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Honey Gold & Steve Hill

Albert's Dream

Albert Dement & Last Chance

Albert Dement's Vision of the Future Foundation TWH Breed (1905)

First published in Tennessee Valley Farmer, date unknown

A Horse Lover’s Dream and Experience

By A.M. Dement

In 1905, I became much interested in fairs and showed every time I had the opportunity. In Nashville, my three-year-old Nell won every time she was shown and at one of the Nashville shows I was offered $950.00 for her. But I was dreaming of the future and refused to sell for I had in mind a registered plantation stud, and I felt I had a foundation start. The mare was so natural gaited that I could drop the reins on her neck and carry a glass of water without spilling it. I won many prizes with her.

At this time, my work for registration began. I applied for registration in the American Saddle Horse Association, Louisville, Kentucky, and was accepted. Then to mate my mare with a registered plantation horse was now my task. I finally saw a splendid walking horse, Phil Beard, registered, owned by DeWitt Smith, Murfreesboro. From this mating, the colt, a roan mare, was registered as Flax. Then I changed to a chestnut stallion, Carlus Chestnut, registered, and got another roan filly but she could not walk.

I then changed to Artist Boy, a chestnut stallion by Bedford Boy, and got a good chestnut stallion colt that died. Then I bred to My Dare and produced a very fine bay colt with plenty of speed but he could not do a nodding walk. Then I bred to old Black Allen, the greatest sire of plantation horses known to me. I bought this horse from J.R. Brantley, Nashville. After a careful watch of his get, I had found the proper cross with Nell. From this mating was produced the well-known Merry Legs which I considerer a much more even breeder than Nell.

Now a little history of Merry Legs. She is the dam of thirteen colts – seven mares and six stallions. Two mares and one stallion colt are dead. 1st colt – bay mare Maude by Moreland’s Pride, 2nd colt – stallion Merry King by Moreland’s Pride, 3rd colt – major Allen by Mitch Allen by Roan Allen, 4th colt – Bud Allen by Mitch Allen by Black Allan, 5th colt – Grace Allen by Roan Allen by Black Allen, 6th colt – white mare by Roan Allen now in San Francisco, 7th colt – black mare by Govanna now in Nashville, 8th colt – Merry Boy by Roan Allen now in Noah, 9th colt – bay mare nip by Slippery Allen by Govanna – dead, 12th colt – black stallion by Hunter’s Allen, dead, 13th colt – Last Chance by Hunter’s Allen now in Wartrace.

This breed of horses has more stamina and is the longest lived breed I know. Mr. Brantley says Old Allan was twenty-four when he died. He only lived one year after I bought him in 1909. Nell lived to be twenty-eight and died from colic.

My intention at this time is to produce a little more style by breeding to a five-gaited horse, but this will not produce the plantation horse of the right nodding walk in my experience. I tried Nell two times to a five-gaited stallion and Merry Legs to one and all three trials were failures in that respect. But each time they were bred to a plantation stallion I was not disappointed with either mare. Then I took a colt of Merry Legs, Snip, by Slippery Jim out of Nell, and bred to a colt of Merry Legs, which was by Roan Allen. A mare was the result. I then bred this mare to Merry Boy, another colt of Merry Legs, and produced Merry Legs II, which I think is the greatest plantation mare living today. I got a little more finish, a little more head style with plenty of pep and conformation and by this production the fullest aspirations of my dreams are complete.