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SIRE of Champions
Interestingly enough, three of HUNTER'S ALLEN'S most prominent
offspring are not in the list of winners of Walking Horse
classes in the years from 1912 to 1938. These are BROWN ALLEN,
LAST CHANCE and WALKER'S ALLEN. LAST CHANCE was an
exceptionally good two year-old but did not do well thereafter.
MERRY LEGS was bred to HUNTER'S ALLEN on at least three occasions.
Two of the foals died as yearlings. The one that lived was LAST
CHANCE.
For
several years it appeared as if LAST CHANCE would carry the family
of HUNTER'S ALLEN forward in the male line. 'TROUBLE,
son of LAST CHANCE, won the Stallion Class at the 1940 Celebration,
while LAST CHANCE'S daughter, NANCY ANN HENDRIXSON, won the two
year-old filly class at the 1947 Celebration. TROUBLE sired the dam
of World Grand Champion
MACK K'S
HANDSHAKER, but, in the final analysis, the sons of HUNTER'S
ALLEN were forced to surrender the male line of Walking Horse
pedigrees to the sons of ROAN ALLEN. Nevertheless, the sons of
HUNTER'S ALLEN provided the breed with valuable broodmares.
LAST
CHANCE sired LADY CHANCE, the dam of MERRY WILSON, five times the
World Champion Mare. He also sired GYPSY TUCK, dam of ATOMIC LADY,
ATOMIC GENTLEMAN, SURPRISE ALLEN, and MARTHA WILSON. BROWN ALLEN
mares were considered among the finest in the breed.
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(Submitted by
Grace
Larson) |
Last
Chance #350034 was sired by Hunter's Allen F-10 ; his dam was
Merry Legs F-4. Last Chance was foaled in 1931 and
died in 1956. When Mr. Dement died, in 1940, a
tribute to his achievements was presented at the Columbia
horse show. Last Chance was lead around the arena,
saddle empty, as friends and associates circled the ring
behind the classic stallion, moving slowly while the announcer
listed Dement's many contributions to the breed he helped
create.
Last Chance sired John A's Chance, the palomino stallion
that Vance Paschal said was " the greatest yellow
breeding stallion of all time. " |
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This was taken
from an article written by Harold Dean Givens on The Palomino
Tennessee Walking Horses; he had interviewed Vance
Paschal when Paschal was 84 years of age; Mr. Paschal was a
life long breeder and dealer of yellow walking horses,
and the breeder of two Celebration ribbon winners.
Givens states that John A's Chance sired more yellow show
horses than any other sire. His ancestors, close
relatives, and descendants exhibit outstanding show records;
these records give weight to Vance Paschal's statement.
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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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| If
you have a story or photos of Last Chance that you would like added
to this page, please forward them to
Walkers West. |
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----- Original Message -----
From: Ulmer
To: walkerswest@walkerswest.com
Sent: Sunday, June 25, 2006 5:37 AM
Subject: Note from Betty Dement
I came across your Web site and decided to get in touch. My name is Betty Dement, granddaughter of Albert M. Dement, the last owner of Allan F.1 and breeder of Merry Legs and Last Chance. When grandfather died my father, Arthur J. Dement, kept up the Last Chance line as best he could, for like my grandfather, we have never been rich. Growing up with sometimes 30
or 40 walking horses is something of a wonderful treasure however. At my father's death I decided not to sell all the remaining horses and to try to keep the line of direct descendants of Last Chance. I have seven left, two stallions and four mares which I keep on pasture and take care of as best I can. I still work full-time as a newspaper editor and don't have much time to devote to the horses. I hire someone to come to the farm twice a week to tend to them and see that they are all right and I or my son and grandchildren feed them in the evenings. They all have the dark copper to red coloring of Last Chance. Last Chance and Allan F-1 are both buried on our farm, which is not a show place but has been in the family well over 125 years. I just thought you might find this piece of history interesting, as I found your Web site interesting.
Sincerely, Betty Dement
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Betty
What a pleasure it is to hear from you. Thank you for taking the time to write. May I ask you how old you are. I am 65 and still running a 70 horse operation - soon to be a 100 horse Tennessee Walking Horse operation.
Yes, I have discovered over the years that God gives you horse sense or he gives you Money, but he never gives you both!!! I think the TWH breed has been sustained for the most part - at least in the early years - by people who have a deep love and understanding of the breed.
I am glad to know that Last Chance and Alan F1 are buried on your property. Where are you located? Of course, both horses made major contributions to the breed. In fact, it would not be a recognized breed without them. How many acres do you have?
I cannot tell you what an honor it is to hear from you. Thank you so very much for writing.
Mary Ellen Areaux
Walkers West
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BACK to LEGENDS
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