1967-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1967 November Voice RS | Page 13

"I will have to admit that I had some reservations
about climbing in the saddle since I had heard so
much about this horse. As I settled down he just
stood there and looked around as if he was waiting
for me to do something. I eased back and clucked to
him, and was somewhat amazed as he took that first
step. There was nothing to it! He just walked off with
a light pair of chains as if it were the second time he
had been worked that day. We got along fine in the
barn and I decided to take him outside. In the ring
he worked fine in a flat-foot walk, overstriding about
as well as any of our big-time horses today, and shak­
ing his head every step. I called on him for the run­
ning walk, keeping in mind that he was twenty years
old, and he picked up as much speed as I would let
him.
"We stopped and rested a bit and he had to blow a
little. It was the first workout he had had in a long
time. I was hesitant to try a canter but we were do­
ing so well I decided to chance it. As we ease d on
around in a flat-foot walk he loosened up some, and I
reached up and kicked him on the left front shoulder.
He never missed a lick ... up came the proper lead
and he cantered as easy as can be. On both leads,
both ways of the ring, he cantered as if it was all
part of his everyday routine.”
When Steve Hill climbed in the saddle before riding
him into the ring at Chatsworth, he had a smile on
his face. It is no wonder, for this is the horse that
made Walking Horse history with him in the saddle.
Steve Hill won the Celebration in 1951, 1952 and
1953 to become the only three-time consecutive win­
ner. TALK OF THE TOWN became a legend in his
own time. He is the first "big lick” Walking Horse and
many observers state that he was doing back then
what a lot of them are doing today . . . except that
he could do it with or without boots, in or out of the
showring.
TALK OF THE TOWN was foaled May 7, 1947 in
Salisbury, Maryland, at the stables of Dr. R. M. Nock.
He is by MIDNIGHT SUN and is out of MERRY
ROSE, an excellent cross of great blood lines. He was
moved about quite a bit as a young horse and finally
ended up with Steve Hill for owners Chemell & Riley
of Gainesville, Georgia. They owned him during his
showring career and sold him after his last Celebra­
tion victory.
Bam talk did as much for this horse as his proven
ability. For years Walking Horse enthusiasts have
listened to the old-timers tell about TALK OF THE
TOWN and how he could over-stride seven feet in the
flat-foot walk and twelve feet in the running walk.
They would also tell about his blinding speed and his
temperament that somehow Steve Hill mastered when
few others could. They tell about how he was so hard
to handle that they finally had to cut him to ride him.
How much of this is really true or just fantasy, we
really don’t know. We do know, however, that he still
hits a pretty good lick and that he knew Steve Hill
when he saw him after so many years.
Next year when the Chitwood Stables truck pulls
into a horse show and trainer John Young starts un­
loading his string of show stock, he better get ready
for the crowd of onlookers who will immediately ask,
"Is that really THE TALK OF THE TOWN?”
November, 1967
3rd ANNUAL NORTH GEORGIA
WALKING HORSE CLASSIC
ATTRACTS TOP HORSES
STAKE CLASS WINNER - Wink Groover receives the horseshoe of roses as
he won the Championship Stake Class on JUNE S MERRY BOY for Bel Aire
Stables. Calhoun, Georgia.
When judge Billy Hale of Gallatin, Tennessee set
foot in the ring at the Third Annual North Georgia
Walking Horse Classic, he probably thought it was
going to be just another one-night horse show. This
was not the case, however, as C. W. Bradley, a well-
known Georgia promoter and Walking Horse enthus­
iast, has been pushing this show to new records since
its inception in the fall of 1965.
The show was moved to a brand-new ring last year
as the result of the purchase of some property just
outside of Chatsworth, Georgia; however, it was moved
back to the Murray County Saddle Club this year due
to the sale of the property by the sponsoring North
Georgia Walking Horse Exhibitors Association.
Show Manager Buford Chitwood had an unexpected
feature attraction for this year’s show as he presented
his newly-acquired TALK OF THE TOWN to the
crowd with trainer Steve Hill in the saddle as the
flag-bearer. (See story elsewhere in this issue.)
The show got off to a great start with a top class
of Two-Year-Old Fillies. Steve Hill got off one winner
and onto another as he won the class on ANN’S EL­
DORADO, owned by Ann Flagg of Nashville. MY
SECRET SON, a fancy grey gelding owned by Hickory
Hill Farms of Franklin, Tennessee, took a popular
blue in the Juvenile class with Sue Henderson aboard.
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