The International Saddlebred Hall of Fame held its seventh annual ceremony to induct new members on Saturday, June 24 at the historic Simmons Stables in Mexico.

The 2023 class included 12 new inductees, the most allowed per year. The class includes six living members and six people inducted posthumously.

• The first inductees were William, Chris, and Jeff Thompson of St. Louis and publishers of Saddle & Bridle horse show magazine. Brothers Chris and Jeff attended the ceremony to accept the award. Saddle & Bridle was founded in 1927 by the brothers’ grandfather Arthur Van Ronzelen. Van Ronzelen eventually sold the publication to his son-in-law William. The Thompson family was instrumental in the publication of a book by Bill Downey about Tom Bass.

• Sally McClure Jackson of Overland Park, KS, was on hand to accept her induction into the Hall of Fame. Jackson grew up in Kirksville and is the past president of the United Professional Horseman’s Association and was awarded the Sallie Bush Wheeler Distinguished Service Award and has served on the Charter Club Council for the American Saddlebred Horse Association. Jackson’s dreams came true when her horse Wild-Eyed & Wicked twice won the Five-Gaited World’s Grand Championship at the Kentucky State Fair. Wild-Eyed & Wicked was also the winner of the American Saddlebred Triple Crown.

• A pair of brothers, R.H. and Edward “Hoppy” Bennett were inducted with Edward in attendance to accept both awards. Both men have made their marks in the industry in different ways and both are also inducted into the World Championship Horse Show Hall of Fame.

R.H. started Richfield Video Productions in 1980 after spending a good deal of money on a videographer to film his wife’s showing of a horse. Edward began showing horses at a young age and didn’t let some early discouragements disperse him. Edward got a summer job working for Ed Teater where he learned about saddlebreds. Edward received the American Saddlebred Horseman’s Association Breeders Hall of Fame Award in 2021 and received the Farmer of the Year Award in Shelby County.

Together the brother with the help of the Horseman’s Club started the Shelbyville Horse Show in 1990 and has grown into an event that spans several days and is considered a premier event.

• The posthumous inductees include brothers Earl and Lloyd Teater. Earl, of Lexington KY, was a nationally known trainer best known for the famous American Saddlebred Wing Commander, who was the first six-time world champion five-gaited stallion every year from 1948-53. Earl also trained a five-gaited horse, Dream Waltz, who won the World’s Grand Championship in 1956. Earl has also been inducted into the United Professional Horsemen’s Association Hall of Fame and won 21 WGC in 36 years.

• Lloyd, of Illinois and Wisconsin, was the first trainer to be inducted into the American Road Horse and Pony Association Hall of Fame, winning numerous world championships. He’s also inducted into the United Professional Horsemen’s Association Hall of Fame. A few of Lloyd’s WGC champions included Emerald Future, Night Flight, and Bombsight. He was one of only a few to win WGC in all three divisions.

• Charles Judd, known for his work in Texas and Missouri, was one of the country’s most outstanding trainers and breeders. Judd trained the five-gaited gelding, Step Along which his wife rode and drove to many championships. He worked in various stables in Texas training champions such as Beau Gypsy, Fabulous, Beau Gallant’s Babe, Irish Glory, Calypso, and Tanbark Romance. His most well-known horse was Courageous Admiral, the five-gaited grand champion at the American Royal. Judd was also known for training Cipra, an all-time great in the roadster division.

At one time Mexico was known as the “Saddle Horse Capital of the World” and the last three inductees, The Hamilton Brothers, Jim and Jack and Cyrus Clark, and Joseph Potts all had direct ties to Mexico.

• Clark and Potts were brother-in-laws and together ran Clark & Potts Combination Sales Company. The two men held auctions several times a year that attracted horsemen from all over the country. It had the reputation of some of the best horses in the country. Potts was a primary force advocating for the establishment of a breed registry so bloodlines of horses could be documented. Potts is also credited with helping bring Tom Bass to Mexico. Clark is credited with building the Big Barn on the Boulevard for a cost of $5,000 in 1887.

• Jim and Jack Hamilton were born in Callaway County and moved to Mexico to establish Blue Grass Stock Farm. A sign can be found between Home Bank and Orscheln’s designating the area where the barn once stood. The barns were torn down in 1988. They were nationally known horse breeders and conducted auctions twice a year attracting buyers from across the nation. The last sale was conducted in 1941. Their leading stallions at the farm were Lord Highland, Dr. Hockaday, and Astral King. Lord Highland sired Roxie Highland, champion three-gaited saddle mare in the world selling for $27,500 in the late 1920s. Art Simmons first introduction to Mexico was working for the Hamilton Brothers earning $3 per week plus room and board.