north there were the Stevenson family and the Walker family that were equally proud of their stock . They took a great deal of pride in their livestock and in their land , and most of them made their living farming . In elaborating on these fine people , Mr . Brantley pointed out that even the youngsters wore ties a lot . There wasn ’ t a Walking Horse breed as such in those days but the horses had lineage of which the area farmers were proud . The names of those horses were based on their lineage and the heritage of such stock as the COPPERBOTTOMS ( doubtless a roan line ), the HALS , the STONEWALLS and the MT . SLASHERS came up frequently . In discussing these early horses , Mr . Brantley said , " These were inbred Standardbred horses ,” as he pondered the development of the natural walking gait in Tennessee .
One of the most interesting facets of the development of the Tennessee Walking Horse was the recognition of the " gait .” With this in mind , I asked Mr . Brantley who first really recognized that the running walk , which BLACK ALLAN did so well , was a different gait . Scratching his head , he smiled and said , " Why , my father . . . J . R . Brantley . He was first drawn to the gait because it ’ s all that the black horse wanted to do . He could really go in the running walk , too !" With this fact established , we set about the business of getting the real story about BLACK ALLAN .
BLACK ALLAN , registered as ALLAN F-l , was foaled in 1886 and died in 1910 , at age twenty-four .
The contribution that he made to this breed is well known . His selection as the number-one foundation horse was not too difficult , as most people agreed that the distinct walking gait came from him . The next most popular horses , with regard to ancestry and the contribution that they had made to the proposed breed , were the GRAY JOHNS . As a matter of record we will insert previously documented information about the history of ALLAN F-l so that there will be no confusion as to the background and life of this famous horse . He was bred by E . D . Herr in Lexington , Kentucky , who later sold him and his dam to George H . Ely of Elyria , Ohio . As a young horse , ALLAN was trained as a trotter , but he preferred to pace and his owner returned him to Kentucky to be sold at auction . John P . Mankin of Murfreesboro , Tennessee purchased him on February 12 , ' 891 and paid $ 355.00 for him . ( Editor ’ s Note : J . R . Brantley and J . French Brantley were the first to substantiate the complete details of ALLAN F-l ’ s life .) The story , as told by French Brantley , relates that Mr . Mankin sent his son and a neighbor to Lexington for ALLAN , and they brought him back via rail in a boxcar with another horse , perhaps COL . HOOK ER , known as " TONY .” Both horses were unloaded at the railroad station at Rucker , near Murfreesboro , Tennessee . Mr . Tom McKaig , one of the most expert blacksmiths and farriers in Tennessee , recalls that he soon had ALLAN shod as Mr . Mankin directed , and that he was ready for the half-mile track on Mr . Mankin ’ s big farm in the immediate community . Mr . J . E . McDonald , and indeed he was a most reliable horseand trainer , states by letter that he drove ALr on the track from March through September of
1 . ALLAN made very creditable showings in speed under the care of Mr . McDonald .
Again , ALLAN was unfortunate . When he was in Ohio , his own brother , ELYRIA , over-shadowed him in size and speed as a trotter , and now in his new home in Tennessee , across the road from Mr . Mankin ’ s farm , was the well-known BONNIE NUTWOOD , that had been purchased in Lexington a year or two previous for $ 1750.00 . He had a mark of 2:291 / 2- Other Standardbred horses around Murfreesboro with reputations for speed and as breeders were well and favorably known , also liberally patronized by owners of the best brood mares , so the " little black pacer ” was again unfortunate in not attracting attention commensurate with his good blood lines .
The late Dr . Giltner of Murfreesboro , a great horse trainer and judge in his day , sent us a letter from Estill Springs in 1940 , a short time before his death , attesting that he drove ALLAN for ninety days , and while he was speedy , as all handlers , owners , and trainers reported , he did not finish well in a hard drive , and that he was returned to Mr . Mankin for use as a breeding stallion .
While there , a few mares came to his court which were not the type to produce outstanding pacers or trotters , or horses for saddle . No one seemed much concerned at this time about a natural pacer , and certainly this was the gait of ALLAN . He was a small horse , beautiful in all lines , with wonderful conformation . He produced a daughter that seemed to have good speed , and it was said of her that she was one of the best walkers known in the entire section . However she died before being fully developed .
It was here that ALLAN started on his trading career , having attracted very little attention for speed , or as a sire . We would naturally assume that he sold at low prices , as there was no demand for such a horse in competition with many established and proven sires of that immediate section .
He was first sold about the year 1898 to a neighbor of Mr . Mankin ’ s , Mr . Bennett Goodlow , who owned him until the winter of 1900 , when ALLAN was sold again at Mr . Goodlow ’ s Public Sale to a Mr . West Orrin , of an adjoining county , for $ 97.50 . Mr . Orrin kept him at stud through the breeding season in 1900 , and traded him in the spring of 1901 to R . L . Ashley , Manchester , Tennessee . His pedigree was stated then , as now , and
the bargain price of this transaction was a black yearling filly , a black Jersey heifer , and a $ 20.00 bill , a
total value of approximately $ 80.00 . Mr . Orrin afterwards told the buyer , Mr . Ashley , that he traded AL LAN because his neighbors would not breed their mares to him .
He was kept by Mr . Ashley in 1901 at a stud fee of $ 5.00 . He produced a few good colts , notably a black mare , ALINE , and a pacer out of an IDLE BOY dam , and ALMONIA , a trotter , with his dam a FISHER MAN mare . This mare seemed speedy for her training , as well as others of his get , but this particular individual was destroyed in the Stokley Jacobs barn fire .
Again ALLAN was the unfortunate , and that fall he was traded for a black jack to Dr . J . M . Price , of Manchester .
Dr . Price traded him to Ben Dunn at Hillsboro , in Coffee County , for a work mule . Mr . Dunn owned AL LAN for the 1902 season , but no records of his production have been found .
90 Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse