In April 2010, the J.D. Massey Classic Horse Show celebrates its 77th anniversary. The original event, which started in June of 1933, was known as The Greenville Horse Show. The founding members’ determination for the “show to go on” continued its success even during WWII. This year’s event, heralded as one of the longest continually running American Saddlebred shows in the country, is a reflection of similar determination.
In celebration of the show’s 75th anniversary, the J.D. Massey/Greenville Horse Show History Museum was a special feature of the 2008 show. In early fall of 2007, Cynthia Kelly and Juliet McDonald began collecting stories, artifacts, trophies, pictures and other memorabilia from past Greenville Horse Shows. The result was not only a pictorial look at the history of the horse show from 1933 through its modern day incarnation as the J.D. Massey Classic, but a vivid reminder of the great horses, trainers and exhibitors that have been a part of saddle horse history in the southeast. Photos and stories passed down from the likes of Maddux Whitley, Ray Harney, Jack Boyd, Claude Alexander, The Contender (CHContract’s Beau Le Rose), Daneshall’s Easter Parade(BHF), Society Rex, CHVal-Dale’s Surefire, CHSam Spade and Frances Floyd, Doris Hermes Crumpler and Ace’s Tempo Step, The Mighty Houdini and Bill Thomason, Glen Lanning and his winning Walking Pony –– all of whom have had close ties to the Greenville Horse Show –– were collected, catalogued and displayed for the duration of the show. A two-hour slide show was created where exhibitors could sit and watch in a theater-like atmosphere. Highlighting the exhibit were trophies from 1933 when the show was originally created. The museum was a huge hit for the exhibitors and attendees. The show committee has a long-term goal to secure a permanent home for the exhibition, while continuing the search for Greenville Horse Show memorabilia.
We are looking forward to another unforgettable celebration in 2010!