"She also had a great one named Cover Girl. I wrote the check out for her on Terry Jean Souvenir's hip. We bought her from the Philpots where Ronnie Graham was training. Sallie was a wonderful lady who always tried
to buy nice ponies. She was never at my place and she never practiced. She would show up right before the class and you never knew who was going to drive. Sometimes she would show, sometimes it would be Mr.
Busch or Rick Pinkney. You just never knew."
Terry Jean Souvenir's replacement, Second Souvenir kept the winning streak alive. She was the ladies world's champion in '79 and '80 and well as the amateur world's champion in 1980 before being sold.
Sallie wasn't the only family member to enjoy the Saddlebreds and Hackney ponies. Kenneth Jr., Gordon "Cappy" Lee and Douglas Busch started making waves of
their own. All three of the boys had shown hunter ponies but then Ken-Ken, as he was called in those days, took an interest in road ponies and with all the time he spent at the Jim B. Robertson household he started driving Chet Cable's pony Superfly before
purchasing Speed Limit. They would go on to win the Junior Exhibitor Road Pony World's Championship. Kenny has never lost his fascination with the speed horses and eventually drove Autobahn to several world's
titles in the roadster to wagon division.
Cappy showed several horses and ponies while growing up including the walk trot mare Love Them Roses and he currently has his own training facility in Harrodsburg, Ky. Douglas showed a few ponies for the family and now he owns a ranch in Montana.
The list of horses and ponies owned and shown by the Wheeler family goes on and on. So many world's champions, so many divisions. Sultan's Commander, High Spirit, Tijuana Starlet, Flamethrower, Gotta Lotta
Pzazz, Mark Of Success, Brass Lass, Heartland Classic, One For The Road, La Louisianne, Radiant Success, A Daydream Believer, and A Sweet Treat were just a few
of the memorable entries representing Cismont Manor.
Sallie was back in the ring this year under the
direction of Nelson Green winning the Ladies Fine Harness Class at Lexington Junior League with the recently purchased CH Boutonniere. It would be her last show ring appearance. Unable to attend the World's Championship Horse Show, Mary Gaylord McClean drove Boutonniere to the Ladies Fine Harness world's title for Sallie. Also John Shea completed a fabulous year winning the Hackney Pony World's Grand
Championship and qualifying class with Fancy Ribbons for the Wheelers.
"Sallie was the fairest person I've ever dealt with. I was proud to say I kept her horses," said Nelson Green, trainer of Boutonniere, Radiant Success, A Daydream Believer, and A Sweet Treat for the Wheelers. "The best thing about having horses for the Wheelers
wasn't winning blue ribbons, it was the personal relationships that were built."
Besides Jim B. and Jimmy Robertson and Gib Marcucci, Sallie had horses and ponies with a number of top horsemen over the years. Bill Robinson was her long-time trainer. Mike Dumas and Randy Harper also
managed the Cismont Manor string at home in Keswick. She also had ponies with Dr. Alan Raun and most recently John Shea.
"She was a perfect owner and a unique lady," said Dr. Raun. She was always a lady, never flaunted her money. Sallie treated everyone the same. You just can't say enough nice things about her."
"Sallie was wonderful about everything," added Jimmy Robertson. "She was a busy person. The only time we saw her other than at horse shows was when Lexington Junior League was in town. She enjoyed showing horses and ponies but she was one of the few people left who enjoyed just as much having some one else show her stock. She was willing to have a stake horse or pony.
"She was just as unassuming as they came. I'll never forget at Devon while waiting around for the hunter classes you would find her sitting on the tack trunks playing tonk or gin with the grooms."
Unassuming, generous, wonderful. Sallie was all of that, but she was also competitive. While having won more titles that any owner in the history of Saddlebred, Hackney, and hunter breeds, she was well respected by her competitors. You didn't find jealousy
among her peers.
"She was a gracious exhibitor," said Isabel Robson. "She always had top stock and you knew you were in for a fight if you were going to try and win that blue. Sallie appreciated every drive she had.
"The most memorable story I have about Sallie was the year it was raining so hard on stake night at Louisville. There was lightning everywhere and there sat Sallie, Mary Gaylord McClean and myself out in the middle of this storm warming up for the championship.
Someone came up to us and said, 'If lightning hits here, the pony business will be over.'"
Showing champion horses and ponies was only a small part of the existence of Sallie Wheeler in the horse industry. She was a hands on person serving on many, many boards and horse show committees. She will be forever remembered as the person who single-handedly saved the National Horse Show from extinction. Sallie sponsored classes at shows she had never attended. She cared greatly about the horses, ponies, and people involved in those industries and they cared about her.
"Being Sallie Wheeler's friend was like being
sprinkled with fairy dust," said Josie Forbes. "She made you a Wheeler. There are a few things about Sallie that I will never forget. She knew how to get things done. She had so much going on, but she knew how to get it done and how to treat people. Also, no
matter what bad happened in her life she knew how to not let it overcome her. I will never forget that as long as I live.
"Her generosity was amazing. We would go places and people that worked for her, chauffeurs, cooks, whatever, they all had stories about how Sallie had arranged for a family member to be sent to the best hospital or given the best care."
The honors bestowed upon her are many. In 1981 she was presented the AHSA Perpetual Sportsmanship Award; in '87 she was the AHSA Horsewoman of the Year; in '92 was presented the UPHA Distinguished Service Award, an honor that was since renamed the Sallie B. Wheeler Distinguished Service Award; in '97 she was inducted into the World's Champion Horse Show Hall of Fame; and in '99 maybe her highest honor, the AHSA Lifetime Achievement Award along with her husband Kenneth.
It's hard to find words that can sum up the life of such a wonderful human being. She covered all the bases: family, self, and others. It is only fitting that she have the last word. The following is from her acceptance speech at the 2000 AHSA Convention.
"It's a humbling experience to be chosen for the AHSA Lifetime Achievement Award. We have been blessed with the love of our wonderful children, close family and friends. It is rare that two people have so fully enjoyed a career in a profession and a hobby in a
sport such as Kenny and I have been privileged to do. We both realize that none of this would be possible without the fabulous animals we do dearly love and appreciate."