1964-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1964 January Voice | Page 15

TEll|^guNGN0BE
JANUARY
BRED TO WALK
(Continued from Page 13)
time. A double grandson of AL­
LAN F-l, through ROAN ALLEN
F-38 and BIRDIE MESSICK F-86,
the particular concentration of the
blood of ALLAN F-l that distin­
guished WILSON’S ALLEN has
been prepotently passed on to his
descendents, both male and female.
The other son of ROAN ALLEN
F-38 through whom he has most
influenced the history of the breed
is MERRY BOY, who was out of
the great producing show mare
MERRY LEGS F-4. In order to
understand more perfectly the
contributions to the breed which
MERRY BOY has made, it will be
necessary to look briefly at his
famous dam.
As is well known, MERRY
LEGS F-4 was bred by Mr. Albert
M. Dement, the other all-time
master breeder of Walking Horses.
Like his friend J. R. Brantley, Mr.
Dement had been developing ex­
cellent mares and was eager for
the “right” stallion to cross upon
them when ALLAN F-l was pur­
chased by Mr. Brantley. Having
observed ALLAN and his get, Mr.
Dement was convinced that he was
the proper cross for NELL (desig­
nated NELL DEMENT F-3 among
the official foundation stock of the
breed). MERRY LEGS was foaled
from this cross in April, 1911, after
the death of ALLAN. Famous both
as a champion of the show ring
(MERRY LEGS first won the
Grand Stake at the Tennessee
State Fair, the “high court” of
Walking Horses until the National
Celebration replaced it in public
acceptance, as a three-year-old
filly in 1914, with W. Henry Davis
riding her to victory over several
good aged horses) and as a pro­
ducing broodmare, MERRY LEGS
occupies a unique place in the
history of our breed. As the dam of
thirteen colts (seven fillies and six
stallions), this legendary mare
passed on to succeeding genera­
tions the blood of the matured
native saddle horses of Tennessee
and the prepotent blood of her
well-bred sire. Although this ex­
cellent combination gave quality
C'Continued on Page 40)
MIDNIGHT SUN, from a photograph made in 1961, when MIDNIGHT SUN
was 21 years of age. (Unretouched photograph by courtesy of Harlinsdale
Farm)
MERRY GO BOY, from a photograph made in 1961, when MERRY GO BOY
was 18 years of age. (Photograph courtesy of Don Decker)