Eddie Miller, the second longest Hanover Shoe Farms employee in its glorious history will be retiring on Friday, June 2.
Miller, now 69, first came to work at Hanover in June of 1967. He started as a groom with a string of six yearlings. One of those yearlings was a Caleb colt by the name of Clu Hanover, who very well might have been the toughest and most difficult to handle Hanover yearling to ever enter the Hanover fairgrounds. It was with Clu Hanover that Eddie first showed his incredible horsemanship.
A horse who at one time the farms had considered withdrawing from the sale because of his aggressive nature, Eddie worked patiently with Clu Hanover, never raising his voice or getting angry. By sale time the colt was, if not a complete gentleman, a decent horse to work with. It was a trait that Eddie exhibited for the next half century -- over and over and over.
There have been very few, if any horsemen who can handle a horse better than Eddie Miller. There also have been very few, if any, horses that Eddie Miller could not work with.
He gradually climbed the ladder to where he was in charge of breaking yearlings and became together with his mentor, the late Kenny Hamm, perhaps the two best handlers and leaders of yearlings in the history of the sport.
Eddie became a foreman and then, upon the retirement of another long time Hanover employee Billy Jessee, became for the last two decades the man in charge of raising the Farm's yearling crop. Eddie has also worked as a ring man for Standardbred Horse Sales Company for the 51 years. In this task, he also excelled as few others have.
Everybody at Hanover and we are sure throughout the industry wish Eddie Miller nothing but health and happiness through his well-earned retirement.
(with files from Hanover)