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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9/26/15 Dodge Stables 1937 -1938

9/26/15 Back in July, the blog wrote about the 1975 dispersal of Dodge Stables.  In 2013, there was also a write up of  CH Wing Commander in honor of the 70th anniversary of his birth.  Dodge Stables and its horses are such great topics, this week looks at them from a different perspective.  Dodge Stables had its beginnings in Rochester Michigan.  Here is a look at the show stable in its early years, specifically 1937 and 1938.  Who were the horses Frances M. Dodge showed before she bred the powerhouse cross of CH Anacacho Shamrock and Flirtation Walk, and before her move to Castleton Farm in Lexington, Kentucky?  Not surprisingly, she had very good horses in the 1930's, In addition to Saddle Horses, she also showed ponies and heavy harness horses.  She excelled in all phases.

All of the pictures below come from Saddle & Bridle magazines from the period May 1937 through August of 1938, so it is a snapshot of a year in the life of Dodge Stables.  Not all of the horses pictured were owned by Dodge, but eventually would be under their banner.  Evidently, if Ms.Dodge saw something she liked, she bought it up.  Not all of her horses were winners, but she had a keen eye, a winning formula and a plan to become the best Saddlebred stables in the land.  Before she was done, she certainly achieved her goals.

Front Page Lady

Trainer Wallace Bailey, up

CH King's Genius X Wild Wind BHF

She graced the cover of the May 1937 issue of Saddle & Bridle.  This mare had been a winning Junior 5-gaited mare in 1936, including a World's Championship Jr. 5 Gaited and they were looking forward to her show career in 1937.  I couldn't find any further mention of her in 1937, and they bred her in 1938.  Her foals didn't appear noteworthy either, however, Dodge Stables bought her full sister, Front Cover.  Front Cover was the dam of Dodge star WGC CH Local Talent, a two time WGC 3 gaited horse.  

Mistress of Rhythm

Glad-I-Mere X The Decoration Lady

This 3-gaited mare was purchased in June of 1937 from Billy Shropshire of Nashville, TN.  However, poor luck followed her.  She was unloaded sick at the Newark New Jersey horse show and was unable to show.  When she showed at the Kentucky State Fair in 1937, she placed no better than 3rd in any of her classes.  She was not mentioned in 1938 and later foals she produced were not under the ownership of Dodge Stables.  Her dam, The Decoration Lady, was the 2nd dam of WGC Fiery Crags.

Manhattan Serenade

Liberty Peavine X Embry Miss

This dainty 3 gaited mare showed at Detroit in June 1937, but was sold shortly thereafter.

Glorious Star

Trainer Wallace Bailey, up

CH King's Genius X Lulu Belle

This mare was bred by Dixiana Farms and purchased by Dodge Stables as a yearling.  She was a winning 5 gaited mare as a Junior horse, even beating Flirtation Walk (then owned by Audrey's Choice Stables) at the Indiana State Fair in 1937.  She had a winning record in both 5 gaited and Fine Harness classes.  She was owned by Dodge Stables for the rest of her life and was a successful broodmare, her most famous offspring being CH Socko, another Dodge standout.  Unfortunately, she was killed in a trailer accident in the early 1950's which thankfully left CH Wing Commander unharmed. 

Harmony Lane

Peavine Glory X unregistered mare

Harmony Lane was a winning mare for Dodge Stables in ladies and amateur 5-gaited classes.  She was a winner at Detroit in 1937 and Reserve World's Grand Champion 5-gaited in 1937 with trainer Wallace Bailey aboard.   She was one of Frances Dodge's first big time winners. 

Society Barrymore

King Barrymore X Spoonbill (BHF)

She was a 3 gaited daughter of Spoonbill, making her a half sister to Society Rex.  She and Etta Kett were both 3 gaited winners for Dodge Stables, and she did go on to produce a couple of colts for Dodge. 

 

Along with Saddle Horses, Frances Dodge competed with carriage horses.  Here she is driving her team.  

Southern Twilight was owned by Mrs. Theo McKee in September of 1937.

Southern Twilight

Trainer Wallace Bailey, up

Royal Success by Edna May's King X Pacific Twilight 

Something about her must have caught the eye of Frances Dodge, for she was purchased in 1938.  Her best showing was a Reserve World's Championship in the Ladies 5 gaited stake in 1939.  

Also appearing in the November 1937 issue of Saddle & Bridle, none other than CH Anacacho Shamrock as a 5 year old.  At that time, he was owned by George Brandeis of Omaha Nebraska.  Spec Markham is up.  He was another horse that was noticed by Frances Dodge, and we're all glad that he was.  

Frances M. Dodge in 1938

First her engagement was announced in the June 1938 issue of Saddle and Bridle, and then in the August issue, her marriage to James B. Johnson Jr.  She was married July 1, 1938 and the ceremony was held at her mother's estate, Meadowbrook Hall in Rochester Michigan.  She and her husband left on a honeymoon in Europe, and she wasn't expected to return until fall, which cut short her 1938 show season.  

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