1965-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1965 January Voice | Page 44

Purposely the rules for such
classes are broad ones. But it
shouldn’t mean that every hundred
miles or so we have a different set
of rules. Such a situation may mean
that a few more people can enter
classes and win in their own lo­
calities, but we are going to pena­
lize our top horses by limiting their
field of endeavor and not giving
them one specific goal at which
to aim.
At the risk of sounding heart­
less, I’m going to brave the storm
and point out that not every horse
belongs in the show ring, not every
rider belongs in the show ring.
We have ways of eliminating jud­
ges who do not belong in the show
ring, and trainers who do not be­
long in the show ring, but only
death, taxes, or time, will eliminate
the hardy amateur who feels the
purchase price of his Walker is an
open sesame to the Show World.
Don’t misunderstand me. As I have
said time after time, I believe the
amateur is the backbone of the in­
dustry. I believe the amateur is
doing more than any group to pro­
mote the industry. And, I believe
the amateur should be given all-
out help and encouragement to get
or develope a horse to show, and
learn how to show him. But, let’s
face it, we all can’t expect to start
right out as “Chiefs.” There’s quite
a need for a few Indians too.
Each exhibitor must make an
honest decision based on careful
consideration. “Do I have some­
thing to show, and am I ready to
show it?” For a horse show is a
show, not just an opportunity to
show off. There comes the time
when the novice must enter the
ring “for experience.” But, he
should have learned his ABC’s at
home, done his practicing at home,
and when he enters that ring be
READY TO SHOW.
Sometimes, even if you can
truthfully say you do have some­
thing to show, and you're ready
to show it, you must ask one more
question, and, this is an important
one too, “Is the show ring the place
to do it?” For, once in awhile we
find a horse that does a superb
job in familiar surroundings and
circumstances but is not at his best
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in the show ring. Sometimes train­
ing can correct this, sometimes it
can’t. I once had a friend who was
a fine pianist. She had played in
many large concerts, some before
Kings and Queens. Yet, the first
time she was scheduled to appear
on a radio program, she sat down
at the piano and “froze” and
couldn’t play a note. And she was
never able to overcome that feel­
ing. Her ability was no less, she
continued to play in concert and
before groups large and small, with
continued and even improving ca­
pability and finesse. But she was
never able to play a note over the
radio or TV!
The greatest working stock horse
I ever saw was at home on a big
spread in the roughest mountain
country. DOBE was a quarter
horse of top breeding. He was a
model type for his breed, with near
faultless conformation. He could
run fast as the wind, could turn
on the proverbial dime, with
change to spare. He had the “cow
sense” cowboys pray for in a horse.
And what’s more, he had “horse
sense” that every one wants in a
horse. A man, with such a horse
under him, could do the work of
four or five with ordinary horses.
He was priceless. He was King of
the Spread!
Then, one sad day, Slim, his
owner was persuaded by well-
meaning friends to enter DOBE
in a horse show at the county seat.
Slim had never been to a horse
show in his life,