22 • THE PLAID HORSE
ended up presenting to me. I won a lot with Larone. He was definitely my horse of a lifetime. He was the perfect horse for Washington because he was always on his game. I could get him out between classes and just walk around the schooling area and know he would give me his all. He didn’t need a lot of preparation.” “It was bittersweet when I decided to retire Larone two years ago and the last class I ever showed him in was at Washington in the stake. I cried all the way around the course. I just remember bawling my eyes out because I knew that was his last competition, and I wanted that to be where he retired. It is such a special venue. It is always so wonderful to be at center of the city in a coliseum like that with amazing crowds.” Jane with Henry the Hawk.
Jane (Womble) Gaston: The Plains, VA Amateur-Owner Hunter Champion 1976: Henry the Hawk – Miss Jane E. Womble 1977: Henry the Hawk – Miss Jane E. Womble “That was during the time at the Capital Centre, and he was a horse that I had bought from Sallie and Kenny Wheeler when he was a Second Year horse. I trained with them then. I showed him in the Amateurs and the Green Conformation, and then the following year I was doing the Regular Conformation and the Amateur Working Hunter. He might have even been champ in the Regular Conformation too.” “He was always a fun horse. He was just really sweet and a super jumper. He was a delight to deal with anywhere you took him. One of the beauties about Henry was that he was a nice, quiet, easy-going horse, and you didn’t have to worry about preparation as much as you did with some horses. He was just fine hopping around in a 50’ area as much as a 200’ long ring. He was a great horse to have. The second year I had him, he won a lot of classes at Washington, not just in the amateurs. He was awfully good that year. He was kind of in his own that year, so it was really nice.” “I loved it when the show was at the Armory. I have great memories of the Armory because that was a wonderful ring to ride in. I had Sign the Card, who was champion there in the amateurs, and she was just a phenomenal animal in whatever division she showed in. Then Third of August came right behind her and was really good. I had multiple horses that went to the Armory and they were different types of horses, but every one of them liked it there.”