The Walking Horse in 1950

Article From "Saddle & Bridle" , December, 1950

The Walking Horse in 1950

by John C. Askew Jr.

As President of the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders' Association of America, I am quite naturally, vitally interested in the develoopment and expansion of the Tennessee Walking Horse as a breed.

  The phenomenal rise in popularity of these horses and the splendid reception the general public has given them, is not an accident, nor is it, as I have been told the result of smart promotion. It is the inevitable result of quality, disposition, gaits and good looks of the horses themselves.

  1950 has been a good year for our horses and our Association. We have tried to be progressive; and every officer, the board of Directors, executive committee, and individual members have worked toward real progress.

  On February 2, 1950, the United States Department of Agriculture recognized the Tennessee Walking Horse as a distinct and pure breed of light horse. The Farmer's Bulletin no. 592 (Revised) recognized the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders' Association of America, of Lewisburg, Tennessee as the official registry of the breed.

  In May, 1950, the Canadian Government also recognized the Tennessee Walking Horse as a distinct and pure breed of light horse, and the registration of these horses is now honored and appear in the National Livestock Records of Ottawa.

  The greatest tribute of the year of the Tennessee Walking Horse in my opinion occurred in Washington, District of Columbia, on March 23, 1950, when the Honorable Cordell Hull, former Secretary of State, and one of the greatest living Tennesseans and Americans joined hands with the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders Association of America, and presented to President Enrico Gaspar Dutra, President of Brazil, an outstanding Tennessee Walking Horse Stallion, King of Haven. This horse was flown by air to Brazil, and the President most graciously has written that he is now a Tennessee Walking Horse enthusiast. The future of a Brazilian market for Tennessee Walking Horses is bright indeed. A real and substantial foreign market for our pleasure horses is shown by the fact, that many inquiries have been received for purchases, and a New Orleans steamship line has had a representative in Nashville recently concerning facilities of shipment to South America.

  Tennessee Walking Horse exhibitors associations of various states have been chartered for the first time in 1950, and their contribution to the future of the Tennessee Walking Horse cannot be underestimated.  The Virginia and California associations both have been very active. The Virginia association has worked out a judges' scoring card that is a real contribution the the association. They also held a week's clinic at Salem, Virginia this year, and Tennessee walking Horse owners and exhibitors attended from all over the state of Virginia. This association, by hard work and example, should be an inspiration for all of us.

  The Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders' Association of America in 1950 has set a standard of conformation and performance for our horses, fully realizing that public education, and the education of Recognized Tennessee Walking Horse Judges will be necessary. Such a standard by which Judges can rely on, as the official standard and Judge accordingly, has long been needed.

  The association has appointed a Judges and Judging Committee which is represented by members of sixteen (16) states. This Committee has set up rules for, and established a system whereby members of the association can be qualified , trained, and licensed by the association to judge Tennessee Walking Horses. This I think will have a wholesome and lasting effect upon judging in general.

  In doing this our association in now way intends to invade the field of the American Horse Shows Association in regard to Judges, but hopes rather to be of some assistance to them in keeping a check upon the personnel who apply to them for licenses to judge Tennessee Walking Horses, at their licensed shows. The American Horse Shows Association is doing a truly wonderful job, and it is a credit to our horsemen everywhere.

  The State of Tennessee, itself has this year made arrangements to include the Tennessee walking Horse in the program at the University of Tennessee Experimental Station. Her only horses with the best blood lines, gaits, conformation and disposition will be placed and the improvement of the breed will receive the best that a great State University can give it. Surely this will mean much in the years to come.

  The Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders' Association has laid careful plans in 1950, that we hope will become a reality in 1951, in regard to a $10,000 annual stake at the National Celebration. This should be contributed by the State of Tennessee and when the Tennessee Legislature meets in January, 1951, a bill will be introduced for legislative action.

  The National Celebration has become an institution in our state and it is our desire to make it, one of the best, if not the best horse show in the United States.

