By Annabeth Miller,
ShowMe Times Editor

Cars and trucks at the Stoddard County Fairgrounds on Saturday gave the right-of-way to a four-legged form of transportation, as the 34th Annual Missouri State Racking Horse Championship returned to Dexter.

Exhibitors, owners, riders and trainers from throughout the Mid South descended upon town Saturday for annual quest for the best of the racking horse breed in the Show Me State. Close to 100 entries made their way around the show ring at the fairgrounds. The annual show is hosted by the Dexter Chamber of Commerce, which handles all the logistics for the show.

This spring’s floods, storms and the tough economy didn’t deter the exhibitors, who came from Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky, Arkansas, Illinois as well as Missouri for the show. Competitors show in a total of 22 classes – from Pleasure Racking for amateur young people to the Racking Horse Stake class.

For Joe Dan Carter of Martin, Tenn., this was his 34th time to attend the show in Dexter – that’s every year since the very first racking horse championship in Dexter.

“I’ve been here every year that had a show,” the bigger-than-life Carter said. Carter stood near the grandstand Saturday evening, talking to his friend State Rep. Billy Pat Wright and keeping a sharp eye on the show ring where one of his horses competed in a pleasure racking class.

“What’s so special about the racking horse? I don’t know – I just grew up on a gaited horse and I never have liked a trotting horse,” the veteran horseman said. He concedes its personal preference, but he likes the racking horse. “There’s good ones and bad ones in every breed!”

So for 34 years Carter has made the trek to Dexter for this annual show. This year he brought seven horses; other years there have been more. But he enjoys the show and showing his animals in Southeast Missouri.

“It’s always been real nice over here,” he said. “The people are nice. It’s a good show.”

What is a racking horse? Well, the racking horse dates back to Southern plantations before the War Between the States, when the horse could be ridden comfortably for hours on end before of its smooth, natural gate.

The Racking Horse is attractive and gracefully built with a long sloping neck, full flanks, well-boned, smooth legs, and finely textured hair. The Racking Horse is considered a "light" horse in comparison with other breeds, averaging 15.2 hands high (a "hand" is considered to be four inches) and weighing 1,000 pounds. Colors may be black, bay, sorrel, chestnut, brown, gray, yellow, cremello, buckskin, dun, palomino, roan, champagne, and even spotted.

The "rack" of the Racking Horse is a bi-lateral four-beat gait, which is neither a pace nor a trot. It is often called a "single-foot" because only one foot strikes the ground at a time. The Racking Horse comes by this gait as naturally as walking or striking a bold trot comes to other breeds. He is not to be confused with other breeds, with which the "rack" is an artificially achieved gait resulting from special training. Though he may be shown under saddle, in hand or in harness, and may be flat shod or shown with pads, he still performs the smooth, collected gait that made him famous as a pleasure mount.

The Racking Horse is similar to the Tennessee walking horse, and aficionados of both will debate the virtues of their favorite breed. The Racking Horse was derived from the Tennessee walking horse, and USDA officially recognized it in 1978. It is known for a distinctive single-foot gait.

By Annabeth Miller,
ShowMe Times Editor

Brian Holman, was on top of the world – or so he thought. On the pitcher’s mound for the Seattle Mariners in 1990, he was just one batter – one batter mind you --- away from pitching a no-hitter.

Holman told the crowd at the 18 Fore Life Banquet Friday evening that at that moment, he knew was headed to the Baseball Hall Of Fame!

“I remember when there were two outs in the ninth and I was thinking to myself, 'I'm going to be in the Hall of Fame,' " he said. "I'm thinking how great that is, and one pitch later, it's gone. To be so high one moment and then to be knocked off your pedestal the next, that to me is what life is. So you enjoy your life. Take it as far as you can, knowing that it can change at any time."

Holman’s talk was part of a festive evening kicking off the 18 Fore Life Charity Golf Event weekend. Holman’s story was riveting, emotional and inspiring.

A man who was at the top of a major league baseball career, he had the had the wind blown out from under him numerous times, but he never gave up, he never gave up, he never gave up.

From watching his younger brother recover from being hit directly in the head with a line drive baseball, to a son who fell 31 feet from a ski lift and then be diagnosed with a cancerous tumor, to a daughter fight a battle against leukemia, to himself being diagnosed with a leaky heart valve and have open heart surgery – through all these travails Holman said he never quit.

"It doesn't matter whether you're a ballplayer or the color of your skin or rich or poor, bad things can happen to anybody at any time," Holman said.

Holman said the key is to never give up.

“Run like your hair is on fire.” Holman said. And he stressed again, to never give up. Never give up hope; never give up the fight.

Bruce Christian closed the evening’s banquet by offered the traditional toast to the late Ben Kruse. Christian relived his memories of being a coach to young Kruse, and watching Kruse grow up and give back to people in the community.

The Elks Lodge was packed for the annual event, and seemed somewhat like a town reunion. Friends of Ben Kruse – old school chums and friends – came home to Dexter and joined one another to remember Kruse, and to give back to the community through the charity he helped establish.

By Annabeth Miller
ShoweTimes Editor

Three new teachers were hired this week by the Dexter Board of Education.

The board met this week in a special meeting. During the special meeting the board had a first reading of new and/or revised policies before it voted to enter Executive Session.

During the closed portion of the meeting the board approved three new teachers for employment in the district:

• Marti Pulliam was hired for the high school industrial technology program. Pulliam has taught for one year and has 11 years of practical experience as a surveyor, construction technician and computer drafter;



• Misty Everett was hired to teach high school English; Everett has a Masters in English and an additional certification in speech and debate and five years teaching experience;

• Rhonda Lane was hired for high school English; Lane has nearly 20 years teaching experience in English and Family and Consumer Science.

In addition, the board approved the move of Molly Probst to Title I Visual Intervention Program at Southwest and hired Cody Boyer as a special services aide and Sheila Minehart for custodial help.

The board also approved the following extra-duty assignments:

• Mike Vipperman, freshman football

• Rhonda Robinson, high school volleyball assistant

• Tammy Crowley and Vicki Windham, high school football cheerleading

• Cody Boyer, middle school football assistant

• Alana Dowdy and Eric Sitze, assistant high school activities directors

A SMT Report

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson yesterday voted against increasing the U.S. debt limit. The measure was unanimously opposed by Republicans and nearly half of the Democratic caucus.

“Looking at the size of our debt and, more importantly, our federal deficits, it is clear that we cannot allow spending to continue at a reckless pace. Authorizing the issuance of further U.S. debt must be made conditional on finding cuts and savings to assure our debt doesn’t continue to grow in the long term,” Emerson said.

The bill offered in the U.S. House of Representatives would have enabled the U.S. Treasury to borrow another $2.4 trillion. It failed by a vote of 97-318.

“The vote was a clear rejection of the idea that we can continue on our nation’s present fiscal course. We are doing enormous harm to the American dream by burying our children and grandchildren beneath this mountain of debt,” Emerson said.

U.S. national debt stands at more than $13 trillion – double the figure reported in 2003.

“If the national debt were a pile of one dollar bills, it would cover the distance from the earth to the moon three times. We have a massive debt problem that will require tough choices to fix. The catch is this: the longer we wait to make those choices and to rein in the size of government, the more difficult those choices will be,” Emerson said. “It’s time to have that discussion. Future generations of Americans deserve our best effort to control America’s burgeoning debt crisis.”

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports

Governor Jay Nixon has declared that all flags at all government buildings will be flown at half-staff today (Tuesday, May 31) in honor of a fallen Missourian.

Specialist Bradley Louis Melton, of Rolla, Mo., was a soldier in the US Army (25th Infantry Division). Melton was deployed to Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom, and was killed on May 16, 2011, due to injuries received from an improvised explosive device.

Melton was a highly decorated member of the Army, with awards including the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Bronze Service Star, and the Iraq Campaign Medal with Bronze Service Star (two awards).

Also by order of the Governor, all flags at all State and government offices will be flown at half-staff, in Phelps County only, from Tuesday, May 31, 2011, until dusk on Monday, June 6, 2011.