10/25/15 Wedding bells in 1937 -1938

The bound volume of Saddle & Bridle which contains old magazines from May 1937 through August 1938 has many fascinating articles, well known horses, horse show results, vintage product ads and numerous sales reports.  This volume also contains four high profile weddings of Saddlebred elite which occurred over an eleven month period from August  1937 through July 1938.  This post looks at who they were and some of their more famous horses.  It's also interesting to note the interactions between the four brides and their horses. 


First up was Miss Audrey Thomas.  She was married on August 22, 1937 to Mr. William L. Taylor.  Miss Thomas was the owner of Audrey's Choice Stables in Rhode Island, which was a well known show stable.  In its heyday, Audrey's Choice Stables owned among others, Flirtation Walk and Parade of Elegance. Another giant was Ivan the Terrible, previously and subsequently known as Anacacho Denmark.  Miss Thomas' husband was the son of the owner of Wildwood Farm of Germantown, Tennessee.  At that time, the trainer at Wildwood Farm was Garland Bradshaw and Audrey's Choice Stable was managed by H. C. Barham.. 

Miss Audrey Thomas

Flirtation Walk with H. C. Barham up

Ivan the Terrible, aka Anacacho Denmark with Ray Harney up

 Dawn of Creation

Winged Wind

owned by Wildwood Farm, Garland Bradshaw up

Next in the bride lineup was Miss Mary Gwyn Fiers.  She married W. R. Ramsey on Christmas Day in 1937.  Mary Gwyn Fiers was from Tulsa Oklahoma, and had owned such prominent horses as Roxie Highland, WGC 3 gaited horse in 1930, 1933 and 1934, King's Genius, and was the current owner of the illustrious breeding stallion, Oklahoma Peavine.  She had been injured in a car accident and began breeding Saddlebreds rather than showing them.  She held a complete dispersal of her horses, a total of 65 head, in October of 1937.   Her show horses were sold earlier, but Oklahoma Peavine did go through her dispersal sale and was advertised in the December issue of Saddle and Bridle for new  owners, Mr. & Mrs. Sam McKinley of Northwind Farm in Lansing Michigan. 

Mary Gwyn Fiers with Roxie Highland

Flashing Parade went through her dispersal sale

Oklahoma Peavine went through her dispersal sale

Roughly six months later, the next bride appeared when Miss Mildred Yount married Edward Manion on June 27, 1938.  Her mother, Pansy Yount, was the owner of Spindletop Farm in Lexington Kentucky. The reception was held at the beautiful Spindletop Hall, which was located on Iron Works Pike near Lexington.  Spindletop owned such greats as Beau Peavine, and the same Roxie Highland owned by the previous bride, Mary Gwyn Fiers. 

Miss Mildred Yount

Beau Peavine, head stallion at Spindletop Farm

Roxie Highland with her colt from 1937

Just a few days later, on July 1, 1938, Frances M. Dodge married James Johnson at Meadowbrook Hall, the estate of her mother, which was located in Rochester, Michigan.  Frances Dodge was a well known exhibitor and breeder of Saddlebreds.  She eventually purchased Castleton Farms in Lexington, Kentucky, just further down Iron Works Pike from Spindletop Farm.  She owned Flirtation Walk, which had previously been owned by Audrey Thomas, and of course, Flirtation Walk became the dam of CH Wing Commander.  

Miss Frances M. Dodge

 

Frances Dodge on Harmony Lane

CH Wing Commander was bred and owned his 

entire lifetime by Frances Dodge.

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10/3/15 Kentucky Fall Classic Horse Show

Guess who got to finally make it to a horse show!  And best yet, it is one I haven't attended before, the Kentucky Fall Classic held at the Alltech Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky.  My daughter and I made a quick trip down to Lexington for the Friday and Saturday sessions.  While we've been to the Kentucky Horse Park numerous times, we've never made it to the Alltech Arena.  The arena was very nice, however, the weather wasn't so great and some exhibitors probably got a little wet getting from the barns to the arena.

The classes were good, although I was surprised there weren't more entries.  This was Lexington after all.  The horses were excellent, but as usual the audience was nothing short of awful.  On a sunny day, it's possible a few visitors to the park may have wandered in to watch, but the weather didn't cooperate at all.  As you'll see from the photos, the stands were pretty bare.  What can we do to promote the breed so more people would like to just come by and watch?  We were met by great Kentucky hospitality when asking for directions to the show office to pick up a program.  The exhibitors seemed to enjoy the show, and the people who were in the stands had a whooping good time.  Here is a quick look at horses that competed at the 27th annual Classic.

