FROM NOVEMBER 2011
Royal Blue Boon
The Turning Point
SPONSORED BY CUSTOM COMPOUNDING PHARMACY
STORY BY MARSHA BROWN
PHOTO BY MEGAN PARKS
I
Two years later Elaine took a job with a larger radio
station in Madison, but she grew to dislike the harsh
winters of her home state.
Elaine called a close friend named Terry — the one
friend she had who would be adventurous enough to
move with her to a warmer climate. The two girls wound
up in Dallas, where Terry had a job waiting for her at
Frito Lay.
Dallas of 1969 was thriving and more than a little
frightening, especially to a young woman accustomed to
driving down quaint boulevards and lonely country back
roads.
Elaine and Terry knew only one person in Big D, a
flight attendant named Judy. Once Elaine and Terry hit
town the first thing they did was call her.
Judy immediately extended two invitations to the
new transplants. First, she invited them to stay at her
apartment until they found a place of their own and
second, to accompany her to a party. The girls took her
up on both.
Elaine noted that the party was packed with men —
an excellent selection of them, she recalled. Her eyes
went immediately to the good-looking, dark, brooding
Te xan in the corner. His name was Larry Gene Hall.
Larry wasn’t exactly dripping with charm that night.
In fact, Elaine strongly suspected he was a little drunk.
Still smarting from his fresh and ugly divorce, Larry was
preaching the evils of women, especially Yankee women.
Rather than being annoyed with the slurring Texan,
Elaine realized he was trying to get her attention. Even
DECEMBER 2015 PA R K E R C O U N T Y T O D AY
t was the spring of 1983 in Stephenville.
Strains of “Amarillo By Morning,” floated from a
radio, not far away as Elaine Hall watched the blue roan
filly work.
The horse wasn’t beautiful. Still, Elaine was stunned
by her.
“She was an impressive creature,” she said, “…very
impressive. But, it wasn’t her looks. I wasn’t impressed by
her scraggly little looks. I was impressed by her ability.”
Royal Blue Boon had some maturing to do.
Elaine had traveled from Weatherford with her
husband (the late Larry Hall) to see the horse that had so
captivated him.
“When you watch a horse like that work, you notice
how they move and turn, but the first thing you notice
is their stop,” Elaine said. “The way that she worked her
front feet, she was just like a little snake. She was smart.
She was going to outfox that cow no matter what. She
was very, very gritty. No matter what it did to her body,
she focused on what she needed to do and she made it
happen.”
It wasn’t long before the filly grew into a spectacular
mare, cherished by photographers wherever she went.
“She matured into a beautiful, graceful mare with a
kind eye,” Elaine said. “Royal Blue Boon was just one of
a kind. She changed the cutting horse arena.”
Elaine’s memories were clear on that cool day in
October of this year, sitting with her as the mare took her
last breaths. The woman and her horse had traveled a
long, winding trail together over the years.
The cutting horse world will never forget Royal Blue
Boon or Elaine Hall.
Elaine’s Trail
She started life as Elaine Marie Bayerl. She grew up
on a small dairy farm in Wisconsin with two sisters and
a brother. Her parents were hard working and devoutly
Catholic. The nearest town was one that only 200 people
called home.
The Bayerls weren’t wealthy people by anyone’s
standards but theirs was a close-knit, happy family. Elaine
was something of a daddy’s girl, sharing a common love
of animals and the outdoors.
In 1964, Elaine was a fresh-faced high school graduate
eager to spread her wings. She began working for a small
radio station in Marshville 15 miles from the family’s
farm.
Continued on page 66
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