CRHA Hall of Fame

The Allison family of Harley, Lois, and son, Wayne, has been showing road horses now for over thirty years. Harley first began with a bike and a horse called Slade, who was rumoured to have enjoyed an occasional rum and coke. As Harley says, “he was the happiest horse in the show ring, but he didn’t do any better.” The next step was a buggy and a team — a favourite class of Harley’s. One of his biggest thrills was showing at Lexington, KY, and placing fourth in the bike and stake classes.

Wayne added to the family business when he married Prudy and they had two new helpers — Marla and Michael. The twins attended their first horse show — Woodstock — when only three weeks old and have missed very few since then, including entering the show ring themselves with a Hackney pony and the road horses. Prudy has also shown well in the ladies’ classes when her work affords her some rare downtime.

There have been numerous horses over the years, but the one with the greatest impact has probably been Boogily Bear which is owned and trained by Wayne. Not only was Boogily Bear the 1999 and 2000 Wagon Champion at the Royal, but he also did quite well at the World Championships in Louisville, KY.

Harley Allison was inducted into the CRHA Hall of Fame in 2005 and sadly passed away in February of 2008. Although he is greatly missed in the showring, Wayne continued to show at many of the fall fairs and the Royal Winter Fair with the assistance of his mom Lois, until her passing in 2018.