  We have been most gratified that in 1950 an appropriate bill has been introduced in Congress to honor the Tennessee Walking Horse; by the issuance of a memorial United States Postage Stamp bearing the picture of a Tennessee Walking Horse. We sincerely trust that Congress sees fit to pass this bill.

  Yes, 1950 has been a wonderful year for the Tennessee Walking Horse, and the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders' Association of America. We are proud of our horses, and I heard a farmer remark the other day:  "Sure as you are born the Country Horse has come to town."

B. Major Wilson Puzzle

June Photo of the Month

Curlee's Spotted Allen

Albert Dement

"There was never a person who loved horses better than Albert Dement and he knew a good horse when he saw one," said Bob Murchison about his friend in Ben Green’s book "Biography of the Tennessee Walking Horse. "He was tops in Walking Horse men when it came to riding, showing, training, feeding and general care of horses. Mr. Dement had a nerve of iron, knew how to train horses and was never afraid of them." 

Excerpt on Albert Dement from "Biography of the Tennessee Walking Horse" 

By Ben Green 

Albert M. Dement was born in the community of Porterfield in Cannon County, Tennessee, on June 1, 1868. His interest in saddle horses began early in life about the age of 14. In 1892 he moved to Bedford County and sometime after the turn of the century, around 1902, he began an extensive experimental horse breeding program. 

At a time when many people thought the automobile would do away with the riding horse, Dement never believed that a day would come when the Walking Horse would not be in demand. He dedicated himself to the breed of horse he loved and to the horse breeding program that would become his legacy. 

He purchased Nell Dement F-3 along with four other Stonewall Jackson bred mares. But it was Nell who was to become the key foundation mare of Dement’s breeding program. He showed the sorrel mare with flax mane and tail as a three-year-old at the Tennessee State Fair in 1905 and after winning each of her classes, Dement was offered a high price of $950 for the show mare, but refused to sell. 

Dement made what later became known as the "Water Glass" class popular with Nell. He would enter the ring in a full running walk on Nell with a water glass held in the palm of one hand which was filled to the brim with water. He would circle the ring without spilling a drop of water to demonstrate Nell’s smooth ride. 

After four years of less than satisfactory results of breeding Nell to four different studs, Dement selected Old Black Allan (Allan F-1) to cross with Nell. Dement purchased Allan F-1 from his good friend, J.R. Brantley, in 1901 for $140. Allan died at the Dement farm near Normandy on Sept. 10, 1910, having produced only one colt from Nell. The result was Merry Legs F-4, foaled in April of 1911. She began her show ring career as a weanling under the direction of Henry Davis and was undefeated. Nell Dement died at the age of 28 and foaled her last colt at 26. 

Merry Legs was referred to by many fans as "the greatest show mare that ever lived." Horseman Bob Murchison of Wartrace fondly remembered Merry Legs. "She did one thing that mares do not do nowadays. She would foal a colt in the spring of the year, then Mr. Dement would wean that colt two of three weeks before the State Fair in Nashville and would enter her in the show, where she would win first place." 

In 1914, Merry Legs became the first three-year-old to not only win the Three-Year-Old championship, but also the Grand Championship Stake at the Tennessee State Fair. The only three-year-old to match her title was Merry Legs’ granddaughter, Dement’s Merry Legs II 360021 in 1936 with Floyd Caruthers, trainer. 

Dement’s Merry Legs II, or "Little Merry Legs" as she was known, was also bred by Dement, along with her sire, Merry Boy 350189 and her dam, Skip 350101. Mr. Dement was quoted as saying a few years before his death, "I got a little more finish, more head style with plenty of pep and conformation, and by this production the fullest aspirations of my dreams are complete." 

Another Dement-bred Walking Horse out of Merry Legs F-4 and by Hunter’s Allen was the stallion, Last Chance 350034. Mrs. Olive Caruthers Diekroger credited Dement and his belief in Last Chance with returning her husband Floyd Caruthers to the show ring. "It was Dement who persuaded Floyd to start training again," she said. "He called Floyd and asked him to train Last Chance. Dement had good horses and many consider him to have been a Master Breeder." 

