VIC THOMPSON
TRAINER... BUSINESSMAN and PROMOTER!
“ The Tennessee Walking Horse business is great and getting greater. 1964 will be the best year ever for the breed and the next two years will see a great change in horses, management and breeding”. These are the words of Vic Thompson, owner of Vic Thompson Stables and principal of Stallion Stables, Incorporated of Shelbyville, Tennessee, a man who aspired to greatness in all areas of Tennessee Walking Horse activity and a man who has achieved a level of apparent success in a business steeped with traditions, established practices and associations that have bred the nation’ s greatest pleasure and show horses. His approach to the Walking Horse business is to buy, sell and influence the handling of as many fine Tennessee Walking Horses as possible. He is perhaps one of the most influential trainers in the business but is probably best known for his personal efforts to up-grade the entire Walking Horse Kingdom. When one talks to Vic he gets the idea that this is a crusade with him. He is most emphatic in his discussion of the business, the people in it and what he feels is necessary to achieve success over a period of years.
Vic Thompson was born in Austin, Texas in 1919, and was raised in various phases of the horse business. His father, who had a ranch, always maintained a good string of horses but it was not until 1940 that the Thompsons got interested in Walking Horses. Vic prompted his father to come to Tennessee and look over this breed and they returned to Texas with twenty-two well-bred Walking Horses. His long association with horses and other animals prompted Vic’ s interest in
VIC THOMPSON... trainer, businessman and promoter of the Tennessee Walking Horse. Vic is pictured behind his desk in the office of his stable in Shelbyville, Tennessee.( Note horseshoe on desk)— this is a shoe removed from MISTER SENSATION after his death. It was gold plated and mounted and presented to Vic by Don Decker of Omaha, Nebraska.
becoming a veterinarian and after high school he entered Texas A and M, majoring in pre-vet studies. The war interferred with his studies and he joined the United States Air Force and remained on duty in Texas for three and one-half years. It was while in the Air Force that he met his wife, the former Mariland Goff of Kennedy, Texas.
After the war Vic went to work for Senator Jess Martin of Fort Worth, Texas as a trainer. In the course of his activities for Senator Martin he delivered three Walking Horses to Warsaw, Ind. and sold them to Mr. S. H. Arnold. A short time later he went to work for Mr. Arnold as a trainer and worked in this capacity for over a year. The first horse that Vic bought for Mr.
VIC THOMPSON STABLES- a concrete block and metal structure designed to stable 44 horses in f. ne fashion. The stable is located right off the highway and is a frequent stop fo. passing tourists.
24 VOICE of The Tennessee Walking Horse