1969 Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1969 May Voice RS | Page 21

horse. As they neared the trailer a small group of
Walking Horse enthusiasts came up to him. Lonny
recognized one fellow in front and greeted him. "Hel­
lo, Jimmy . . . it’s good to see you.” The man smiled
and said, "Lonny, I’m a bondsman, and I keep in
touch with a lot of law enforcement groups. I took
the liberty of falling back on some friendships and
called the state troopers on my police radio.” Pointing
toward the entrance gate, he said, "See that big man
over there? Well, he and two others are here to see
that nobody bothers your boy.” Lonny sighed some
relief and said, "Ole buddy, you are a friend indeed!”
As the horses were called to enter the two-year-old
class, Lonny gave some last-minute instructions to
M. L. "Now just keep him on the rail and mind your
own business. If anybody starts crowding you, just
work out of it the best way you can.” The young
colored boy looked at Lonny and his friends and said,
"I’ll do the best I can.” Lifting his foot to the iron
and mounting his horse with the proud look of accom­
plishment, Martin Luther Baxter entered the ring as
the first black American to ever show a horse on
Nero Mountain.
As the gate was closed, the large crowd looked over
a class of sixteen two-year-olds. It was a good class
with several top colts showing their best. As M. L.
made his way around the ring, nobody in the ring
paid him much attention. As he made his first pass in
front of the judge he could hear some catcalls from
the crowd — "Nigger. . .nigger. . .nigger - Tie the
black hoss with the black rider, judge!” — but he rode
on, trying to keep his mind on his business. As the
running walk was called, he was feeling better. His
little horse had adjusted to his new surroundings and
was beginning to work. He made a good pass in front
of the judge.
On the reverse he worked equally well and managed
to really show some steam in the running walk. Lonny
was pleased as M. L. rode past and he yelled at him
to stay on the rail and keep his hands up a little
higher. As the horses lined up M. L. looked for a spot
down near where Lonny and his group were sitting.
He eased in between two horses and parked, looking
out over the crowd as the misty fog of late evening
began to move in over the mountain terrain. Lonny
told him that he had done a good job.
The judge called for a workout and, to everybody’s
surprise, he pulled M. L. out with the good horses. It
was a short workout and included nine horses. M. L.
made an excellent show and his little horse never
bobbled once. Lonny turned to several of his friends
around his box and said, "By damn, he keeps getting
better and better. I just hope M. L. doesn’t run him
off his feet on the reverse.” As they called for the
reverse Lonny noticed a loud group of the local boys
gathered near the entrance gate. TTiey were laughing
and carrying on, and when M. L. neared the gate in
the running walk he heard one of them yell, "Here,
nigger . . . have some popcorn!” as he threw a large
handful right in front of M. L.’s horse. The colt lunged
to the inside, almost unseating his rider, and broke
into a short lope. M. L. eased him to a stop and dis­
covered that the ringmaster was lining up the horses.
He sat somewhat dejected as the announcer called
out the blue ribbon winner. He sat proud as he heard
the second and third place winners called out and
thought to himself, "If Lonny Barnes had been riding
this horse tonight he woulda got that blue.” He lost
track of the events in the ring as he got lost in his
own thoughts. The announcer called out, "Fourth
May, 1969
place goes to Number 28, MIDNIGHT-PLUS-ONE,
M. L. Baxter up for Mr. and Mrs. James Young.” The
colored boy sat there, apparently miles away. "Num­
ber 28, you’re fourth. Twenty-eight!” By this time
Lonny was yelling at his groom to go get his ribbon,
and this time M. L. heard him. He rode up with his
hat in his hand, just like Lonny had told him, and got
his ribbon.
After the show Lonny went out to the center of the
ring and waited for the small crowd to disperse. He
hobbled up to the judge and stuck out his hand.
"Thanks for tying my colored boy tonight. I really
appreciate it.” The man laughed and said, "What
colored boy you talking about, Lonny?” and winked
as he said, "Man ... I tie horses, not riders.”
As the Lonny Barnes van slowly eased its way
toward the gate, Lonny turned to Helen and said,
"Are you sure you feel like driving all the way home,
Sugar?” She braked gently to a stop behind their two-
horse trailer and said, "Oh, I’m all right. I just hope
we don’t have any trouble.”
As the traffic slowly dissolved Lonny was surprised
to see a local policeman stop his car. He rolled down
the truck window and yelled at him. "What’s going
on, fellow?” The man came back to Lonny and said,
"Oh, I was just telling your driver to wait a minute
so that state patrol car over there could ge t in front
of him. They are going to stay with you 'til you get
over in the valley.” Helen looked at Lonny and said,
"It sure pays to have friends in the horse business.”
All the way home M. L. Baxter sang along with the
radio and about every five minutes he would look at
Don Hill and at the pink ribbon hanging from the
dashboard and say, "Number 28 - M. L. Baxter rid­
ing MIDNIGHT-PLUS-ONE. How about that!”
Watch For
HANDSHAKER’S
LADY K
BRUCENE TARKINGTON up
TARKINGTON
STABLES
TRAINER:
JACKIE GARDNER
COTTON PLANT, ARKANSAS
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