Lonny was the first to reach them and he knew he would be the only one who could really handle his stud . " Whoa , horse ,” he said , " whoa !” Seeing that it might be best to try to close them in , Loimy told Red and the two painters , who had just arrived , to try to get all the way around them . The black stud approached one of the mares and received a hard hind kick in the right front shoulder . Blood started to trickle from the three-inch cut where the blow had landed . " That mare ain ’ ready for no foolishness ,” said Little Joe , as they moved closer to the stallion and tried to separate him from the mares .
" WHOA , HORSE !” yelled Lonny , with as much voice as he could muster . The big stallion stopped and looked at him . " Whoa , now . . . whoa , he said . " Easy , boy . . . easy .” The black horse , as if he knew his part was over , began to park just like he did when Lonny was showing him , several years back .
oi1 r :«» ■ ' 01 blue by Charles Barry Sanderson
While discussing the final arrangements to put Red Larrimore ’ s two horses in training , Lonny Barnes was interrupted by his ground man , Little Joe , with the urgent news that their breeding stallion , an eightyear-old black Dark Sun horse , had just kicked open the gate of the paddock and headed for town . Lonny quickly jumped up and ran out of his office , yelling at the painters to drop their brushes and come with him . The " Black Hoss ,” as Little Joe called him , had headed for the highway , and Lonny knew that if the horse reached the road and was hit by a car he would have a lawsuit for sure . Lonny started hollering instructions . " Joe , you cut across the south pasture and see if you can beat him to the highway entrance . Red , let ’ s you and me take your truck and see if we can catch him .” Lonny knew that the stud wasn ’ t really mean , but that he could do a lot of damage on the highway or in the little community over the hill .
As they started out the front gate and headed down the dirt road toward the highway , they saw Little Joe running across the field . It looked as if he might beat the black horse to the road . Little Joe jumped a ditch and missed the other side , sprawling all over the red dirt bank . He came up limping and obviously had hurt his ankle , but kept running toward the road . The big black stallion stopped about halfway to the main road , looked about for a moment , and took a leap across a barbed-wire fence that would have done credit to a steeplechase winner . It was obvious what he had on his mind : the farmer who owned the adjoining property had three brood mares and they were out to pasture for the first time , since the weather had broken and the first hints of spring had begun to show . Lonny and Red pulled the truck up about the same time that Little Joe got there . " We better get him before ol ’ man Franks does ,” said Little Joe . " He don ’ t cotton to Walking Horses nohow and ' ud raise hell with all of us effen yo ’ stud got to his gaited mares .” The three men jumped the fence and started across the field toward the four horses , which were making tracks back and forth across the pasture by this time .
" You better stretch out , you black hunk of pedigree ,” said Lonny , who had the full attention of his horse by now . Reaching out slowly , Lonny grabbed the halter and snapped on a lead chain .
Mr . Larrimore , looking over the stallion with a keen eye , said , " Lonny , I ’ ve heard a lot about your stud horse and now I know why so many people like him . He ’ s a lot of horse .” Lonny smiled and said , " Sometimes he ’ s too much horse .” Handing the lead line to Little Joe , he said , " Here , Joe . Take him on back to the barn .”
Little Joe , not wanting to create any problem with his new boss , looked somewhat troubled and finally said , " Mista Lonny , you know they ain ’ no way out of this field ' cept through Mista Franks ’ gate over by the barn . I ’ d be jest as well off effen you were to lead him out , ' cause that ol ’ man ’ s gonna want to know howcome dis black hoss of yours was in his pasture in the firs ’ place .” Lonny laughed and said " How ' bout that , Red . He wants me to get kicked off Franks ’ place .” Taking the lead line , Lonny headed for the far corner of the field where the gate was , after telling everyone to go on back to the barn and that he would meet them shortly .
As Lonny neared the gate , a man came out of the house and approached him at a fast clip . " What the hell are you doing in my pasture with that black stud horse , fella ?” demanded the man , obviously perturbed . Lonny went into detail telling how the horse had gotten out and that it wouldn ’ t happen again . After hearing a brief lesson on why the Tennessee Walking Horses were ruining the horse business , Lonny decided to try something he hadn ’ t done in quite a while : he tied the lead chain to both sides of the halter and , with the agility of a movie cowboy , slung his leg over the stud ’ s back and got on . The black horse just stood there , waiting for the right command . Lonny clucked to him and he leaped into a flat-foot walk . Lonny looked back and said , with a slight note of pride , " You say these horses are manmade , Mr . Franks ? Well , just take a look at this plug horse and see what you think .’’ With that , he spurred the big horse and felt the true pleasure of a
28 VOICE of the Tennessee Walking Horse