UPHA Honors Ricky "Slim" Richardson with Caretaker Hall of Fame; Nominations for Morgan Caretaker & UPHA Year End Awards Sought
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
 Howard Schartzberg Photo
Ricky "Slim" Richardson was born in Harrodsburg, KY on April 29, 1963. Slim began his career in the American Saddlebred industry at the very early age of fourteen with the great Tom Moore. David "Butch" Pain pulled Ricky aside when he started with Tom and said, "we have two Ricky's so from now on you are "Slim", and that name has followed him through the years. Slim worked ten years with Tom and he feels that was a great time in his life. He learned how to prepare a horse for the show ring to perfection, and acquired a love and respect for the majestic Saddlebreds he cared for.
After ten years with Tom, Slim spent the next twelve years with Donna Moore, where he was her right hand man and ground man. Donna felt that a trainer was only as good as their ground man and this was very important to him. While with Donna he gained more knowledge about training Saddlebreds and had the honor of working with William Shatner and Donna in their breeding program. Slim spent several years working with Don Judd and Maria Gilman. Mr. Don insisted on keeping everything neat and tidy and during this time Slim gained an appreciation for keeping the barn and surroundings in an orderly fashion in order for it to run efficiently.
Slim worked with Ruth Gimpel for about seven years and continued to gain knowledge caring for Saddlebreds as well as Hackney ponies. While with Ruth, Slim attended Breyerfest with CH Heartland High Tech and CH Sprinkles. Under Slim's care both these great horses won World Championship titles.
The next several years were spent working with Merrill Murray and Slim recalls a lot of great memories there. Other special people that Slim has worked with that have influenced his life are Johnny Johnson, Kate Dickson, Neil "Cowboy" Martin, Nate Been, Robert Been, Phil Brown, Big T Bone Bess, Rob Bess, Big Butch Bess, and Redd Crabtree. Other farms that have had an influence are Castle Hills, Oak Hill Farm and Arrowhead Farm.
Let's not forget the array of legendary horses he has worked with such as WGC CH Night Prowler, WGC CH Simply Mahvelous, WCC CH Caramac, WGC Sultan's Starina, WCC CH Eleanor Rigby, WCC CH Revival, WC Sultan's Great Day, WCC CH Sprinkles, WCC CH Heartland High Tech, WC Heartland Pursuit, WC CH With Authority, RWCC WC Most Definitely Diamonds, RWC Rhythm's Ragtime, WGC Callaway's New Look, WGC CH Captive Spirit, WC CH Cherry Royale, WCC The Red Ferrari, WC The Rhumba, WC Open First, Jack and Coke, Buzz Lightning, and Live From Vegas.
Today, Slim makes his home in Boerne, Texas at Beasom Stable, where he is able to bring the past to the present doing what he loves, taking care of horses and being that right hand and ground man for Michael Beasom. He has not forgotten the things he learned over the years and he keeps everything running smoothly around Beasom Stable.
Congratulations once again from all of us Slim, on your well-deserved induction into the UPHA Caretaker Hall of Fame.
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