THE NAME OF THE GAME IS . . .
Recently we were listening to a sports show on the radio and were interested in the comments of the sports announcer with regard to some of the old-time baseball greats . He was comparing them with modern-day baseball players and made the comment that " the name of the game was confidence and aggressiveness /’ He went on to point out that in all areas of sports it is the man with confidence in his own ability and the aggressive nature to try to win
who becomes the greatest athlete . How does this apply to our horse activity ?
Picture , if you will , a situation in which we find several show horses in a final workout . Many times the series of events appears to be a stalemate in which none of the contenders really comes to the forefront . In other instances , however , we notice one team that stands out above all others . Is it the horse ? Is it the rider ? Or is it a combination of both ? It is our opinion that the perfect team in the showring must have '' confidence and aggressiveness ,” the same attributes that make a winner in any other area of the sports world .
Confidence applies to both horse and rider tu horse must learn to trust the man in the saddle w
by the same token , the rider must have confix confide
* in his mount . He must know enough about his hor nee to feel exactly how much pressure it will tak take
* se out breaking . He must know how much stamina with
thl horse has and how much " will to win ” it possessed
Match this with an aggressive nature on the part nf both horse and rider and the prospect of success o
the pair is much more enhanced .
We have heard several trainers brag on their world champions and more than a few of them will make note of their horse ’ s will to win . In discussing one world champion we heard his trainer say , " i have never called on him that he didn t try to do more ” When a trainer has this sort of confidence in a horse it lends much to his ability to show his horse .
By contrast , consider the trainer who knows he is riding a top horse , a horse that can win , but feels that he may " blow up ” at any minute , especially when the going gets rough . A trainer can ’ t afford to be too aggressive when he is unsure of his horse . How does one establish this type of relationship with his horse ? Time in the saddle and time working with the horse ! We have long been exponents of the theory that , to win , a trainer must train the " whole horse .” He must train that horse to pay attention and to trust him implicitly , without balking . The great horses have been something more than mere show horses . They have been a part of their trainer and together they show " confidence and aggressiveness .” After all , many times that ’ s the name of the game .
Let ’ s talk about two-year-olds now ! If you have been keeping up with the " barn talk ” that is spreading around the countryside , you are aware of the fact that good two-year-olds are aplenty this year . We have seen quite a few that we feel are truly outstanding . Comparing them with horses of the past , this may be the most outstanding crop of colts to hit the show ring in years . There is a good reason for this , we believe . Since the ruling of the officials at the Celebration last year regarding two-year-olds , most of our trainers now believe that , in order to win , they must have their horses in good shape . Their feet must be clean and they must be conditioned . The only way to accomplish this is " time in the saddle ’ and that is what they are doing . Ride . . . ride . . • ride ! It is paying off !
What about two-year-olds this year ? They still fall
under the same rules as last year unless we hear something different from the American Horse Show Association , the Celebration or the Walking Horse Trainers Association . To date they have made no ruling to the contrary . This also means that threeyear-olds will also be required to meet the strict requirements of foot conditioning . Clean ' em up or you won t be showing them . If you can ’ t make a show horse without butchering him up you either need a better horse or another job . This may appear to be a bit strong but I think we all know by now that the days of the bloody Walking Horse in the show ring
are over . There is an old saying , " You can ’ t make a silk purse out of a sow ’ s ear .” We might revise this to read , " You can ’ t make a show horse out of a nickel plug .”
( Continued on page 26 )
18 Voice of the Tennessee ^or