1966-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1966 February Voice | Page 32

WALKIN' WEST
by Bea Walker
Walker’s Tennessee Walkers
10300 Calvine Road
Sacramento 23, California
Last year 1 received a letter from
the editor of the old (since 1881)
farm magazine. Breeder’s Gazette,
requesting an article about Tennes­
see Walking Horses and our partic­
ular operation. Such an article in
that publication would reach thous­
ands that might or might not know
anything about the horse; therefore
it was offered as an introduction to
all those interested in the BREED
... if it seems a little "old hat”
to some of you folks, please be pa­
tient and know that it is the un­
initiated fellow I’m talking to via
this article.
A Horse is Just A Horse
(Well, not hardly)
Ever hear the expression, r?Any­
thing new is worth discovering”?
How about re-discovering something
that’s been right here among us for
a long time . . . Nodders, Plantation
Horses, Walking Horses, Tennessee
Walkin’ Horses, Yes M’am Horses.
Any of these names sound familiar?
I bet there isn’t another breed of
horse that has as many’’call” names
as the Walker. (When I say Walker,
I’m talking about a horse, not a
hound - however, all you field trial
men better read some of this.)
Anyway, back to this name busi­
ness — take one of the first names
ever given to this breed:’’Plantation
Horse.” (Doesn’t that just reek of
the Old South, vast spreads, crops?)
Big place like that would take a lot
of looking after. Now, how to do it?
Cars, jeeps, helicopters hadn’t been
invented yet, so the Plantation Own­
ers thought that horseback would
be about the best way and gave
their overseers horses to ride. That
was just fine — the plantation man­
agers were able to get around pretty
good . . . cover a lot of ground; they
ruined a lot of crops, though, gal­
loping up and down. (They were
forced to gallop, as they couldn’t
cover enough ground at a walk and
they certainly couldn’t take the trot
for hours upon end.) Then every so
often the Plantation Owner would
ride out to check on the overseer
and see how the place was doing.
30
Aside from tramping down the cot­
ton, tobacco and other valuable
plants, they got tired, sore and just
plain disgusted. They felt there had
to be an easier way . . so they
put their heads together, considered
the problem, and figured out pretty
quick . . . "breed a better saddle
horse.” By "better” they meant
"smooth” — no bounce, no pound­
ing, just smooth! They visioned a
horse that a gentleman could ride
all day and really cover the ground,
and, by all means, one that would
quickly travel straight down between
the rows and not sashay around,
ruining the plants. Keeping all this
in mind, they went at it . . . they
took some of their relatively easy-
gaited stock and made crosses on
them with the Narragansett Pacer
and Canadian Pacer, infused the
blood of the Thoroughbred, Morgan
Horse, American Saddlebred and
the all-important Standardbred. This
breed that they were aiming for
had to have one prerequisite: "Car­
ry his rider, quickly, effortlessly,
and with no discomfort, from day­
light to dark.” Doesn’t sound like
much? Don’t kid yourself — there
was a definite need and the Plan­
tation Horse filled it! And where
those first breeders left off, others
took over — people who gave their
lives to perfecting the breed. AL­
BERT DEMENT and JAMES R.
BRANTLEY — their names are syn­
onymous with Allan F-l, the foun­
dation sire. The title of "Master
Breeder” was given to Mr. Dement,
who bred such horses as the fabu­
lous mare, Merry Legs F-4, and the
great stallions Merry Boy and Last
Chance. Mr. Brantley bred Roan
Allen F-38; BUD MESSICK bred
Wilson’s Allen; S. M. RAMSEY bred
the prepotent sire, the immortal
Midnight Sun. Other names, too num­
erous to mention, all played their
most exacting role in the growth
of this breed. Each must be given
credit for giving the world a "better
Saddle Horse” — one that walks
off down the road like he’s lookin’
for a bigger town.
Which brings us to an important
point I’d like to clear up right now
— when you hear the word "walk,”
you can just see a horse plain walk­
ing along. Well, forget that! Actually,
the Tennessee Walking Horse has
two walking gaits: the flat walk
(which any horse with soundness
can do); and the distinctive "run­
ning walk” which is the answer to
a man’s prayer for comfort ... I
kid you not, the running walk is
peculiar to the Walking Horse Breed
and is their claim to fame.
There have been a lot of false
notions about the Walking Horse
and his worth. Many folks enjoying
the horse at shows le