The 67th National Horse Show Had Some Great Horses, Some Thrilling Riders And Some Unexpected Light Moments

Another bonus, which was just as unexpected in its own way, was the easygoing, pleasant performance put on by Arthur Godfrey in his daily exhibitions of his trained Arabian, Goldie. Goldie's every move was explained in the familiar Godfrey accents over a portable microphone, a novelty which Goldie accepted calmly and the audience accepted with considerable enthusiasm. Long interested in dressage, Godfrey's studies of the art began in earnest last January when he became a pupil of Arthur Konyot, a veteran Hungarian trainer. He was fortunate in having the right horse on hand. Goldie, a willing pupil and a gift horse, had arrived as a 2-year-old, unannounced and totally unexpected. Godfrey was uncertain about accepting him at first but, as he now says: "When I saw that pretty head and those great big soft eyes—like a little dog's—I just had to keep him!"

The climax of each show, the colorful international division, this year had an extra touch of drama and tension. The injured but still brilliant Mexican team rode off with most of the honors, the hard-riding U.S. team coming a heartbreakingly close second. Canada, starting well by winning the Royce A. Drake trophy, was plagued by injuries. Douglas Hood's horse took a bad jump, jolting his rider so hard that he bit his lip and needed five stitches to close the resulting wound, and Major L. J. McGuinness was injured in a fall and unable to compete in the last day of the show. The Irish, riding well throughout, won the Good Will Challenge Trophy and were close seconds on several occasions.

The last class of the last night of the show found Mexico and the U.S. tied with equal numbers of blues. The event was a team competition, three members of each team each riding a different horse, the aggregate score to decide the winner. The Irish had two faultless riders and one with 12 faults. The Mexicans each had a knockdown on the last obstacle, also making a total of 12. The U.S. had three turns with no obstacles down, but 12� faults because of one horse's refusals. Mexico's Lieut. Vi�als made a faultless round despite the pressure of the jumpoff, General Mariles and Eva Valdes turned in good scores, and another very large silver trophy was headed to Mexico for the eighth time since 1946.