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Tennessee
Walking Horse OnLine Congratulates
Adult
Supreme Champion
Christine
Pepmeyer, Illinois
Legend’s Black Lace
By Chris Pepmeyer
ONE of the happiest days of my life was September 24,
1992, when I found out from Sis Osborne, TWHBEA Pleasuer Horse
Coordinator, that my mare, Legend's Black Lace, had become the first
Supreme Versatility Champion in the state of Illinois.
My experience with walking horses dates back to July, 1985. A black mare
named Belle introduced me to the "glide ride". She was owned by Myrna
Allenbaugh of Mattoon, Illinois. When I was a child, I used to ride my
pony Champ down to visit her, and after having ridden a rough trotting
pony, Belle's delightfully smooth gait was heaven! The search for my own
walking horse was on, and after about a month, I came to own Star.
Through reading the Voice and through literature I was mailed from the
TWHBEA, I began to educate myself further on the breed and became
acquainted with the Versatility Program. I was impressed when reading
about the versatility champions and their accomplishments. I felt that the
events required for the Versatility Program would be a good guideline to
use for the training of a pleasure horse.
Typical of most walking horse owners enthusiastic about the breed, I did
not own just one horse for very long. In the fall of 1986, two more
fillies came to Bramble Brook Farm. Legend's Black Lace (Lacey) and her
half sister, Legend's Licorice, were six months old and had never been
handled. They spent their entire time as foals running in a 200 acre
pasture with their mamas at Flacco Family Farms and were scared to death
of people when they arrived. Doctor Flacco and Joe Moffitt delivered the
"babies" to our rather large paddock by shooing them out of a stock
trailer. For the next couple of days my friend Kaye Pedersen and I could
not even get them to come near us, except to grab a quick morsel of grain.
Just as we were starting to make some progress, we discovered they had
both played "Houdini" and had wiggled out of their halters. A few more
days went by and they still would not come to us. I decided to try the
round pen training I had learned at Joe Webb's that spring. Unfortunately,
that did not work because the area was too big and rectangular instead of
small and round. Kaye and I were getting very exasperated when, one day,
Joe Moffitt stopped by to tell us the weanlings needed to have their feet
trimmed. Our reply was "you have the job if you can catch them!" The next
day, Joe brought along Doctor Flacco's son, Rick, to help and by cornering
the reluctant fillies in the run-in shed with a small gate, they were
caught! Lacey had her halter replaced as well as a quick lesson in being
tied and in having her feet handled. She fought being tied a lot less than
her sister and soon decided to tolerate us humans. (Certainly this
experience taught me why, if possible, you work with a foal from the day
it is born!)
By December, Lacey had accepted me as her new "mother" and basic training
began. After dragging me through the mud a few times, I remembered that
the chain on the lead line is for under the chin and taught her to lead.
Next I taught her to park out and placed those little feet a thousand
times where they just did not seem to want to go. She also learned to back
up on the lead and to move away from pressure. Standing tied for grooming
was not a problem; she loved the attention as much as I loved giving it.
By June of 1987, we were ready for our first show! I entered Lacey in the
open yearling halter class. We were to walk to the judge and "trot" away
from him as is custom in open classes with all breeds. Lacey behaved well
for me, but when asked to speed up, she paced! Not realizing that was
often typical for a young walking horse, I exited the class grumbling
about her paciness. Farrier and walking horse trainer, Delmar Voorhees,
who was also at the show, commented to me that was not "all bad". We
continued to show at halter the rest of the summer, although the warts
Lacey developed on her muzzle certainly detracted from her appearance! I
had a hard time being convinced that they would eventually go away, so I
painted them with all sorts of concoctions. The next year, however, true
to what everyone, including vets, told me, they disappeared on their own.
Lacey, with her composed, easy going disposition, was a pleasure to train.
I ponied her with my older horse, did some ground driving and, by the time
she was two, I was riding her for short distances. The first time I got on
her she bucked half-heartedly as I asked her to move forward, and that was
it! If we ran across something she was afraid of, rather than trying to
run away, she would either snort at it, or if surprised, would generally
just jump in place. If we were going for a brief lesson in the pasture, I
would often ride her bareback with only a halter and lead rope. Lacey
would stand quietly parked out while I would take a flying leap to mount
her without the aid of a saddle. When Lacey turned three, I started riding
her longer distances and urged her out of the flat walk. As I set her head
and pushed her on, she would start to hit a running walk. Delmar Voorhees,
my farrier, at that point, also suggested using a toe weight shoe in
front, and that proved to be very helpful.
Lacey was now entered in the Versatility Program. Her first show as a
three year old was in June 1989. The show, sponsored by the Quad City
Walking Horse Club, was large in class size, and because of rain, we were
forced to use the small indoor arena at the Mississippi Valley
Fairgrounds. Lacey was quite intimidated by the other horses as we were
packed three deep on the rail. Nonetheless, she gained valuable show ring
experience and began gaining consistency in her running walk.
In September of that same year, Lacey went to Delmar and Helen Voorhees'
Riverview Acres Stables for her first professional training. Delmar worked
her daily up and down their many hills and trails and taught her to extend
herself on the flat. After a month and a half, the polish of training
showed when Lacey placed second out of twenty seven in the four and under
plantation two gait class at the Illinois Walking Horse Association Fall
Celebration with Delmar in the saddle. I continued to show her that
weekend, placed second out of eleven in western plantation two gait,
fourth out of nineteen in novice two gait, and received some additional
high placings in other classes. For a three year old, I was pleased with
how well Lacey tolerated the large, 'echoey' indoor arena and all the
whooping and hollering of the crowd.
With the winter coming and the show season over, we replaced Lacey's toe
weight shoes with keg shoes, and she continued her pleasing, head-shaking
walk. The next spring I began showing her in the lite shod division and
she has continued to compete lite shod ever since.
As a four year old, I began teaching Lacey the skills needed to compete in
the trail class. We spent the beginning and end of many riding sessions
side passing, opening and closing gates, backing through and around
things, and learning to ground tie. Lacey had the temperament to handle
most of the "spooks" presented in trail class; the main challenge was
developing her dexterity to negotiate obstacles. At five, western riding
was added to the events in which we vied for points. By the end of 1991,
Lacey had sufficient points in the required divisions to be awarded her
Versatility Champion-ship. At that point, we decided to continue on to
achieve the supreme honor. Our goal was to finish by the end of the 1992
show season and, by September, we had made it!
A strong point of Lacey's is that she both responds and adjusts well to
many different riders. Delmar and Helen Voorhees, Carol Mills, Tracey
Olmsted and Gloria Bailey have all ridden her for me in two gait classes
so I could compete in the three gait division at the same show. Fellow
TWHBEA member and friend, Marge Newman, assisted me with my horses at
numerous shows so that I could enter as many events as possible. Marge
helped make the split second tack changes from English to western or the
quick change from one horse to another. Without the help of the above
people, Lacey and I could not have accomplished our goal. I am grateful
for the kind support and encouragement of my friends and spouse as they
tolerated our hectic show schedule.
When I entered Lacey in the Versatility Program, I also wanted her to
excel enough within her breed to win a blue ribbon at a state level
walking horse show. She gained that recognition as a four year old when we
won the two gait lite shod western pleasure class at the Cornbelt Walking
Horse Association Fall Classic in Waterloo, Iowa. Making that first
victory pass was a great feeling! Since then, Lacey has won other blues:
at the Elkhorn, Wisconsin Heyday (with Carol Mills up), the Quad City
Walking Horse Club Show, the Illinois Celebration, and at the Cornbelt
Classic again in 1992.
I was especially elated with a blue that Lacey took home from the 1991
Illinois Celebration. Duane Ripple designed a tricky trail class which
included a goat in center ring for distraction and a rope gate with
blowing and clanging tin pans. We were instructed to close the rope gate
after we ground tied and walked away from our horse. Lacey was one of the
few horses in the class that did not make a bee-line to exit the arena
when that obstacle presented itself.
Lacey has been a true ambassador for the walking horse breed. I have used
her as a lesson horse for beginners and also to introduce newcomers to the
breed. Since I have three horses, Marge began riding Lacey several years
ago on trail rides. Marge has broken her back twice and told me she would
not be able to ride a different breed of horse. On one of our first
outings, Marge's new saddle slipped on a downhill incline. The saddle
ended up practically underneath Lacey. Instead of panicking,
three-year-old Lacey stood perfectly still while we undid the saddle and
rescued Marge. On another one of our escapades, I was riding Licorice, and
Marge was riding Lacey at Jubilee State Park near Peoria, Illinois. As we
rode through a creek to cross to the other side, I decided to take
Licorice up a rather steep, slippery bank. Marge said she'd prefer to take
a detour with Lacey and stepped over a large log in the creek to continue
upstream. Lacey had been in two feet of water, but on the other side of
the log was a swill of about five feet of water, and Marge and Lacey
promptly sank straight down. Marge was just about to step off of her onto
the bank when Lacey rose back up perfectly straight just like a phoenix!
Instead of thrashing around, Lacey had remained calm and Marge did not
even get her camera that was hooked onto the saddle wet. All the "true to
life" trail riding we did with Lacey was probably one of the reasons that
became a division she tied well in at the shows. It was always fun taking
her to an all breed show where she was one of the few walking horses in an
area dominated by quarter horses and to have her place first or second in
a class of nine or ten!
The number of points needed and the divisions required to obtain a supreme
status is quite a challenge. The rule is that you must place over at least
three other horses to obtain one point, and you are awarded no points for
placing lower than fifth. The halter points seem to take an eternity,
especially when you have a black horse that easily sunburns, and no barn
until just this year! Sometimes Lacey and I would travel to a show for a
particular class and have the disappointment of not having enough entries
for our placing to count. I would estimate, in the last three years, we
have attended forty plus shows to attain all the necessary points in the
required divisions. I am very appreciative of the TWHBEA's support of the
pleasure horse through this program, and for all the acknowledgment that
is given the participants in the Voice. That is how I came to find out
about the Versatility Program in the first place.
In the future, Legend's Black Lace and I plan to continue to
enthusiastically promote the breed and to continue to participate at
walking horse and open shows. I am currently searching for the right
stallion for her so that this spring we can start working on producing
another supreme team!
(Reprinted from Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse
magazine, July, 1993)
Adult Supreme Champions
Youth Superior Champions
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