Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse 13
Blacksmith Trade Booms With Horse Industry ; Two Colleges Offer Courses
The “ horse boom ” in the nation is creating news in many ways — and it caused the United Press International newspaper press sendee to run a special feature recently on the art of horseshoeing . The article was distributed to newspapers , radio stations and television stations all over the
country .
James Doyle wrote the piece that gave some wide open facts about Oregon ’ s horse population . Here ’ s how James told the story :
“ The days of the Village Smithy are returning .
“ But nowadays , he ’ s called a ‘ farrier ’ and his spreading chestnut tree is more like a stately fir in Oregon ’ s suburbia .
“ It is a paradox that the mechanization of industry and transportation that ended the heyday of old Dobbin is providing the leisure time to bring him back as a hobby .
“ Pleasure riding is a 100-milliondollar industry in Oregon alone . And more than 100,000 horses clamor for a staggering list of accessories and services . . . including horseshoeing .
“ The art — now reborn with a more proper name and a big city twist — is listed as a one-million-dollar item .
“ But where do we get the farriers to shoe the horses ?
“ Learning the modern trade of shoeing is not cheap . Registration is S200 — plus living costs for 12 weeks .
New Name Given To Voice By Louisiana Readers
“ We call our magazine ‘ Concentrated Walking Horse ’ writes Mrs . Reid Estess , Jr ., of Kentwood , La .
“ We recommend it exclusively to our friends ," she continues .
“ We have a very small stable , a nice concrete block barn with eight stalls , and a feed and tack room and a small office . We have a two-year-old show filly and a stallion coming three ( as of July ). “ Our three brood mares are in foal to good stallions , all different and one mare has a two and one-half month old colt at her side . . . .
“ This is not an overnight interest
“ But Oregon State University says rewards may be high for this once lowly trade turned into a profession . Operators often set up in suburbia and do a profitable business that frequently includes putting ‘ corrective ’ shoes on valuable animals .
“ Says O-S-U Professor Emeritus A . W . Oliver : ‘ A good farrier can match incomes with many college graduates trained in the more common spaceage professions .'
“ Only one other institution in the country — California Polytechnic College — teaches such a course — and it has a two-year waiting list .
“ The course includes — besides use of metals , anvil and forge — studies in the anatomy and physiology of the horses ’ feet .
“ So , next time you see pi ’ Dobbin at the hitching post , note that he may not only be wearing more expensive shoes than you . . . they may have been fitted by a college-trained expert .”
( Note — We are happy to see the United Press International give valuable wire space to telling folks generally what a lot of horse folks already know . Farriers or blacksmiths are highly regarded practitioners who give a valuable service to the horse industry . And the industry years for more of them — and the better qualified for the work the better they will be appreciated . BAG .)
with us . We have both been in Walkers for many years , but our three children have kept us from ‘ getting started ’ again . We owned a gelding that we showed in pleasure classes when we were first married ,” Mrs . Estess explains .
( She and husband also visited at the Celebration this year in what they called a “ Honeymoon - Vacation - School .”)
( Note — The Kentwood stable of the Estess family sounds like an inspiring operation — one designed to bring much happiness to all concerned . Congratulations to every member of the family . BAG .)
4 Circle T Ranch
Four Circle T Ranch horses — pictured in this edition of the Voicewon first places at the State Fair of Texas Horse at Dallas Oct . 5-9 , in the Coliseum during the annual State Fair .
Shadow ’ s Luminaire , pictured on the front cover with Owner J . Glenn Turner riding , won the Owner-Amateur Class for riders over 35 and continued his winning streak that has featured the season in the Southwest .
Luminarie is currently reported to be leading the point roster for wins in shows affiliated with the American Horse Shows Association and is apparently a bright prospect to win the AHSA Point Championship for 1962 .
Triple Threat — pictured on the right-hand page of the center page — is shown below winning the § 1,000 Grand Championship Stake with trophies presented by Mrs . James P . Neill , Mrs . J . Glenn Turner and Mrs . H . Tom Fulton . This horse ' s head is also shown on the top of that page with Mr . and Mrs . Turner and Trainer Harold Kennedy who rode him in the stake .
Shown at the top of the left hand page is Mrs . J . Glenn Turner on My Merry Shadow , winner of the Ladies Class at the Dallas show .
At the bottom of that page is Fred Turner on Shadow ’ s Red Ace , winner of the Amateur Class at the Dallas show .
Three of these horses were sired by Go Boy ’ s Shadow . Their dams were — Luminaire out of Jean Gillespie ( by Last Chance ), My Merry Shadow out of Roan Allen ’ s Linda Lou ( by Roan Allen Again ), and Red Ace out of Mau ’ s Merry Widow ( by Sir Maugray ).
Triple Threat was sired by Sun ’ s Quarterback out of Tensas Gypsy Girl ( by Wartrace ) .
Walker Gains In N . C .
“ It may please you to know that in the past year the T . \ V . H . has become so increasingly popular in our circuit that we have had to add an additional class to our show schedule ,” says Alton L . Whitehead of 1108 West Haven Ave ., Scotland Neck , N . C . ( Notel ' ine going , Alton . The advance in the popularity front seems to be general over the U . S . A .)