A .S‘Hccessfitl Hobby Hm‘scmcm

or almost a hall‘ ccntury. _ll-§’L‘Lll‘~()l(l

Ralph Anncar lrom picturcsquc

Montague. Princc Iidward [sland cpitomixcd grassroots harncss racing in thc tour ;\tlantic proyinccs. llc was onc ol thc many who rc‘prcscntcd thc hack— honc ol~ thc industry The loyc ol the standardhrcd horsc and the joy of com— petition wcrc thc major lactors for his years ol' loyalty to this ycry dcmanding sport and husincss, likc‘ most inyolycd with thc paccrs and trottc-rs in this rcgion. Ralph would hc dcscrihcd as a hohhy horscman who lo\cd his hohhy. l’rol‘it is an clusiyt: goal lior thc majority at thc grassroots lcycl hut this l‘act has nc\cr dampcncd thc spirits nor curtailcd partic~~

ipation in thc “Sport ol' Rings,”

This \ctcran horscman had a lilctimc association with horscs. llc c’xplaincd. "l hayc hccn around horscs all my lilc. l startcd with my lathcr. lack and his good l‘ricnd. .-\ll'rcd Lowrcy who wcrc rcspcct— cd Island horscmcn. l was It) whcn l startcd to do sonic chorcs around ;\|lrcd l,o\yrc_\”s Stahlc in lowcr .\lontaguc. My dad owncd and traincd horscs. llc was a wcll known traincr driycr when l was

a youngstcr,"

Ralph‘s tirst horsc. .l/I‘H/I/c taco/ml. had

thrcc l‘oals. llc rcminisccd l’ondly.

Photos. Ann .\Iac\c-ill "Alli/mic was an old hroodmarc that I uscd to ride to school when l was in grade onc. In thc shed. I would feed her hay to gc-t on her hack and thcn 1 would put my arm around hcr neck. I was just starting school and it was ahout a milc and a half from homc.”

It was during Ralph's carly school ycars that hc dccidcd to train .llz'mI/c [two/flu. lt proud to hc’ a hrilliant idca. liach ycar during the 1940s thc-rc was a spccial day ol racing at thc \lontaguc racetrack in aid ol thc local hospital. It was organi/cd hy .v\licc .\1clntyrc whosc- hushand. l)r. Prcston was wcll known as an owncr of racc horscs on l’rincc lidward Island. On that hig day. thcrc wct'c rcgular raccs plus a couplc oi~ match raccs. ()nc match racc lcaturcd lid/(fr [mug and x\|lrcd liowrcy against (H . l'o/o and Harold Stc‘adr

hctwccn the

'l'hcrc was also a match racc young and thc old. \outhl‘ul Ralph .»\nncar would racc against Allrcd .\loorc and thcy had him looking old. Ralph dc’tailcd thc cycnt with dclight. “l droyc .1/1'11111'0 /,(IL‘()/)/(l. :\lli‘cd Lowrcy gayc mc his ttnil'orm lor this momcntous racc. llc couldn‘t get thc stirrups short cnough l‘or mc. I won that racc in 3: it) around thc old Montaguc track and will ncycr lorgct it.” Ralph didn't rcalixc that aspccial hond

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