by Jennifer Maack-Condren

LEBANON, Mo. - A cool front passing through Southwest Missouri made for rain, rain and more rain for the area and the Laclede County Saddle Club Annual Gaited Horse Show. Held in Lebanon on June 28, this show’s reputation and excellent facilities always draws both quantity and quality horses. The rain ended late in the afternoon, just soon enough not to call the show but affecting the entry count. With a total of 97 entries, this was actually up significantly from last year’s show that was held in the rain. Steve Leonard of Huntington, Ark., judged the 16 walking horse classes. This show also has numerous Missouri Foxtrotter classes for a total of 28 classes.

The final gate call of the night, as always, was for the Open Walking Horse class. PJ’s Pusher and Brad Huffman earned the top mark in the class for Dean Scott. This win marks the seventh blue ribbon for this duo in 2008. Reserve in the class was Spirit And Silver with Jerry Manes in the irons for grandsons Andrew and Austin Rhoads.

The perseverance and commitment by the Laclede County Saddle Club members was once again evident as they had faith that the weather would cooperate and it turned out to be a cool pleasant evening and a successful show, despite Mother Nature’s persistence all week long. Many surrounding counties in Missouri continue to receive record amounts of rain during the week, including the day of the show, making June a record breaker for most of the state. Everyone will be marking their calendars as not to miss this show next year and continue to talk about “no matter how much it rains, we will have the show anyway” philosophy that has brought success to this annual event.

Complete results can be found by clicking here.