the top: TRIPLE
iVNo™ became the Reserve Champion of the World
in 1963.
~ ~~
race ^or
World Championship of 1964
A •
more hotly contested than it was in 1963.
TRTPT • ttj °P 111111161:8 were singled out and again
Jr /THREAT was among the top-rated contend-
tVHe had changed hands and was owned by Aber-
p H k "’ Jc enient and Sherrill, and was still being train-
p ? vfr™ Kennedy. "Often a bridesmaid and nev-
a Dnde became the by-word for TRIPLE THREAT
for th a^ain was awarded the Reserve Championship
shnw 6uSe?°^ year in a row* He had made a great
stavpH 6 ^,ac! PeH°rmed three perfect gaits. He had
y until the last workout, but still he was Reserve.
In 1965 the name of Sam Paschal was again
e ln^° ^e limelight as he readied another
(Continued on page I JO)