Last summer we look a short cut through Searcy , Arkansas , on our way to the Heart of American Walking Horse Association meeting in Clinton , Missouri . This was a short cut that was about 150 miles out of the way but it proved to be quite interesting and successful from a lot of standpoints . We thought that while we were in Searcy , we might as well stop by and sec Joe and Nell Webb . This was an afterthought , you understand .
It was here that we met a gentleman by the name of “ Verd ” Walker from Concord . California , who has horses in training at the Joe Webb Stables . Our acquaintance with Mr . Walker on this trip was short and pleasant and we had only a brief while to discuss his Walking Horse activities . We received an open invitation to visit with him any time we were in California , and to sec some of his Tennessee W ' alking Horses .
It was our distinct pleasure to make a trip recently to California and while there we took advantage of our “ open ” invitation to visit with Verd Walker and his lovely wife Virginia . The highlight of our trip was a tour of San Francisco , but the most interesting phase of our visit was discussing the background of Mr . Walker and his Tennessee Walking Horses .
“ You mean to say . Verd ”. I asked with much surprise , “ that you have been in the Walking Horse business since 1939 and you have never seen the Celebration ?”. This startling fact led to the following story .
VERD WALKER ...
WESTERN PIONEER OF THE
WALKING HORSE BREED
For a man who is about as far removed from Middle Tennessee as you can get and still be in the Continental U . S . A ., “ Verd ’ Walker certainly has some close ties with the “ Cradle of the Walking Horse business ”. In 1939 , young Mr . Walker was working for the J . C . Penney Company in Denver , Colorado . There was another man also working there by the name of W . D . “ Bill ” Richards . The J . C . Penney Company was widespread at the time and at a general meeting in Denver they happened to strike up a friendship with a Mr . Matt Mansfield , representing the Penney Company in Tucson . Arizona . Mr . Mansfield was from Pulaski , Tennessee , and eventually the conversation turned to horses and naturally he brought up the Tennessee W ' alking Horse .
From this time on , Verd Walker and Bill Richards were “ dedicated ” Tennessee Walking Horse fans and seized the opportunity to meet with Matt every year at the Denver Livestock Show and talk Walking Horses . It was here that they purchased their first Tennessee Walking Horses , with the help of Matt , who had raised Walking Horses back home in Tennessee . As Verd puts it , “ Rich and I took hold of this thing together and I bought a marc and he bought a stallion and several mares ’. He added , “ We had to scratch to get any information about this breed and got a lot of word-of-mouth advice because there just wasn ’ t anything printed about Walking Horses at that time ”.
This was 1939 , the first year of the Celebration . This was also the year that STROLLING JIM won the big stake and the year that marked the beginning of rapid
LOOKING OVER HIS PAPERS — Mr . Walker is pictured going over the pedigree papers of some of his registered Tennessee Walking Horses .
growth of this remarkable breed . As the years passed Verd Walker and Bill Richards went their separate ways , but both have made their mark in the Walking Horse business . W . D . Richards , better known as “ Rich , ’ left the Penney Company to get into the leather business and eventually his interest in W ' alking Horses led him to Middle Tennessee where he now has the Blue Ribbon Leather Company . Verd Walker has remained with the J . C . Penney Company and is now a top ranking store executive for the company on the West Coast . His interest in Walking Horses has varied according to his
location and his ability to participate . The War Years interrupted his personal activity and he didn ’ t own horses for eleven years . Flis wife Virginia , whom he married in 1938 , has witnessed his horse activity for the past twenty-seven years with mixed emotions . In discussing horses she can tell some great stories , such as “ the time we brought that silly colt home in the back of a Willis Overland and when Verd went to the sendee I was left with that , that “ animal ” in the back yard of a city lot . I remember the time he got loose and me and my seventy year old neighbor were out on the highway trying to “ shoo ” him back home . And then there was the time . . . Oh well , what ’ s the use ?” Virginia is a “ stable widow ” and not a “ golf widow ,’’ she says .
After the war , Verd moved to Seattle and from there to Oklahoma City , still active with J . C . Penney Company . It was during this time that his interest really began to grow . The annual company meetings were held in Memphis and he would work it out so that he had time to go to Shelbyville and look at Walking Horses .
24 VOICE of the Tennessee Walking Horse