Ebony Mqsterpiece Trqces To Civil Wqr Doys ln Bedford
A historic parallel reaching back to early day , s of ' Iennessee Walking
Horse records of 100 years ago entered its second act when Ebony N { asterpiece took the championship stake at the Ft . \\' orth Exposition and Show Feb . 5 to earn his 2Ist blue ribbon out of 22 shortings .
This 6-year-old stallion , shown just once in 1959-60 and not until late in 1961 , has emerged from virtually " unknown " ranks . Yet alreadv he has become a front-running favdrite for
the 1962 norld championship by sweeping rnajor fall shows that follou ' ecl the National Celebration at Shelbvville . The horse is owned by 2S-year-old
Billy ' Hale of Gallatin , Tenn ., a yor-rthful building contractor whose personal leap to fame as a businessman is being imitated by the first
Tennessee Mralking Horse shor , v animal he ever owned . Trainer-Rider
Sam Paschal of Nlurfreesboro , Tenn ., is handling the stallion with his practiced skill . Mrs . Hale shares her husband ' s interest in [, bony .
Hidden For 3 Years
] Iastel ' piece , the " Hidden Horse "
of three 1 ' ears , has a heritage that rt ' ill match any in the fielcl . He is a lineal
clescendant of the unsnrpassecl Earnheart ' s Brooks F-25 , one of the tno greatest sires of the breed cluring the
Reconstruction Davs follou ' ing the
Cir-il \\' ar . ( The book , Biographv of the Tennessee \\' alking Flor : se , - shorrs Earnheart ' s Brooks to be the granclson of a stallion ridden to the South bv an uni < lentified Union seneral . He trided rhe stailion--Olcl Drivcr . - . f ' or a fresher iiioiri ; t ai ] lilcr , -si : rith \ Iike Il : l . riheart ' s srnithy in Bedford County .)
At the Ft . Worth show Masterpiece was tied for the blue by Judge S . W . Beech , Jr ., of Belfast , Tenn . Second was Shadow ' s Luminaire , 5-year-old star stallion from Circle T Ranch , owned by NIr . and Nfrs . J . Glenn Turner of Dalias .
The Ebon1 , jervel has alreadv established a luscious recorcl r , vith bhie ribbons for : Scottsville , Ky ., stallion-
S _ efding class and grand championship ; Thompsonville , Ky . open stake ; Bor , vling Green , Ky . stake ; McNIinnville , Tenn . stallion-gelding class ; Augusla , Gu , stake ; Nashville .| unior
Riding Club grand championship : Goodlettsville , Tenn .. stallioh-geldine class ; Tennessee State Fair Horse
Show stallion-gelding class ; Kansas
City American Royal stallion-gelding class and grand championship ; Chicago International stallion-gelding class and championship stake ; anti
both the stallion-gelding class and grand championship at Ft . \ Arorth .
This is an arnazing record for any horse , but even more so when one
considers the faining system used on this stallion . lle was held out for an cntire year as a 3-year-old after rvinning the Z-year-old Championship of the \ Arorld at the 1958 Celebration . Ebony Masterpiece was bred and foaled at Solitude Stock Farm , a showplace that borders ahnost a mile of U . S . Highway 3l-W at Goodlettsville , in Davidson County , en route from Bowling Green , Ky . to Nashville , Tcnn .
Sired by Son . ol Midnight lle was sired by the rugged Son of
I { iclnight ( also known as Skipper ' s
Son of N { idnight ) out of Lady Lee , a daughter of Old Merry Boy . His maternal grand dam was Kate Turrentine wllo traces to Earnheart ' s Brooks .
On the sire ' s side his grarrd dam was
Princess Allcn . Ebony gained his stfength and
siner , r , s on the broad acres of Solitude Stock Farm . The famous trainer , Bucl Seaton , began to ride him as a spring 2-1 ' ear-old . Clay Simpson of Bowling Cleen . Kr . r ' otle dorvn Highr , r ' a1 3l- \\' one clar ,, saw Seaton r ' r ' orking the colt in tl-re fielcl . He bought the colt but left the holse n ' ith Seaton for training .
The trainer " brought him along slowly ," the story goes , and shor , ved him only two or three times before the 1958 Celebratinn . There he took thirc [ irr tl . re stallion-gelclirrg ciass for l-1 ear ' -oitis then took the l-r ear ' -oicl
World Championship later in the show with Seaton riding for Clay Simpson . That was the year Sam
Paschal \{ on the World ' s Grand Championship on Setting Sun for
] I . ) L Bullarcl of Nelvport , Tenn . Ebonr ' ) Iasterpiece then strangely disappeared { rom the shows for almost nto full vears . The horse l , as returnecl to Solitucle Stock Farm and brought along very slowly . Tlvo-year-olds . are not required to canter in competitioi-r .
The promising young stallion was rested from competition and " trained real slowly " as a 3-year-old .
Canter '€ Put on )' at 4
In fact , the canter was not put on him until the horse reached . 4 years old . It was thought the canter " might mess up his flatfoot walk and running walk ." lle was shown only one time as a 4-year-old , at the Chicago show in December . 1960 .
Meanwhile , Seaton had transferred training activities to thc Okley Hayes Stables of Herrin , Il1 . and he took the horse therc . An advertisement in the
196l Celebration Blue Ribbon announced Ebony ' s sale to Mr . and Mrs .
Billy Hale of f ) riftwood Acres at Gallatin . The Hales have also gathered l4 broodmares there in their splendid building .
Seaton startecl showing Ebony N4asterpiece in the summer of 1961 . Paschal said he watched the horse closely .
Hale came to see Paschal one day ar-rd asked him , " What do you think of Ebony Masterpiece ?"
Sam replied , " He ' s the greatest \, Valking show horse living ."
" If you think that I ' ll buy him ," cleclared Hale . " I will buy him ancl you keep him and show him ."
So Paschal called on the telephonc for the plice , and the next morning went to get the hr-rrse . He made the rouncl-trip between I I a . m . one day and 5 a . m . the next day , reaching
Irome July 27 , 1961 .
Since that day only one person
other than Paschal has been on Ebony ' s back . Seaton was invited to ricle the horse in the Celebration exercise ring for spectators to see him in action . The stallion did not shor . t ' in the 1961 Celebration but began to shorv immecliately thereafter I ' vith Paschal in the saddle . Paschal calls Ebony second only to Setting Sun in intelligence amon € i horses he has
r-ic1den .
Ebony tr { asterpiece has a rare pedigree in that it shows a Brooks strain on both the sire side and the dam side . Here ' s his background :
SI RE : Son of \ lidnight ( Skipper ' s ) . by Midnight Srrn . by Wilson ' s Allen , by Roan Allen F-38 out of Rirdie Messick F-86 ; Midnight Sun ' s dam , Ramsey ' s Rena by Dement ' s
Allen out of Dena ; Son of Midnight ' s dam ,
Princess Allen . by Slippery Allen . by \ Vilson ' s Allen out of Molly Roser Princess Allen ' s darn , Mary Coble , by Major Allen out of a daughter of General Brooks ;
DAM : Lady Lee , by Merry Boy , by Roan
Allen F-38 , by Allan F-l out of Gertrude F ' -84 ; Merry Boy ' s dam , Merry Legs F-4 , by Allan F-l out of Ncll Dement F-3 ; Lady Lee ' s dam , Kate Turrentine , by Lynch ' s Stonewall ,\ ilcn , by Roan Allen F-38 out of Rose Stonewall ; Kate Turrentine ' s dam , Baby Lee by N { odrell ' s Stonewall out of Flora Lee , she being by Show Boy Brooks and he by Earnheart ' s Brooks F-25 .