1969 Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1969 August Voice RS | Page 84

I LL NEVER
FORGET
OL’ WHAT’S-
HIS NAME..
OR__ Who tied second that year?
In the horse show business, as in many other areas of the sports world,
there is a strong tendency to concentrate only on those who "finished first.”
We all remember who broke the one-minute mile record, who hit the most home runs,
won the Kentucky Derby or the National Football Championship
. . . but how many of us remember "who came in second”?
When you stop to think about it,
a lot of our World Grand Champions got that way by the simple stroke of one man’s pencil.
One number, a step up or down, on a judge’s card,
could have changed the course of the career
of any number of fine horses and the future of a score of individuals.
As we researched the history books for the records
of the Celebration, we were very interested to note
that a lot of our World Grand Champions have also
been Reserve Champions. Some came back after de­
feat to win later on. Others who were victorious came
back to be defeated by younger horses. It was inter­
esting also that MIDNIGHT SUN and MERRY GO
BOY, both acclaimed as "among the best the breed
ever produced,” were defeated in their respective
classes as they made their bids for the World Grand
Championship.
I am sure there are many interesting stories sur­
rounding the events that led up to the Celebrations
of years past: stories that relate to "how and why” a
particular horse won on a particular year and another
horse was reserve. In this story we are concerned
only with the horse that tied "second” as I know
I’ll never forget old what’s-his-name” (or her name,
as the case may be).
1939 - The Celebration and the breed were in their
infancy, and few people on a nationwide ev
ever heard of a Tennessee Walking Hors .
year a great wave of enthusiasm went up 1
, ,
Tennessee as we crowned a particular hor
Grand Champion. Few people remember a ir\e™
named LILY WHITE, owned by Vaughn and BrocK
of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee and ridden by •
Brock. She was Reserve World Grand Champio
1939. I wonder if she ever had any colts.''
1940 — The breed was growing despite the threat of
war and the Celebration was even more impressive
the second year it was held. As the show built up to
a peak on the final night, a crowd of several thousand
people witnessed the crowning of our World Grand
Champion. Again, as the year before, a pretty white
mare with three fine gaits and a flowing mane and
tail waited until the excited crowd calmed down be­
fore she was carried forward to get her second place
ribbon. It was LILY WHITE!
1941 — World War II was soon to overtake the United
States and a cloud of gloom was cast over the country
but this didn’t dampen the spirits of true Walking
Horse fans as they gathered in Shelbyville, Tennessee
for the Third Annual Walking Horse Celebration.
More classes had been added and the attendance
was even better than the year before. There were
some surprised fans in the bleachers when the winner
was called out that year, especially since the Reserve
Grand Champion was STROLLING JIM, the first
World Grand Champion. After a year of inactivity,
the big gelding was brought back by Floyd Carothers
for Mr. and Mrs. L. B. Manning of Santa Barbara,
California.
1942 — There were 37 classes in the 1942 Celebra­
tion, an increase of seven over the previous year. As
usual, the big event was the last class of the show
in which the World Grand Champion was to be crown­
ed. As an added attraction, the Celebration extended