In the fall of 1902 he was traded to J . H . Winton , in an adjoining county , for a small black mare .
This new owner kept him only a few months and sold him to J . A . McCulloch , a neighbor , in March 1903 , for $ 110.00 to use as a teaser for his jacks . Within a week after this purchase , Mr . McCulloch had priced a good jack to Mr . James R . Brantley of Coffee County for $ 400.00 and he priced ALLAN for $ 110.00 . Mr . Brantley recalled that his kinsman , Bob Ashley , who formerly owned ALLAN , had told him of his registration and good blood lines .” ( More will be told about ALLAN F-l ’ s life in subsequent articles .)
In addition to information about the origin of the horse , we were also interested in the beginning of the Breeders ’ Association . To get back to the origin of the breed , Mr . Brantley went back to 1911 . He recalled that there were open saddle classes in those days at the various county and state fairs , and that all kinds of horses competed . In 1911 a group of men went to Governor Ben W . Hooper and got him to have a new class for " Plantation Saddle Horses ” put in the State Fair Horse Show in Nashville . Their reason for wanting this class was that they were developing horses that could " do something different ” fromgaited horses . Even without an organized effort , the various men interested in this horse with the " walking gait ” went about their business of breeding and in-breeding for quite a few years . ALLAN was gone in 1910 but his progeny carried on the new gait . Despite the S6.00 stud fee , with a live foal guaranteed , he had been bred well while at the Brantley farm , and mares came from as far away as three or four miles to breed to him . By the 1930 ’ s the walking gait was easily recognizable and talk began to build up about the prospects of really having something different in these " plantation horses .”
Breeding interested us greatly as we pondered the wisdom of the men who slowly and deliberately developed the Tennessee Walking Horse . The key , according to Mr . Brantley , was the fact that " there were very few stallions around in those days . Nobody wantr ed a stud and most of the yearling colts were gelded as a matter of procedure .” Mr . Brantley said , " Men made a profession of making the rounds to castrate all the yearlings in those days . At a particular time of year they would go from farm to farm and cut all the horses and mules .” In our conversation we discussed the prospects of such a thing being good for the breed today . Perhaps it would !
The idea to start a Breeders ’ Association actually came from Burt Hunter of Lewisburg . He had been around these horses all his life and was interested in them and their development . One day he was in Jim McCord ’ s office in Lewisburg and mentioned that they might be able to start a breed registry . " This was before Jim became governor , and he was practicing law ,” remarked Mr . Brantley , as he thought about what followed the initial idea . A meeting was called , and Henry Davis , Albert Dement , J . R . Brantley , J . French Brantley , Jim McCord , Burt Hunter , Hubert Farrell , Magavric Dickerson , Dr . Frank Fessy , Martin Goodrich , Clyde Westbrook and Pete Beasley met at the bank in Lewisburg .
Since this initial meeting , at which the plans were laid to form a breeders ’ association for the new-found horse from Tennessee , a lot has happened . The breed rose in popularity in the late 1930 ’ s only to succumb to the financial difficulties of the nation during the great depression . Back on his feet in the late 1940 ’ s , the Tennessee Walking Horse was finally recognized as a breed by the U . S . Department of Agriculture in 1947 . Since that time , Mr . J . French Brantley has witnessed a series of events that might have been disheartening to a lesser man , but he still has the utmost confidence in our horse and has great hopes for its future despite our current problems .
BILL TUNE 61S — 684-I 700
Complete Livestock Insurance
Tennessee W alker Underwriters , Inc .
809 Union Street Shelbyville , Tennessee
DIXIE JUBILEE HORSE SHOW L . S . U . — BATON ROUGE , LA . November 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 , 1969
--------------------JUDGES--------------------
SADDLE HORSES , ROADSTERS , PARADE , SHETLAND PONY , HORSEMANSHIP Hon . Welch Greenwell , BROADACRES FARMS . SHELBINA , MISSOURI
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WALKING HORSES Hon . Benvis Beachboard , Bell Buckle , Tenn . Hon . E . L . O ’ Callaghan , Sherrill , Ark . Hon . Clyde Orton , Caruthersville , Mo .
Added : Walking Horse 15.2 and Under Class ; Mare and Foal Class ; Sire and Get Class
For Information Contact : C . W . KENNEDY , Mgr . P . O . Drawer H , University Station Baton Rouge , La . 70803 Phone : ( Area 504 ) 342-1404
Director , Dixie Jubilee , Inc . — MR . HERBERT SCHILLING , Lafayette , La . President , Dixie Jubilee , Inc . ---- DR . BERNARD MISTRETTA , Baton Rouge , La .
September / October , 1969 91