1969 Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1969 January Voice RS | Page 45

SHAKERS
SHOCKER to
stand the
1969 season
at
Sain Stables
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was originally writ­
ten as the cover story for the October, 1966 VOICE.
For reasons of her own, which we respected. Miss
Sain declined the story and we saved it for future
publication. As the 1969 breeding season begins,
SHAKER’S SHOCKER begins a new phase of his
career, and we thought this would be an excellent
time to present his story to date. We hope you
enjoy it and that it answers your many questions
about our subject.)
Early in the afternoon of September
3, 1966, a black-and-white two-horse
trailer was pulled into the Celebra­
tion grounds in Shelbyville, Tennes­
see. Without fanfare and almost un­
noticed, the two people in the pickup
truck got out and set about the busi­
ness of getting their stable area in
order. Two stalls were all that had
been rented for the week. A metal
gate was put across the front and
two-by-fours across the other two
sides. A small boy came up and
said he had something for them. He
unrolled a crude, hand-lettered sign
on butcher’s paper that bore the
name, SHAKER’S SHOCKER. It was
tacked on the front of the barn. Af­
ter checking their horse and getting
the stall in order, the two people sat
down to wait.
The petite blond sitting in a fold­
ing chair in front of the stable smiled
and spoke as the throngs of exhibi­
tors, trainers and horse owners came
in to get their own horses ready for
the Celebration’s final night. Many
wished her well. Twenty-three-year-
old Betty Sain of Bell Buckle, Ten­
nessee needed those words of en­
couragement. Few people knew that
in 1965, when she rode her black
stallion out of the Celebration Show-
Ring with the Reserve Three-Year-
Old Championship, she had made up
her mind then and there that the next
time she entered that same ring she
would be going for the big one.
As 1966 wore on and the ruling
was made that Junior Walking Hor­
ses would be four years old, Betty
probably had some misgivings about
actually showing her horse in the
Grand Championship Stake. The
strange events of the 1966 Celebra­
tion, however, tended to make her
original decision more feasible. Just
three days before, she had pulled
"the shock of the century” by win­
ning the Junior Stallion Class. This
unprecedented feat was accented by
several events in the Aged Stallion
Class on Wednesday night including
an accident in which Steve Hill fell
with GO BOY’S ROYAL HEIR and
was unable to return for the Champ­
ionship.
Her entrance in the big stake, at
the last minute before the deadline,
created quite a stir on the show-
grounds. Betty had become an obvi­
ous favorite of the grandstand and
bleacher crowds in the Junior Stal­
lion Class. Knowledgeable Walking
Horse enthusiasts doubted if this
loyalty would carry over to the big
stake. Betty, however, after much
consideration, and admittedly again­
st the advice of family and friends,
decided to "go for broke.” Herfeeling
was that she didn’t have anything to
lose: if she didn’t win it, she could
always come back the next year.
Betty Sain at that time was not a
professional trainer by regular stan­
dards. She had not, up to that point,
ever taken any horses for training
fora fee. According to accepted rules
and regulations, however, she was a
professional by virtue of her other
activities in the business which in­
cluded buying, selling and breeding
horses. These activities provided her
personal income, not training horses.
As the big stake class drew' nigh
and the tension mounted, one could
feel the rising excitement. A radio
news reported swished his portable
radio speaker through the night air
and his antenna cut the wind. He
remarked, "You can cut it with a
knife!”
(Continued on page 80)