Albany Herald

Gary Edwards and Game World won the 73rd Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration Championship recently in Shelbyville, Tenn. Edwards, of Carl Edwards and Sons Stables in Sasser, joined his father, Carl, and brother, Larry, as World Grand Champions. Carl won the event in 1950 and Larry in 1987.

SASSER — Gary Edwards likens a good show horse to a football team — they finish strong and win the fourth quarter.

His theory was proven correct late last month when Edwards rode Game World to the 73rd Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration championship in Shelbyville, Tenn.

The victory was Edwards’ first after second- and third-place finishes. He joined his father, Carl, who won in 1950, and his brother, Larry, who won in 1987, in completing the championship trifecta for the family.

“I’ve been waiting to do that my whole life,” Gary Edwards, who owns Carl Edwards and Sons Stables with his brother, said. “I was afraid being a world grand champion was going to pass me by. I was second in 2009 and third in the ’80s, and I was starting to wonder if it would ever happen for me.”

Game World, a 6-year-old stallion, is owned by Chester and Lynda Stokes of Ponte Vedra, Fla., but is trained and ridden by Edwards.

“I tell you, winning this thing is hard,” Edwards said. “First you have to find the right horse. We have 185 or so fine horses here, but finding one that can win a world championship, well, you might run across four or five in a lifetime. It’s a lot like finding a good football player. He has to have the right mindset, and you have to be on the same wavelength.”

Edwards, 65, has been riding since he was 4 years old and riding professionally since 1966. The brothers moved the stable from Florida to Sasser three years later.

Edwards got Game World six years ago when Stokes asked him to come look at some colts he had just purchased.

“The horse was small, but he had the bloodline,” Edwards said. “He was a beautiful colt, yet he was small and needed extra attention. I said I would take him home with us. We left him alone for a while, just feeding him and letting him have his way.”

Edwards did not show the horse as a 2-year-old and then rarely at 3. As a 4-year-old, Game World won reserve honors. He did not compete as a 5-year-old because of rear hoof problems.

As a 6-year-old Game World won six of seven previous shows before garnering the crown jewel last month.

“He is really a beautiful horse,” Edwards said. “And like a good football team, he finished strong in the fourth quarter. He showed a lot of pizzazz. The other horse kinda just faded. But my horse came alive at the end when I asked him for it. He said, ‘I’m ready to rock ’n’ roll.’ ”

Still, Edwards was unsure that his stallion could knock off the show favorite, Folsom Prison Blues.

“When they lined us up at the end of the show, turned off all the lights and shined the spotlight on us, I thought my horse had a great show,” he said. “But I was still shocked when they called his number as the winner.

“I can’t tell you what it meant to me.”

Game World will now spend the rest of his days at stud while Edwards is left with the memory of a lifetime — and a beautiful fourth quarter.