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Tennessee
Walking Horse OnLine Congratulates
Adult
Supreme Champion
Connie Waldo,
Montana
Money Talks
By Connie Waldo
My husband and I had a goal. We wanted to achieve the status of Supreme
Versatility Champion with one of our horses. In the eleven years that we
had been involved in the TWHBEA Versatility Program, we had come close
many times. We would raise or purchase a colt, start it under saddle,
enroll it in the versatility program and begin working on its points. Each
time, it seemed, we'd be well on our way to achieving our goal when
someone would make us a nice offer to buy our horse. Selling the horses
certainly got more people involved with walking horses and the versatility
program since those people generally went on to garner more points.
However, it wasn't getting my husband, R.D., and me any closer to having a
Supreme Versatility Champion of our own!
My luck changed the day I learned about Money Talks from a casual
conversation with a lady at a local feed store. The mare, she told me, was
the 1996 Reserve World Champion Plantation Driving mare. Her owner,
Sharolyn Anderson, had recently relocated to our area in Montana from
Oregon. I wasted no time in going to meet the two.
The minute I saw the large chestnut mare, I knew she'd be a perfect
versatility horse. I had to have her. The problem was that Sharolyn didn't
want to sell. It took me a while to convince her that I was sincere in my
convictions and that I'd provide a wonderful home for "Cash". We
ultimately worked out a purchase agreement and Cash came home with me.
Even though Cash was talented and had won numerous trophies and ribbons in
the show ring, she had not been in training for almost two years. She had
certainly been well fed and loved, just not worked. I started slowly to
strengthen her muscles and rebuild her stamina. Cash had an innate
eagerness to please and lots of heart. She responded well and easily
accepted the new tasks we asked of her.
I knew the mare had great foundation training. She had been started and
shown under the direction of professional trainer Laurie Toone. Laurie had
successfully shown Cash as a two- and three-year-old. Sharolyn Anderson
purchased Cash from Laurie as a three-year-old. She continued to have the
mare shown by Laurie, Cheveaux Stables, and Jake Price, garnering numerous
ribbons and trophies and even several reserve championships. It was after
the 1998 show season that she went home to have an extended time off.
Even with all that talent, we had a lot of versatility categories to earn
points in. I had no doubt we could do it though. Not only did Cash have
the ability, I was equally determined that I would achieve my goal this
time. We traveled to as many shows as possible and entered in model,
reining, driving, barrel racing, trail, and water glass classes. And, of
course, lots of rail classes.
Cash and I quickly became a team focused on the end result. The driving
points were easy to get since Cash was so good at it. We steadily worked
on all of our categories until we only had two left: Model and Water
Glass. Cash is a very large mare, beautiful in her own way but not in a
'beauty queen' way. Fortunately, she had a nice loose walk, what I called
kind of a "slink" walk, that confirmed what a wonderful gait and stride
she possessed. We did have a little problem . . . well, actually, two
little problems — her ears. They seemed to be attached to the wrong
places. They always got that sleepy
bored look, and that generally counted against us. On the rare occasion
her ears perked up, we would definitely place. We finally finished the
model category with a very sweet halter win at the 2001 Northwest Trainers
Show.
Water glass was our last category for points. Cash has a very smooth
cruising speed, but the starting and stopping gears are not from an
automatic transmission. We constantly spilled water during those
transition times. Since I do not have a steady hand holding a glass of
water when I am not on a horse, my husband volunteered to ride Cash for
the water glass points. It proved to be equally as difficult for him. It
took R.D. a long time and quite a few shows to garner up the points
himself!
While we were focused on earning versatility points, those points are only
an example of how versatile Money Talks really is. During the Montana
winter hunting season of 2000. We had received a permit and planned to
hunt a bull elk near Yellowstone National Park. When my younger "non-horsey"
brother Ken Smith, found out about the trip, he was envious. He wanted to
come along but was wary of riding a horse. The closest he usually got to
the horses was to video tape a class at a horse show.
Cash always had an affinity for young and inexperienced riders. I knew she
would be perfect for the job, and I was right. It seemed as if Cash knew
she had a rookie rider, and she took good care of him. After the hunt, he
told all his buddies that the only way to hunt is on the back of a
Tennessee Walking Horse!
On the fourth day of the hunt, I was successful in getting a bull elk. We
were about 6 miles back in the wilderness, and it was not terrain that an
elk that big could be dragged out. So our walking horses became pack
horses. They handled the transition without any resistance or other
problems.
To me that illustrates the true versatility of a Tennessee Walking Horse.
Within just a few short months, Cash went from winning a reserve at the
National Celebration to packing out elk in the wilderness of Montana.
Money Talks, and she is worth her weight in gold!
(Reprinted from the Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse
magazine, November 2001)
Adult Supreme Champions
Youth Superior Champions
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