GAINESVILLE CHARITY HORSE SHOW
6
Florida is famous for its warm weather but those of us at the Gainesville Chairitv Horse Show would like to find out just where in Florida that warm weather is . Cold weather and rain marred the Gainesville Show to a degree but ‘‘ the show went on ”, as all horse shows do .
The show covered four days ( February 9-12 ) and totaled 128 classes . Two rings were used to take care of the great number of classes .
There were only twelve Walking Horse classes but these classes had some of the top horses showing entered . The spectators , though not always well informed of what they were watching , were generous in their applause of the Walking Horse classes . Most of the time the loudest cheers came when the trainers put their horses on the rail and went running walk .
The show management had their hands full in keeping the show running smoothly and the uncooperative weather further hindered their efforts . However , these capable people had the situation well in hand despite all the handicaps . Running a horse show is a difficult job under excellent conditions and when several things are working against you , it is even more than the best can handle .
The big news of the show for Walking Horse enthusiasts was the fine showing of SENSATIONAL SHADOW with Wink Groover up and INVASION PERSUASION with Bill Sledge in the irons . Both of these horses captured the blue ribbons in their classes and had the fans at ring side buzzing about their showings .
Wink showed this four year old horse in the stud and gelding class and came back later to capture the stake over some rugged competition . In the stallion * and gelding class the ring was in pretty good condition and Wink showed his horse to best advantage . Tying reserve in the class was Ronnie Spears on GO BOY ’ S FLYING CLOUD . J . P . Eidrid ge owns this fine looking stud and Ronnie made a top ' showing . Preach Fleming and SILVER SHADOW ' S ■ ' R5 ' were the third place tie in this class .
In the stake class Wink again duplicated the blue ribbon with reserve honors again going to Ronnie and GO BOY ’ S FLYING CLOUD . Moving up to the third slot with a steady and determined performance was MERRY BOY ’ S SECRET and Bill Sledge . SECRET was in good early season form and looks like he started towards one of his . best years ever .
In the Junior Walking Horse class it was INVASION PERSUASION and Bill Sledge in the blue ribbon spotlight . Bill had his horse just right and that was all it took . Wallace Brandon guided LITTLE SPREE to the reserve honors for a good evenings work . Wink Groover and BEL AIRE ’ S MERRY ME tied third for owner F . H . Harbin . Guy Whitener , Jr ., owner of INVASION PERSUASION , was very pleased with his horses showing and is planning on showing this top junior contender at the leading shows this year .
The two year old class showed some horses with plenty of promise . Ronnie Spears and FANCY ’ S BONANZA tied the blue ribbon in a class of seven . Reserve winner in this class was Wink Groover and SUN ’ S MIDNIGHT BAY . Mr . and Mrs . W . T . Ellison are the proud owners of this fine two year old . MARK ’ S LITTLE JANE with Preach Fleming in the saddle , took the third place ribbon for owner R . D . Keene ,
Mrs . Paul Randolph and SPECIAL ’ S SONATA captured top prize in the Lady Amateur class . Second placr w (.„ t to MACK K ’ S DELTA and Rosanne Dovlc while the third place ribbon was awarded to Carol Cox and THE NEW LOOK . These ladies did a fine job showine their horses and battled for the blue ribbon as only
ladies can .
The mare class had nine entires and the winners of the honors in this class were HOT CARGO and Wallace Brandon . Wallace is a veteran exhibitor and he used his know how in getting the best from his horse . The Preach Fleming-R . D . Keene combination took the reserve rihbon on a fine looking marc , SHADOW ’ S PRIMROSE Paul Smith came on strong to win the yellow ribbon on cttxt ’ c a NTH FT . for T ,. Frank Roner .
The adult amateur class was hotly competitive with SUN ’ S ZENITH and C . E . “ Dude ” Riddle walking lo the title . Second in this class went to MR . FASHION TWO-TWENTY and V . G . Gochncaur . Closely behind the top two in this class was Pete Robinson on GO BOY ’ S FANCY PANTS .
The Walking Horse Pleasure class attracted only two entries with STORMY MIDNIGHT and Janet Thomas
winning the ribbon . SUNNY AIRE and Saundra Spangler gave the winner plenty of competition in this small ciass .
Winner of both the junior exhibitor class and stake was Bill Sledge , Jr . on BILLY ’ S HI FIVE . This talented 18 year old youngster handled himself in fine fashion in winning these two classes . The horse is owned by Guy Whitener , Jr . of the Silo Hill Stables in Newberry , South Carolina .
The adult amateur championship was captured by GO BOY ’ S FANCY PANTS and Pete Robinson . This entry tied third in an earlier class but came back in good form to win the championship . SUN ’ S ZENITH and “ Dude ” Riddle won the reserve championship with MR . FASHION TWO-TWENTY7 and V . G . Gochneaur capturing the yellow ribbon .
The Walking Horse judge was F . W . “ Lightning ” Gregory of Greenville , South Carolina . The Alachua County Riding Horse Association helped present the show for the Gainesville Junior Chamber of Commerce . These fine individuals and organizations worked dilligcntly for the shows success and are to be commended for a job well done . Although the weather failed to cooperate and attendance did not live up to expectations , the show was a success for all concerned .
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