1964-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1964 October Voice | Page 27

BARNSTORMING IN THE
NORTHWEST CORNER
Nestled snugly in the midst of
rolling hills of wheat, near Wash-
tucna, Washington, in the South­
east part of the State of Washing­
ton, is the Archie Staley farm and
home. So aptly called “a desert of
wheat” this rich earth continues to
produce the golden grain as far as
the eye can see in all directions.
Here neighbors are miles apart.
And the sky seems bigger than any­
where else on earth. This is the
land where Archie’s grandfather
homesteaded a year before Wash­
ington became a state. And his
father carried on after him, and
now the Archie Staley family is
working the land and continuing
the tradition of making this
“home.” But recently, with the new
generation, something new has
been added to the scenery — Ten­
nessee Walking Horses.
The first sight (other than fields
of wheat stubble) that greeted our
eyes when we approach the Sta­
leys’ farm was a band of mares
and colts. All colors and sizes were
represented, but, there was no
doubt, when they moved, even
from a distance, that these were
Walkers. For, even in the youngest
ones, the typical Walker gait was
evident. Several sorrel colts, this
years crop, were outstanding.
When we came to the ranch
home, we knew we had found the
right place because we were
greeted by SECRET VENTURE,
the stallion Bob Keyser brought
out from the Celebration last fall,
and the Staleys purchased just re­
cently at his auction sale in Mis­
soula. We had seen SECRET VEN­
TURE earlier in the year when
he was stabled with Preach Grey
at Missoula, Montana and in train­
ing there. Now we saw him out
and at leisure, as well as under
saddle. Once again we were im­
pressed with the quiet, gentle dis­
position of this black stallion. Ho­
vering around 15-2 in height, with
good bone, good conformation, with
his bloodlines and disposition he
should throw both show prospects
and wonderful pleasure prospects.
He has a good start in his training,
OCTOBER, 1964
the girls are doing a good job of
keeping him going right, and Ar­
chie plans to send him, along with
one or two others, to Charles Court,
at The Dallas, Oregon this winter.
We were introduced to THUN-
DERBIRD, the 21 year old stal­
lion responsible for most of the
nice sorrels we noticed out in the
wheat stubble field. Pride sticks
out all over this nice fellow, from
the carriage of his tail to the point
of his ears. Blind in one eye, and
no longer a kid, he’s still ready to
go, and he’s still King of the Cas­
tle, and his progeny carry on with
his good characteristics and show
the direct relationship to BROWN
ALLEN.
And his young ones can Do —
(and that should certainly be a
capital “D.”! Daughters, Marilyn
and Leslie did a very nice iob of
riding some of their 2 and 3 year
olds. HEY BOY, a THUNDER-
BIRD colt, out of a ROAN ALLEN
bred mare, HONKY TONK B, a
beautiful black sired by THUN-
DERBIRD, and WILSON’S PER­
HAPS, an exceptionally nice 3
year old black filly, could do 3
gaits and do them well. Shod with­
out weight, and with short toes,
they still did a good true running
walk with speed and style. And
the girls have worked these colts
down in their cantor ‘till they
could start out at sunrise to ride
around the house and not make it
around ’till sunset! (And it’s not
an unusually large horse.)
Yes, the Staleys’ of Washtucna,
have Walkers! Good ones. And,
like everyone else I’ve met re­
cently, they are seizing every op­
portunity to improve their stock
and enlarge their stable. But this
is a family affair. Mrs. Staley is
fast becoming an authority on pedi­
grees and characteristics of blood
lines. Mr. Staley, in an emergency
can tack on a shoe, and as emer­
gencies seem to pop up quite of­
ten when as many horses are be­
ing worked each day as are being
worked here, he is becoming quite
proficient. In fact, if he tires of
wheat farming, I have no doubt he
has a profession as farrier open to
him any day! But, mainly, the
horses are the girls’ responsibility,
as well as their joy. Exercising and
carrying on with training, is the
girls job. They really work at it
hard, every day. They expect to
pay their way through college on
the profits they make from the
horses. With the great demand now
for good pleasure horses, good ama­
teur show horses, as well as stake
horses, this should be an attain­
able goal. For these horses all show
the results of good training, sen­
sible, quiet handling, and as a con­
sequence have good manners as
well as usable ability.
While the Staleys raise wheat
and Walkers, it doesn’t take long
to realize the real pride and joy
of Mr. and Mrs. Staley are the
three lovely girls. While there are
many blue ribbons and trophies,
won at various horse shows, on
display, the two trophies that are
singled out for a visitors’ special
attention are those presented to
Marilyn as Valedictorian of the
hi