FALL REPORT OF THE AMERICAN WALKING HORSE ASSOCIATION
by Cebern Lee , President
46
The American Walking Horse Association closed out its 1968 show season with the Pennsylvania National at Harrisburg and , a week later , the Washington International at Washington , D . C . Until it is proven to me , I must declare the Pennsylvania National to be at least equal to the best horse show in the country . It has variety , it attracts the best horses , and it is well managed . It is a privilege to be included in its roster of classes and I am very proud of our Walking Horse Division which , after the hunters , is the largest of the show .
This year we had 121 entries from states as far distant as Tennessee and Illinois . Mr . L . W . Crist , who is the good friend of the Walking Horses in Pennsylvania , did not compete in any of the classes but reserved his mounts for the honor of the Flag Horse and opened the show each evening .
There are always enough social doings for those who are so inclined which are very nice indeed . However , for the Walking Horse people the cocktail party given by Doctor and Mrs . Prescott and daughter Anne was the highlight . This is something the Prescotts just like to do and they make everyone feel at ease and welcome . It was really enjoyable .
We have had a succession of good judges at both Harrisburg and Washington who have regarded the invitation to judge as an honor and have treated it as such . Both Clyde Orton , who was at Harrisburg , and Richard Mary , at Washington , did real good jobs and maintained the standards we wish .
The Washington International was conspicuous for two things . The first was the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Musical Ride . This is a very entertaining and praiseworthy effort of this great and famous law-enforcement body . Those who have never seen it have really missed something , and the management of the Washington show deserves thanks and support for making it possible for so many people to see them .
The second thing was the time , money , and effort spent by just a very , very few ' ladies of the local Humane Society in Washington to discredit the Walking Horses and to humiliate their owners and the people connected with them . Each year it becomes a little worse - and it reached its climax this year . Washington , like every other high-calibre show , has a staff of veterinarians present and on call - real fine men from the Universities of Cornell , Pennsylvania and North Carolina . These show doctors are apparently never satisfactory to this Humane group , for they engage their own vet and we are subjected to examination not only by the show ’ s representatives but by this other group of several ladies and their chosen professional doctor . They all prowl through the stable area , insisting on examining the Walking Horses , lifting their feet , pinching and prodding them to see if they will flinch . They stop the horses and riders on the runways and the exercise area , examining the horses ’ tack and the riders ’ accoutrements . Humiliating , to say the least !
The reader will probably say , " Why did they stand for it ? Why didn ’ t they load their horses and leave ?” Simply because the show management has been most gracious , hospitable and helpful , and because we want our Walking Horses in the nation ’ s capitol . The Walkers were the only classes interspersed between the hunters and jumpers the last four days of the show . If we had pulled out , we would have done exactly what these people wanted , and it would have embarrassed the mangement and injured the show . Rather than cause embarrassment we all stuck it out .
Now that it is in the past and I can look back on it calmly - I wonder . We know that , in the past , Washington has been the source of a great deal of cirticism of the Walking Horses . However , when they try to make their allegations and criticisms stand up , they run into difficulties . For several years at this show they have examined the horses themselves and engaged licensed veterinarians to cuso examine them . Not once hav they found a single instance or indi cation of cruelty . Why do they kee ; it up . It might just be that they dis approve of horse shows , and afte they get rid of one class they wi ] start on another . It is not beyon * the realm of possibility to kill off ; show in that manner .
We did accomplish one definite ! th »? Fable thing in Washington an
kV ? S ° k * a * n a statement fror u Gr !!] arians involved that the cmeltvnf1lt0 find ^idence c
y o the Walking Horses an that statement was published in the Washington papers . They did disqualify the entire two-year-old class on an interpretation of a rule technicality , but it had absolutely nothing to do with cruelty and we are now endeavoring to reword this rule so that such a thing cannot happen again .
I have spent a good portion of this article on the Washington Internattional because I think the horse I world should know what is actually i going on . In no other place has there been such a determined effort made to discredit the Walking Horse . These few people have produced absolutely nothing unfavorable to the Walking Horse , but they have hurt their own show by cutting down the entry list and they have drawn a good bit of unfavorable attention to themselves by their conspicuous actions . Not many people have been willing to submit to such persecution , and those who did only entered because the management was good enough to place the Walking Horses in a conspicuous part of the program and they were confident that we would do nothing which could cause criticism of their show . I am very happy that we could uphold their faith in us .
There was a time when Walking Horse people deserved all the criticism they received , but that time is in the past and the clean record of the last several years in American Horse Shows Association shows has proven the Walking Horse worthy to be shown at any place , definitely an equal to and no more deserving of criticism than any other class of show horse . We like the Washington show , we want to be a part of it , and we appreciate the management ’ s including us . However , it is time that the Walking Horse should be treated as a member in good standing in the horse show world and we should insist upon it . The AHSA has worked very closely with the Walking Horse people who exhibit under their auspices to bring this about and both groups should feel pleased with the results , for they are mutually beneficial .
Now I want to make a statement of fact . I am proud of the American Walking Horse Association and ofits members . We are training our horses , exhibiting them , and maintaining them in a manner which causes no criticism and yet we can compete with horses in other areas as evidenced by the ribbons we bring home . We ’ ve come a long way , so let ’ s be careful and keep it as is .
Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse