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World Grand Champion in 1991 |
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Flashy Pride #783598 |
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As anyone in
the Tennessee Walking Horse Industry will tell you, it takes
many ingredients to make a World Grand Champion. It takes
good breeding, a good horse, a good trainer and a lot of hard
work. Perhaps, above all, it takes an owner's ability to
match the right trainer with the right horse. That's
exactly what Art and Frances Barnes of Shalimar, Florida and
Lewisburg, Tennessee, did when they purchased a beautiful
chestnut stallion named Flashy Pride in 1988 and turned the
reins over to Trainer Vicki Self of Lewisburg.
Whether it was
premonition or just plain trust in their trainer, the Barnes
could not have made a better choice as Flashy and Vicki have
become the best of friends, standing tall through their
victories as well as their defeats. It's as if both horse
and trainer have one another on a pedestal, with all the respect
and admiration best of friends could possibly have for each
other.
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That special
friendship, admiration and respect is evident anytime you see the two
together, but it was especially evident the evening of Saturday,
August 31, 1991, when Flashy and Vicki out-stepped 15 other top,
high-spirited contenders to claim the ultimate title in the world of
Tennessee Walking Horses - the title of World Grand Champion.
Together, they had fought long and hard for this victory, and, now, it
would be together that they enjoyed the thrill of the moment and the
fruits of their labor. |
| Foaled in
1978, the docile, now 13-year-old Flashy Pride was sired by
Pride's Delight out of Merry Image B. His owner at the time of
his foaling was Coy Downey of Columbia, Kentucky. Two
years later at the 1980 International in Murfreesboro,
Tennessee, the young stallion caught the attention of trainer
Bud Seaton of Milton, Tennessee. Shortly after, Bud
purchased the colt for customers Donn and Sandi Perry.
A winter of work and fine-tuning began a long list of
prestigious titles for Flashy, the first coming at the 1981
Trainers' Show at which Seaton and Flashy rode into the winners'
circle following a remarkable performance in the Three-Year Old
Stallion Class. Later that summer, the new Flashy
duo went on to claim World Championship honors in the
Three-Year-Old Stallion Class. Many, many more victories were to
follow, and in 1982 under the new ownership of Mary R Hale,
Flashy claimed the title of World Champion Four-Year-Old
Stallion. |
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In 1983, Joe Ragan
of Vienna, Missouri, purchased Flashy, now an aged contender, and put
him under the tutelage of Tim Gray. The new partnership also proved
successful as Gray and Flashy easily claimed the 1983 15.2 and Under
Stallion preliminary as well as the reserve title in the actual World
Championship competition. The duo returned in 1984 to earn the same
"preliminary victory and followed it with an exciting win in the 15.2
World Championship. |
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By 1986,
Flashy had again found a new owner, Marvin Otten, who again put
him under the direction of Bud Seaton. The reunited team earned
a long list of blue ribbons and also placed third at the
Celebration in both the preliminary Aged Stallion Class and the
World Grand Championship. |
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turning point in Flashy's career came in 1988 when the promising
stallion was purchased by his current owners and moved to their
Fancy Free Farm in Lewisburg to be readied for Celebration
competition by their trainer, Vicki Self, with the assistance of
Bud Seaton. That year, Vicki unselfishly decided that it would
be in the best interest of the horse to let Bud show him at the
Celebration since she was still learning about Flashy. Bud and
Flashy that year won their division of the Aged Stallion
competition and placed reserve in the Grand Championship. |
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Following the
1988 Celebration, Vicki and Flashy became a team for good,
inseparable, with Vicki admitting that she immediately became
Flashy's biggest fan. They went through a "getting to know one
another" process in 1989, and although they claimed several
victories that season, their Celebration performance resulted in
a disappointing finish. However, a win later that fall in the
Florida State Championships gave the duo their confidence back
and they quickly restaked their rightful position as legitimate
Celebration contenders. |
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At the 1990
Celebration, Vicki and Flashy were awarded their division in the Aged
Stallion preliminaries, but the Championship once again found Flashy
settling for a reserve title. Then came 1991. After a winter of
light work and a spring and summer of increased workouts, Flashy was
in prime condition. His first show was at Ooltewah, which
resulted in a blue ribbon, and his second, and last stop before the
Celebration, was in Lewisburg where he again claimed the blue and
told, the world he was the one to beat at the upcoming Celebration. |
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As it turned
out, Flashy was the one to beat, but no one could do it as he and
Vicki won the preliminary and retired the 28-year-old Okley B.
Hays Memorial Challenge trophy and went on to become the new World
Grand Champions. When asked if she knew she had won before
the announcer made it official, Vicki replies that she knew she
had done all she could and that Flashy, likewise, had given his
all. In her mind, she was just hoping it had been good enough. |
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And, indeed it was,
as the judges chose Flashy unanimously to become the 53rd Annual
Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration's World Grand Champion,
thus making Vicki only the third woman in the show's history to claim
the ultimate title. |
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| What's next
for Flashy?
Having already sired some
show ring stars, Flashy Pride will continue to stand at Fancy
Free Farms and is certain to pass on his natural walking ability
to his offspring.
As for Vicki, well, she is
just tickled that her best friend will still be at the barn
where she can see him every day, and looks forward to seeing his
future sons and daughters enter the show ring, high-stepping
their way to victory just as Flashy did! |
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If you wish to print off
this pedigree, click
HERE
to load a black and white copy. |
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----- Original
Message -----
From: Amber McPherson
Sent: Friday, May 14, 2004 8:25
PM
Subject: Flashy Pride
Hello
Figured I would share a story
with you, We have a show horse in training at what was
Fancy Free Farms that was sold last year. The Fancy Free
bunch moved to another new barn that is much bigger in the
next town over. When I was little about 14 I used to go to
Fancy Free and they let me ride Flashy a few times. He is
awesome to ride and so beautiful to look at, with one of the
best personalities of any stud horse I have ever seen. I
went out there to see our horse today and have been wanting
a picture of me on Flashy for awhile now so I could frame it
and always have it. Thanks to Tommy for taking him out for
me I got one today and figured I would share it with you.
He is a wonderful horse...Thanks. Amber
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If you have a story or photos of Flashy Pride
that you would like added to this page, please forward them to
Walkers West.
<==1990
1992==>
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