1964-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1964 February Voice | Page 38
TE^^wimNG h (385RSE
FEBRUARY, 1964
JOE BILES,..
NATIVE TENNESSEAN
TAKES WALKING HORSE
FEVER TO
WEST COAST
PROFESSIONALS
on PARADE
By Gloria L. Spencer
The Tennessee Walking Horse is
well represented on the West coast.
This is a established fact for the
VOICE has a growing readership
(approximately 300) in that terri
tory and western stables are well
represented at the National Cele
bration each year in Shelbyville.
However, this is a comparatively
new breed to the western riders.
Joe Biles of Beaverton, Oregon is
responsible for much of the Walk
ing Horse activity in that area. Just
sixteen years ago Joe was deter
mined to prove to the “horsey set”
of Yakima, Washington that the
Walking Horse should have a place
in their horse shows. At the time
Joe was manager of the Sunshine
Fruit Farms and persuaded his em
ployer, Mr. F. E. Devoe to pur
chase and import some horses from
Tennessee. These were the first
Walking Horse of any caliber to
arrive in that part of the country.
Soon Joe was training and buying
The Joe Biles Family — Joe, Hazel, Stanley, age 11 and Stephen, age 21.
horses for others and showing in
Washington, Oregon, Idaho and
Montana. Although there was
much interest in Washington, Joe
found that in Oregon the interest
was the greatest, so, Joe and his
family moved in 1948 to Beaverton
where he started his present Walk
ing Horse Stables.
Joe Biles was born in Viola, Ten
nessee in 1918. He started riding
and showing ponies, his own and
those of his neighbors, at the age
of six. Many times he rode these
ponies to school rather than wait
for a bus. Joe says he “can remem
ber the days when he showed in
all parts of Tennessee and slept in
the stall right beside his horse.”
In 1939, Joe left his native Ten
nessee to go into the freight and
produce truck business with his
brother in Yakama, Washington.
Even after a year of running daily
services between Yakima and Los
Angeles, California, he could not
forget two things in Tennessee, his
horses and the girl back home. He
persuaded Hazel Dunham of Mc
Minnville, Tennessee to “go West,”
but the war soon intervened with
his hope to return to Tennessee
and his horses.
After the war, Joe was deter
mined to take Tennessee Horses
West rather than return to Ten
nessee. He felt that this was a new
area and there was a real need for
the Walking Horse breed in the al
ready established horse world of
that territory.
Soon thereafter, Mr. Devoe of
Yakima imported some Walking
Horses to Washington and Joe also
began training for Mr. Mylor
Treneer and found interest rapidly
growing.
In 1948 Joe, Hazel and Stephen,
then six years old, moved to Beav
erton, Oregon, and opened a Walk
ing Horse stable. Immediately, all
stalls were filled and since then he
has continually added to his stable.
At present, he has 30 stalls, an in
door arena, a nine stall van and
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