1962-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1962 October Voice | Page 3

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Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse
"An Editorial By BEN A. GREEN, Shelbyville, Tenn."
Our Million-Dollar Secret For Horse Production
Following a $10 long distance call to Dr. M.
E. Ensminger at Clovis, California, The Voice
Editor is prepared to let you in on his “multi-
million-dollar secret” about the Tennessee Walk­
ing Horse. We have kept this secret locked up
in our mind and heart long enough. We want
every reader of this magazine to know this secret
and we ask all of those who can do anything about
it to give it careful consideration.
Dr. Ensminger verified our belief that the future
of the Tennessee Walking Horse truly rests upon
its breeding and development as a pleasure animal
for many people and that the best way to “grow”
these pleasure horses of the breed is as follows:
“Place up to forty young mares in a pasture of
say 100 acres with good fences and proper con­
veniences—such as water and grass—and turn
in with them one young good stallion (not less
than two years of age) which has not been used
for the currently popular ‘stall method’ of breed­
ing Tennessee Walking Horses.
“Let these mares and this stallion engage in
what is known as pasture breeding and allow na­
ture to take care of things generally unless some
type of emergency develops that requires man to
intervene.
“We believe this method of breeding will result
in far greater fecundity for the mares and the
stallion; that the foal produced per mare will jump
to 85 or 90 per cent rather than the prevalent 50
per cent—and under—and that this is the only
way we can expect the Tennessee Walking Horse
registered animals can be increased so that the
growing pleasure market for horses can be sup­
plied with Walking Horses.”
The quotation marks end there. Naturally, we
presuppose that any person attempting this method
of breeding will use common sense and good judgment; will provide proper supervision, and
have some know-how about horse breeding. He
also will have considerable financial ability to
tackle such a project.
We have some personal knowledge with what
we would call “remote control” horse-breeding.
It is that through happenchance we own a mare
who has dropped one foal. We understand this
mare—a sun-lighted Palomino—was bred to a
great and famous stallion without effect. Then
she was placed in the proximity of another stal­
lion of lesser repute and this did take effect.
This stallion happened to have a partly white
color and we have a white filly that is 14 months
old and has not “turned Palomino” yet.
Once again the mare was bred to a stallion with
a Celebration stake record. She missed an entire
season. Repeated breedings did not place the
animal in foal. She was shot with various serums
or medication. In fact it appears “she was shot
with everything but a cannon” without reaction.
Then during her second season she got in foal, and
is now getting fatter by the day on a farm where
she is being cared for.
We believe this predicament of “foalless mares”
happens wtih many animals that are supposed to
be producing Tennessee Walking Horse colts by
the year—if we are to keep up the population that
will meet the demand for pleasure horses.
Dr. Ensminger tells us the only chance we ap­
pear to have to meet this demand is to let Nature
help us. A certain amount of mares are being
dedicated in their younger years to “show busi­
ness” and that means they are somewhat retarded
in their productivity. At least some of them are
going to have to be placed in breeding operations
to “keep our show on the road” in the years ahead.
Marc In Foal Kicked To Death—And
Dear Ben:
The following are the true facts with respect to what
I feel will be a human interest horse story which you
might like to run in your “Voice of the Tenn. Walking
Horse.”
Drew R. Maddux, a promiment young building con­
tractor of Nashville, for several years had owned and
exhibited fine harness horses. Recognizing the sterling
qualities of the Tenn. Walking Horse last year, he de­
cided to add a fine brood mare to his string, which he
did and immediately bred her to Go Boy.
He and his wife, Judy, were very proud of their Walking mare and the prospective Go Boy colt. They
had dreams of raising and showing this colt. Unfor­
tunately, however, this ambition, at least temporarily,
could not be realized, because soon after the Walking
mare returned from the Beech farm after having been
pronounced in foal, she was turned into the pasture
with a fine harness horse, who resented her presence and
proceeded to kick her to death on the spot.
Not to be entirely defeated in his conquest for Walk­
ing horse ownership, Maddux immediately after the
death of the mare performed an autopsy in an effort to
save the foal, but despite his diligent efforts, as also
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