1967-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1967 July Voice RS | Page 25

HILL
of
Walking
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to
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Horse
the
History
Business!!
“Professionals on Parade” has presented a variety of
feature stories in the past four years about many ex­
perienced and successful trainers. We have also prepared
articles about many up-and-coming young men who are
destined to make a mark on the Walking Horse business.
Needless to say, we try to be selective in determining who
will receive this feature coverage as this article has be­
come one of the most important columns that we present
to our readers. This month we are privileged to give you
the lifetime “success” story of a man who has been a real
force in the Walking Horse business, a man who was
literally raised in the shadow of Walking Horse history,
a man who has shaped much of that history himself. It
is with great pride that we present . . . the STEVE HILL
story.
Steve Hill has become an institution in the Walking
Horse business. The personal life of this recognized top
trainer is little known, as Steve doesn’t talk much about
himself. He talks about his horses instead. His age? . . .
let’s say he is the right age to have reaped the maximum
benefits from the Walking Horse business. Steve Hill is
old enough to remember some of the old-time “greats”
of the Walking Horse world, having gotten into training
during the heyday of the “natural” lick. He is still young
enough, however, to have seen and participated in the
revolution in the Walking Horse as a showring performer.
It could be said also that Steve Hill pioneered the “big
lick” with his much-discussed champion TALK OF THE
TOWN, which we will discuss in detail later.
Few men have been able to capture the respect and
support of the mass of Walking Horse spectators as has
Steve Hill. He is a popular, although somewhat contro­
versial, showring performer. Steve is known as a fierce
competitor who will try every trick in the book to win a
class, even at a one-night horse show. It has been said
by disgruntled competitors that “Steve Hill won’t go to
a show unless he knows something.” Our check of the
records, however, indicates that Steve loses his share just
like everyone else. He also wins his share, especially on
his “stake” horses.
Using horses as a standard, Steve Hill is not big in
stature. But in the saddle he is seventeen hands tall and
can hold his own with just about any trainer in the busi­
ness. It is a common and good-natured practice for people
to mimic Steve and his way of talking. He has a very dis­
tinguishable manner in his speaking that is short and rather
brisk. His friends can always get a laugh when they des­
cribe a horse in the Steve Hill style, saying “he can flat
JULY, 1967
foot . . . canter ... go running walk . . . sure has got a
purty mane and tail.”
Steve Hill has several other personal attributes that
are well known. He has excellent taste in clothes, and at
the stable looks as if he is ready for a show. It is our
opinion that Steve takes pride in the fact that he is a
professional trainer and, as such, dresses the part. At a
horse show, he looks as if he might have stepped out of
a men’s fashion ad. This professional appearance is
accentuated by a diamond ring and the new Cadillac
that he always drives.
Successful, popular, well-groomed—this is Steve Hill
today. Let’s take a look at the past and see how he
achieved his current prominence in this business.
Steve Hill was born in Beech Grove, Tennessee, in
Coffee County. According to him, he was born “in a
hollow about as far back as you can drive a nail,” and
that is a fer piece. He was an only child and his parents,
Lee and Edith Hill, passed away when he was only two
years old. Young Steve was raised by his grandfather,
Bob Hill, who gave him a fine background for lifetime
activity in the Walking Horse busi ness. The prized pos­
session of the Hill family at that time was a horse named
WILSON ALLEN. This fine old horse of our breed is
buried across the road from Steve’s barn today.
Steve became fascinated by this breed at an early age
and he was around ten or eleven years old when he first
started training Walking Horses. As his experience and
ability increased, so did his activity, and he recalls that
his horse business expanded gradually as he grew older.
He can remember that the going rate for working a horse
during his younger years was fifty cents a day, and many
times he found it necessary to drive a truck to supplement
his income.
For a period of four years, Steve had a horse named
GIOVANNI that he was standing at stud. This was a
good foundation from which to build and he eventually
swapped GIOVANNI for another stallion that was sold
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