At tonight’s evening performance of the St. Louis National Charity Horse Show, we will be inducting a longtime equine ambassador and advocate, Roy Werner, into the Hall of Fame.
“Designed,” one of Werner’s most prolific stallions, will make a special appearance at the show this evening in celebration of the induction.
According to Judy, Roy’s wife of 39 years, “Designed would not have happened without Roy. Designed was the Reserve World Champion Three-Year-Old Five-Gaited, and won the Amateur Three-Gaited 15.2 and under World Championship. He has been a wonderful sire, being the leading sire of five-gaited horses for the past three years. Roy did well! It’s an honor to celebrate him tonight.”
About Werner:
Roy Werner (1922 – 2015) was instrumental in creating the show in its current form. When the St. Louis National Charity Horse Show was revived, Roy was asked to serve on the board and he and Joe McKenna were instrumental in writing the organization’s first bylaws. Long active in the St. Louis “horse show scene,” Roy served for many years on the St. Louis Exhibitors Association board of directors in roles including the treasure and president. This was the group that put on the Boy’s Town Horse Show, which for many years was one of the premier shows in the country and the show raised a tremendous amount of money for Boy’s Town of Missouri.
Roy met his wife of 39 years, Judy Werner, through the St. Louis Exhibitors Association. An avid polo player and member of the St. Louis Polo Association, Roy also enjoyed owning Saddlebreds. But when he and Judy formed Redwing Saddlebred Farm, his passion for the breed fully developed.
Roy was a key figure in Redwing Saddlebred Farm, running the business behind the scenes, and supporting Judy in her endeavors.
“He enjoyed seeing me show our horses and it was his support and his business background that came into play when we decided to buy our first stallion, Radiant Sultan, and continued to expand the breeding business,” said Judy Werner. “Later, when the decision was made to keep our current stallion, Designed, as a breeding horse, he was 100 percent behind that decision. Watching the babies develop and later achieve success in the show ring was one of his greatest pleasures.”
Both of these stallions have put hundreds of winning American Saddlebreds into the ring with many of them winning at the St. Louis National. Designed showed and won at the St. Louis National, as did his dam, Sultan’s Dianna.
“When I started getting involved with various equine organizations, Roy supported that involvement and he kept things running smoothly at our farm, so that I could be out of town for meetings and conventions,” she said.
“While most people probably think of me when either of these stallions or Redwing Saddlebred Farm is mentioned, none of our success would have been possible without Roy. It is often said that ‘she is the woman behind the man’ but in this case it was reversed. Any success I have had in the horse world I owe to him,” said Judy.