Walking Horse Lover Reflects the Past ; Suggests Tour tor Celebration Visitors
( The following article was prepared by Mr . Joe Money , a friend of the VOICE , who was born and raised in tne middle of Walking Horse country , Wartrace , lennessee _ In recalling the past , he has brought to mind some ° the people and places that originated this great bice . c has suggested a tour in and around the countryside neai Manchester and Wartrace that should prove inteiestin &
to many Celebration visitors ).
In the fall of 1928 , at the age of six , I saw the first horse show that I remember anything about . My ' f31™ - had just moved to Wartrace , Tennessee where my fathei had accepted a teaching job . This horse show was a fai cry from the elaborate productions we see today . Theie was no organist . There were no ribbon girls in coloiful ,
flowing formals . There was no public address system , no rail , no flood lights , no stands , no boots , and no pads .
There was not even a ring in which the horses could work out .
Those of you who are familiar with Wartrace will recall the town well in the center of the business section , which in 1928 was quite an active place . There was a two lane pavement immediately in front of the stores and the rest of the wide area between the stores and the railroad had a gravel surface . It was here that the horse show was held . Ropes were strung up from each corner of the south side of the well house enclosing an area about 50 feet wide and about 200 feet long in which the horses were exhibited .
I do not remember being able to identify a judge but I vividly recall that each horse was ridden by two or three different riders during his exhibition . ( I have later learned that the judges used to take turns at riding the entries to decide upon a winner .) From this show I can recall such exhibitors as Mr . Albert Dement , Mr . J . R . Brantley , Mr . Lynn Davis , Mr . Henry Davis , and Mr . Arthur Hayle . I remember the awed expressions and murmers of admiration from the crowd as Mr . Dement demonstrated the the smoothness of the gait by riding a horse ( perhaps MERRY LEGS ) while balancing a glass of water in his hand . This was the climactic feat of the first horse show that I can remember seeing .
My next vivid recollection of Walking Horse Activity was the old Wartrace livery stable behind the school ( I used to sneak off from school to watch the horses work ). This stable had been converted into a training bam with such men as Henry Davis , Floyd Caruthers . and Bob Murchison working horses . Among the horses I saw worked here were STROLLIN JIM before he won the championship and a mare called MADAM QUEEN that I thought was the prettiest I had ever seen . At this time the stable was experimenting with tail sets and false tails and braces . I don ’ t know who perfected them and when but I do know that many modifications and innovations in horse showing were worked out here at this barn .
My first personal contact with walking horses was in the middle and late thirties when I used to ride mares from Mr . Aubrey Lee ’ s farm in the Fairfield Communitv ( along with his grandsons , Aubrey , John , and Rohp / t Troxler ), up Noah ’ s Fork road to Mr . Lee McMichael ’ s
30 farm where the mares would be bred to MERRy Boy and then we would ride them back home . Even today i experience no greater nostalgic pleasure than froni y J
reflections on tins period ol my life and my reason £ y writing this article was to suggest a drive for Celebration visitors . Many people , I feel , aie just cunous enough and have sentimentality enough to enjoy seemg the farms ° which some of the great foundation horses were foaled and the barns in which they were stalled After all , thes , founders of the breed are in your horses pedigrees .
The drive I am suggesting begins at Stepp ’ s Store at Noah about ten miles from Manchester at the foot of the Highland Rim of Tennessee and on the very edge of the State ’ s Central bluegrass basin Turn west at StePp ’ s Store and it is just a matter of 300 to 400 yards to the T . R . Brantley farm and the home of BLACK ALLEN the number one foundation horse . This was also the home of the great ROAN ALLEN F-38 .
Just a couple hundred yards further down the road is the old plantation home of General Frank “ Give ’ em hell ” Cheatham of Civil War fame . A gravel road turns left at the house and follows the creek . Take it . In less than a mile the road takes a sharp turn to the left around a big and old farm house . This was the farm of the late Mr . Jim Black , the owner of ALICE F-85 , the dam of HUNTER ’ S ALLEN F-10 . HUNTER ’ S ALLEN was foaled here . Here also was the home of ELLA BLACK , that foaled ELLA II , the dam of HALL ALLEN , SAM ALLEN and PEARLE . PEARLE was the dam of three stallions ( full brothers , sired by MERRY BOY ): WHITE MERRY BOY JR ., REYNOLDS PRIDE and MERRY MAKER , all great breeding stallions .
It is not much more than a mile and over an archaic arched stone bridge or two ( the road is much the same as it was thirty years ago when I rode it , or even fifty years ago , I ’ m told — when these illustrious horses traveled it ), to the home of MERRY BOY . It ’ s just across the creek to the right of the road — an old barn near the creek . It was here , as a boy , that I used to ride mares from Fairfield to be bred to the famous sire .
Before your speedometer turns two more notches you will be approaching what was then known as the Ed Nolin farm . It extends for almost a mile on both sides of the road with numerous barns and a fine big house . Remember the name of the number 8 foundation horse ? ED NOLIN .
Ere you leave this farm you have a decision to make for the road forks . You can turn right for one mile to Fairfield then left to Wartrace or you can continue straight over the Kellertown road to Wartrace past the farm of Archie Wiser where MERRY GO BOY was foaled and the adjoining farm where Winston Wiser rode his
first horse , as a boy . If you choose this route it ’ s a mi J from Archie Wiser ’ s to the farm belonging to Mrs . Bramblett in the 30 ’ s where BLACK ANGEL , the 1 w Grand Champion , was foaled . This farm now belongs to Mr . Garland Wright whose niece , Betty Sain , 10 e SHAKER ’ S SHOCKER to the World ’ s Grand Championship in 1966 .
If you are sentimental about your horses to the t at you enjoy probing into their ancestral backgi ° UI you will enjoy this trip . At anv rate , during the tirm . nas taken me to write this , I have been whisked away >
nosta gia . Thirty years have disappeared and a ° i mteen again rides down a winding dirt road — on a * nessee Walking Horse .
Horse VOICE of the Tennessee Walking