Page 88 - March_2022

by Scott Wells
Growing up in the 1950s and ‘60s, before the birth of Speedhorse and the other magazines, my reading about Quarter Horses was limited to
the pages of the Quarter Horse Journal.
And each month when it arrived, I
immediately sought out the brief
but colorful stories of Nelson Nye
in his column Quarter Paths. Those
columns brought to life the names
of horses I had only seen on pedigree
pages. Exciting names like Hard Twist,
Piggin String, Shue Fly and Miss Princess. Nye was a widely published author who used various styles depending on the magazine for which he was writing. It seemed to me that the short, fast-paced pieces he wrote for his Quarter Horse stories were a fitting treatment for the subject matter and the times he portrayed.
By the time I was 10, when my family moved from operating the bush track at Newkirk, Oklahoma, to pursuing the All American Futurity at Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico, I began to witness firsthand many of the racing legends whose names now appear in the earlier generations of today’s Champions pedigrees. As a young adult I was even given an opportunity to write about some of those horses by my friends Walt Wiggins and Connie Golden, the successive owners of Speedhorse prior to its current owner, John Bachelor. When I retired from my career as racetrack manager at the end of 2021, I felt an immediate pang of what I can only call “uselessness anxiety.” So, I called John and
we discussed the possibility of my sharing some treasured memories with the readers of Speedhorse. If you like them, let us know. We hope you do.
86 SPEEDHORSE March 2022
Pictured clockwise, from bottom photo:
All American Futurity 1984 rail.
Dale Robertson brought Rebel Cause to compete
in the 1960 All American Futurity.
3-Time Champion Tonto Bars Hank.
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