1967-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1967 July Voice RS | Page 20

knew what his problems were, and suggested that thev
to somewhere and talk for a minute. Lonny thought £
himself. “Everybody wants to talk while I m working
Trying to be nice he said, Ive got to show this colt
in the' first class, could it wait awhile
The man assured
him that it wouldn’t take long, so he finished his i0b
of tail bracing and went up to the fiont of the truck.
“I know'your face but darned if I can recall your
name ” Lonny said, as he stuck out his hand. “I’m Dr
George Grcely from Southworth.” That was all it took'
Lonny knew who he was because he owned one of the
most talked-about age stallions in the country ... a top
horse that had knocked at the door of the World’s Grand
Championship last year at the Festival and ended up
getting tied fourth. Lonny, he said, I m talking to
you in confidence. I think I ve got a great horse . . . a
horse that can win the big one if everything goes right
by Charles Barry Sanderson
was also getting along well with his aged mare and little
Carol Jones was doing exceptionally well on her Juvenile
horse. With a fairly well-balanced string of show stock he
was doing about as well as anyone in his part of the
country. Lonny was also pleased with the fact that he had
been asked to judge quite a few shows, although he had
accepted only three so far this year.
It was a hot July afternoon and the whole crew of
Lonny Barnes supporters had followed him about a hun­
dred miles down the road to a show at Blessing. It was
just a “spot in the road” but the local community club that
sponsored the event was well-known for having had a
fine show for the past several years.
Lonny and Little Joe had unloaded all but one of the
five horses on the truck, including the Walking Pony that
belonged to the Rutledge boy. He planned to show a two-
year-old filly, his age mare and a junior gelding, and his
two juvenile riders were going to show in their respec­
tive classes. Lonny did not know the judge at this show,
although he knew of him. He could not help but wonder
why he had gotten a phone call that morning asking him
not to bring CHUG-A-LUG. but had told his caller he
wasn’t planning to take him anyway.
Helen Barnes was busy with a picnic lunch that was
spread on the tailgate of a station wagon when a stranger
approached her. “Is Lonny Barnes around here anv-
where?” he said. Helen turned and answered, “Yes sir
. . . he’s behind the truck over there,” pointing toward
their van. “Thanks,” he said, as he headed for the truck.
“Lonny Barnes?” the man said. Lonny turned from
his duties of bracing a reluctant colt’s tail to see a fa­
miliar face. He knew he had seen this man somewhere
but couldn’t recall his name. “Yes, sir” he replied, as he
jumped aside to keep from getting kicked. Lonny flushed
as his temper flared and he harshly demanded, “Dammit
Joe, if you can’t hold her nose how do you expect me
to brace her tail? Now you keep that twitch moving
around.” Turning to the man standing behind him he
said, “Excuse me, but you know how .some of these colts
arc the first time out.” The man acknowledged that he
that he had a great horse and offered. “Doctor, I’ve
always liked your horse. In fact I think they leaned on
vou a little bit last year.” The doctor smiled and said,
“Well, as you know, Sutton Cobb has had him ever since
he was a two-year-old. He won the championship that
year and came back the following year to win the three-
year-old class but that was it. He hasn’t done much good
with him as an age horse.”
Loony broke in, saying, “Well, what can I help you
with?” Without hesitating, Dr. Greely said, “Do you
think you can get along with him?” Lonny was a little
bit shaken and replied, “Well, sure, but your horse is
big-time and I’m not sure I can get in there and compete
for the big stake. You know . . . politics and all that!
The doctor smiled and said, “Don’t worry about politics,
Lonny . . . we got about all the help we need in that
department.”
As they went over to the two-horse trailer Lonny was
assured by Dr. Greely that Sutton Cobb was in complete
agreement with what he was doing. The doctor told
Lonny how he had started home with his horse and de­
cided to come over to this show on the way and take
a chance on Lonny’s being there. As he let the tailgate
down on the trailer, Lonny could not help but quiver a
little when he saw the name on the blanket of this grCf t
black horse. “BEAU GENTRY . . . what a horse!” he said
to himself. The seven-year-old black stud backed out ol
the trailer . . . looked around, proudly set himself in a
classic pose and announced with a loud whinny that H
had arrived. Several people looked up from their Prc'^°'N
duties, and someone yelled, “Hey . . . there’s BEAU
GENT RY. ’ That’s all it took to draw a crowd.
The flock followed Lonny over to his truck as he
led his charge to a spot where he could tic him up. ‘ vV«a
are you doing with him, Lonny?” asked one fellow An­
other chimed in saying, “He’s going to breed him to tha
VUV 0VCr there. What did you think!” All of a sudden,
Lonnv came to his senses. “Filly . . . filly! I clean foig
a out that filly.” Charging around the side of the llUC
7 rca*lzcd he had about five minutes before the
class He said to himself, “I know I’ll never get her ready
° s ow and those folks will be hopping mad. •' s ,
™ndcd thc front of the truck he saw Little Joe stand
g ere holding her with a smile as big as life.
20
VOICE of the Tennessee Walking
Horse