Last Chance was the last colt foaled by Merry Legs F-4 before she died of colic at the age of 21. As the announcer read a tribute to Albert Dement at the Columbia Horse Show a few weeks after his death in March of 1940 Last Chance was saddled and led around the ring without a rider, followed by close friends, show officials and members of the Breeders Association. 

Great early Walking Horses bred by Albert Dement include the black roan stallion foaled in 1925, Merry Boy, considered one of the breed’s most influential sires. Others include Merry King 360121 foaled in 1916; Major Allen 350059 foaled in 1917; the great Bud Allen foaled in 1918; Skip foaled in 1927; Snip 350038 foaled in 1928; Nell Don 350039 foaled in 1928; Miss Merry 350111 foaled in 1930; Lady Chance 350040 foaled in 1935; King Merry Boy 360183 foaled in 1936 and many others. 

Merry Wilson 391278, foaled on May 28, 1939, by Wilson’s Allen out of Lady Chance (by Last Chance) was the last winning show horse bred by Albert Dement. She was also the last contender for the World Grand Championship to be sired by Wilson’s Allen. 

Dement was one of the first to realize that if his Plantation Walking Horses were to achieve widespread identity, they needed a registry of their own. He had his horses registered in the American Saddle Horse Registry of Louisville, Ky., before becoming instrumental in the organization of the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders’ Association of America which was chartered on May 11, 1935. 

Dement served the association in its first three years of organization in the roles of second vice president, as a member of the executive committee and as a member of the board of directors. He served as president from 1939 until his death in 1940. 

Albert M. Dement died on Saturday, March 16, 1940, from complications of the flu at the age of 72. He was well known in his community of Wartrace not only as a farmer and prominent breeder of Tennessee Walking Horses, but as a respected religious and civic leader. He was an elder in the Wartrace Presbybyterian Church, a director and officer of the Bedford County Farm Bureau and president of the Bedford County Walking Horse Association. 

Dement was buried in the Hollywood Cemetery in Wartrace. His survivors were his wife, Mrs. Mina Preston Dement; two daughters, Mrs. Huda (George) Shoffner of Knoxville and Mrs. Maude Brevard of Nashville; two sons, E. Miller Dement and Arthur J. Dement, both of Normandy; a sister, Mrs. Martha Hogwood of Woodbury, and a brother, Wilson Dement, also of Woodbury; three granddaughters and seven grandsons. 

A news article later the same year on the front page of the Bedford County Times following the 1940 Wartrace Horse Show read, "An impressive tribute was paid the late Albert M. Dement at the Wartrace Horse Show Friday night when two of his grandsons, Kenneth and Joe Jack Dement, rode Nell and Snip, two of the pioneer horseman’s favorite horses in the ring as Floyd Caruthers, Henry Davis and Bob Murchison walked in front of them with bowed heads." 

Tennessee Walking Horse magazine editor, Emmett Lee, documented Dement’s contributions in a 1946 article as follows: "Albert M. Dement, recognized as the most outstanding breeder of Tennessee Walking Horses, herein receives our contribution in an effort to establish his name, by his achievements, as the all-time Master Breeder. 

"The rich blood he left throughout his noted horses and the trail he blazed so successfully encouraged us to chronicle some of the experiences of Mr. Dement as a reminder of accomplishments that will be beneficial to our breed for many generations. The pedigreed horse he left, will, in our opinion, reflect his worthiness in after years — wherever the Tennessee Walking Horse may wander." 

1939 Blue Ribbon Magazine

October, 1954

The War Horse

Excerpt from the article "Walker....Horse Born of War" by Aletha H. Weihl
The Spokeman-Review, 1965

A horse  born of chaos, through years of careful selective breeding has developed into the beautiful Tennessee Walking Horse of today. A highlight of the show ring. The popularity of this breed has spread in the last few years.