Friday session October 2, 2015

Class 39  Saddle & Bridle William Shatner Western Pleasure

Giovanni's Great Day, 2nd place 

Giovanni Villani X Great Love by Sultan's Great Day

Class 41 Harness Pony Stake

Go Daddy, winner driven by Mary Gaylord McLean

Class 42  ASB Three Gaited Park Amateur Stake

Writer's Block, winner

Class 42.1 ASB Fine Harness 2YO

Easy Out, winner with Peter Palmer

CF Rare Night Out X daughter of Harrods Burg

2nd dam by Fire Lane

3rd dam by Moreland Command

A Blythewood bred horse for generations.

Class 43 ASB Three Gaited Show Pleasure Adult Stake

Undulata's Blue Cracker, winner with Megan McClure

Class 46 Bluegrass Select Series Five Gaited Championship

Bourbon Sky, winner with Bill Marple

Class 47 Roadster Under Saddle

Rocky, winner and Dannette Musselman

Class 49 UPHA Five Gaited Classic

We Must Be Really Nuts, winner with Emily Lee

Class 51 ASB Five Gaited Show Pleasure Stake

Pass With Care, winner with Jennie Turner Garlington

Desert's Supreme Memories X Harlem Globetrotter daughter

Class 52 UPHA Three Gaited Classic

Sir Graham Cracker, 2nd place with TJ Santaferra

Sir William Robert X Crackers in Bed by Undulata's Nutcracker

Sir Graham Cracker by Sir William Robert

Trainer TJ Santaferra had nice horses all day long.

Class 52 again 

Class 52

Sedgefield's Mirror Image, winner with Rob Byers

Undulata's Nutcracker X WGC CH Our Charming Lady

If this horse walked up to a wall, his chest would hit before his nose. 

Really, extremely high headed, more so than this picture shows.

Class 54 ASB Three Gaited Park Pleasure Stake

Brookhill's Knockout, 1st place (center)

The Simple Truth 2nd place (left)

Class 54  Snowman  3rd place

Class 57 ASB Show Pleasure Driving Stake

Bewitching Lad, winner

Charmed & Bewitched X Harlem Globetrotter daughter

Class 58  ASB five Gaited Limit Horse

I'm Lookin For Bear, winner and George Knight

I'm Lookin For You X I'm Really Worth It by For What It's Worth

I'm Lookin for Bear at the canter

I'm Lookin for Bear at the rack

Class 58.1  English Please Opportunity

Angel's Share, 2nd place

Con Heir X Caraway by Caramac

Beautiful mare, amateur trained, great breeding,

our breed needs more horses like her.

Saturday October 3rd

Class 60 Bluegrass Futurity Weanling in hand

Far Away Thomas Jefferson, 6th place

Sired by (SA) Tomcat X Party Shoes by Sir William Robert

Quickshot, 8th place

Sired by The Pistol by Rifles & Roses

Class 62 Saddleseat Equitation Stake

Scotty Bruggeworth, winner

Class 67 ASB fine Harness Jackpot Stake

Cosmic Charm, 3rd place

This was a really good class.

Cosmic Charm and Merrill Murray

Samuri Lady and Melinda Moore

WGC CH Wild Carissima, winner with Bret Day

Class 69  Roadster Pony Stake

Calvin Hobbs, 4th place

He had amazing drive off his hind legs, but he

kept breaking gait and was even in a collision.

Class 71  ASB Three Gaited Amateur Stake

Royal Rooster, winner with Ben Ferreby

Class 71.1  BSS Country Pleasure Championship

Miss Believin, winner

Class 73  ASB Three Gaited Park Jackpot Stake

Off The Record, winner with Rob Byers

Tory Burch, 2nd place

Class 76 Bluegrass Futurity (BF) 2 Year Old under saddle

Faraway Garfield, 2nd place

Lady Biscotti, winner with TJ Santaferra

This is "the one to watch"!  She was fabulous!

She is a full sister to Sir Graham Cracker pictured above in Class 52.

We had to leave for home & didn't get to see the last few classes,

but the three Gaited Jackpot Stake was won by CH The Mighty Thor with Bret Day.

The Five Gaited Jackpot Stake was won by Sabotage and Melinda Moore.

And I had really wanted the chance to see this horse in person. 

Saturday morning at the Horse Park we stood in the rain and watched

the driving competition.

This Lipizzaner looked like he was walking on water! 

A pair competing in the endurance class.

Cow crossing?

Grey Ridge Farm

The ASB Museum and there is my painting,

in a poster and the original is in the background.

Whistlestop Farm, Lexington Kentucky.

And thanks to my daughter for taking all of these photos except the two after we left on Saturday.

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