  The Tennessee Walking Horse as a breed, is just about 100 years old. In August, 1960, at the Shelbyville 22cd Annual Tennessee Walking Horse Celebration, Tennessee Governor Buford Ellington proclaimed 1961 as the Centennial Year for the Tennessee Walking Horse. Federal recognition of the breed was made in 1950. The foundation for the breed was laid when the last gun had been fired, and the last bugle had  sounded on the battlefields of the Civil War.

  The Confederate soldier usually had a horse known for his easy ride and fast pace. These "Tennessee Pacers" had emerged from the Canadian Pacers, the Narragansett, with some Thoroughbred, Morgan and American Saddler strains. These were not the fine horses we see today, but a general utility horse, a good all-around farm horse used by the early settlers in Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and North Carolina.

  The Union soldier was often mounted on a rough riding Trotter, of sturdy build, but possessing great speed. Some of the Union men rode Morgans. After the war, the merging of these two strains of horses in the Middle Tennessee blue grass region brought about the horse with the distinct characteristic that is known to no other breed. He has the natural gait no man has been able to duplicate by training or any artificial means. This is the "running walk", a smooth, gliding, overstepping, four-cornered gait, "born in" the Walker. The horse has tremendous stride and head motion in this gait, yet the rider remains so motionless he could balance a book on his head without difficulty while the horse "goes on" in his running walk.  The Walker also has a good, smooth, fast flat walk and a "rocking chair" canter, straight on both leads, with a high rolling motion.

  Records were not kept in those days, so it is difficult to know when this distinct gait first appeared, but the first on record attributes the gait to Bald Stockings, a horse foaled in kentucky in 1837 of American Saddler and Thoroughbred breeding.  Other horses in the South showed characteristics of this gait. Some of these were true heroes of the conflict between the states.

  Forefather of many war horses in Middle Tennessee was "McMeen's Traveler", foaled in 1849. He is described as a real red sorrel, with one white ankle behind, 15 hands one inch high, and very muscular. He was frequently mistaken for a Throughbred until he moved, then his perfect saddle gaits distinguished him. Fifty seven of his sons and daughters served as mounts in General Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry.

Although not listed as one of the official Foundation Sires of the Tennessee Walking Horse, a stallion named Grey John was the sire of Buford L. F-11 and grandsire of Bramlett F-9, among the first elected Foundation Sires when a Tennessee walking Horse Registry was begun in 1935. Grey John himself missed the Registry, no doubt because neither his dam or his sire were known.

  In 1863, a squad of Union solders left a fine mare, so heavy with foal she could not keep up at Captain Boone's, a Confederate away at war. They took a young horse and went on. In less than a month, she dropped a foal, a colt. A Negro boy made the discovery one morning and came running to the house with the news that the old mare had "a blue 'possum or somethin' in the stall with her." "His ears stick straight up and his legs sticks in every which way. What must I do wit it?" Mrs. Boone advised the boy to leave it alone and when captain Boone came home he'd advbise them as to "what to do with it."

  When Captain Boone came home on furlough and saw "the blue 'possum'," he advised the to "just leave it alone, and we'll see what kind of horse a blank Yankee colt will make," adding a few succulent adjectives. The colt began to shed and grew lighter in color and was named Grey John. He grew into the "walkingest, reachy, springy saddlehorse" you could ever hope to see. Captain Boone said it took John just an hour to flatfoot walk the 8 miles from Fayetteville to Booneville. He stayed at Booneville until he was 23 years old, and mares were brought from far and wide. Travel was not easy in those days, but this was horse-lover country, and Grey John was the kind of horse every one wanted in his own pasture.

  And, that is the secret of the widespreading success of the Walker right down to the present day. Besides the unique gait, no other horse can boast such versatility. He has proved his worth in peace and war.

Cannon County, Tennessee Slideshow