Merry Walker

Last updated
Merry Walker
Breed Tennessee Walking Horse
Discipline Show horse, broodmare
Sire Merry Boy
Dam Earthman's Queen Mary
Sex Mare
Foaled 1939
Color Black, hind socks
Breeder Harold Earthman
Owner Dr. Porter Rodgers

Merry Walker (foaled 1939) was a Tennessee Walking Horse mare. She gave birth to the show horses Go Boy's Shadow and Rodger's Perfection, who won three World Grand Championships between them.

Tennessee Walking Horse American horse breed noted for its running walk gait

The Tennessee Walking Horse or Tennessee Walker is a breed of gaited horse known for its unique four-beat running-walk and flashy movement. It was originally developed in the southern United States for use on farms and plantations. It is a popular riding horse due to its calm disposition, smooth gaits and sure-footedness. The Tennessee Walking Horse is often seen in the show ring, but is also popular as a pleasure and trail riding horse using both English and Western equipment. Tennessee Walkers are also seen in movies, television shows and other performances.

Go Boy's Shadow was a Tennessee Walking Horse stallion who won two World Grand Championships in the years 1955 and 1956. He was the last horse to repeat win in his breed for nearly fifty years.

Life

Merry Walker was foaled June 18, 1939, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. She was a black mare with white hind socks, bred by Harold Earthman. She was sired by the Tennessee Walking Horse stallion Merry Boy and out of a Standardbred mare, Earthman's Queen Mary. [1] In 1941 Merry Walker was sold to a Texas owner for $500. Merry Walker was bought by H. Thompson, father to World Grand Champion trainer Vic Thompson, in 1944. The same year, he showed her in the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration. She placed fifth in the World Grand Championship. [1]

Murfreesboro, Tennessee City in Tennessee, United States

Murfreesboro is a city in, and the county seat of, Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 108,755 according to the 2010 census, up from 68,816 residents certified in 2000. In 2017, census estimates showed a population of 136,372. The city is home to both the center of population of Tennessee, and the geographic center of Tennessee. Murfreesboro is located 34 miles (55 km) southeast of downtown Nashville in the Nashville metropolitan area of Middle Tennessee. It is Tennessee's fastest growing major city and one of the fastest growing cities in the country. Murfreesboro is also home to Middle Tennessee State University, the second largest undergraduate university in the state of Tennessee, with 22,729 total students as of fall 2014.

Black (horse) Horse coat color


Black is a hair coat color of horses in which the entire hair coat is black. Black is a relatively uncommon coat color, and it is not uncommon to mistake dark chestnuts or bays for black.

Stallion Term for a male horse that has not been castrated

A stallion is a male horse that has not been gelded (castrated). Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cresty" neck, as well as a somewhat more muscular physique as compared to female horses, known as mares, and castrated males, called geldings.

Merry Walker foundered before being sold to Dr. Porter Rodgers of Searcy, Arkansas, in 1945, but still brought a price of $2,000. She gave birth to eight foals in her life: Sun's Dark Lady, Merry Earthman, Go Boy's Shadow, Anne's Merry, Rodgers' Perfection, Shadow's Sis W, Sensational Sue R, and Merry Walker's Doll. [1] Merry Walker's son by Merry Go Boy, Go Boy's Shadow, won the Two-Year-Old World Championship in the Celebration. In 1955, he won the World Grand Championship and repeated the win a year later. [1] [2] Another of Merry Walker's sons, Rodgers' Perfection, won the World Grand Championship in 1959. He was sired by Midnight Mack K. [3] A daughter of Merry Walker, Shadow's Sis W, foaled the 1978 World Grand Champion Mark of Carbon. [1]

Laminitis disease that affects the feet of hooved animals

Laminitis is a disease that affects the feet of ungulates and is found mostly in horses and cattle. Clinical signs include foot tenderness progressing to inability to walk, increased digital pulses, and increased temperature in the hooves. Severe cases with outwardly visible clinical signs are known by the colloquial term founder, and progression of the disease will lead to perforation of the coffin bone through the sole of the hoof or being unable to stand up requiring euthanasia.

Searcy, Arkansas City in Arkansas, United States

Searcy is the largest city and county seat of White County, Arkansas, United States. According to 2014 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 23,768. It is the principal city of the Searcy, AR Micropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of White County. The city takes its name from Richard Searcy, a judge for the Superior Court of the Arkansas Territory. A college town, Searcy is the home of Harding University and ASU-Searcy.

Merry Go Boy

Merry Go Boy was a highly influential Tennessee Walking Horse sire and two-time World Grand Champion. He is credited for producing the most desirable conformation type in his offspring.

Merry Walker is the only Tennessee Walking Horse broodmare to ever produce two World Grand Champions. [4] It is also significant to note that the winning offspring were sired by different stallions. [1]

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Midnight Sun (horse)

Midnight Sun (1940–65) was one of the leading sires of the Tennessee Walking Horse breed, and a two-time World Grand Champion in 1945 and 1946. He was trained by Fred Walker and lived almost all his life at Harlinsdale Farm in Franklin, Tennessee.

Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration Annual event in Shelbyville, Tennessee

The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration (TWHNC), sometimes known as the Celebration, is the largest horse show for the Tennessee Walking Horse breed, and has been held annually in or near Shelbyville, Tennessee since its inception in 1939. The Celebration was conceived by Henry Davis, a horse trainer who along with several other horsemen, felt the Shelbyville area should have a festival or annual event. Although the Celebration was originally held in Wartrace, Tennessee, it moved to Shelbyville, the seat of Bedford County, a few years later. The Celebration spans 11 days and nights in late August and early September annually, and finishes with the crowning of the World Grand Champion Tennessee Walker on the Saturday night before Labor Day. The TWHNC draws an estimated 2,000 horses and 250,000 spectators to Shelbyville each year.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Tennessee Walking horse – Merry Walker home page by Walkers West" . Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  2. ↑ "Go Boy's Shadow home page by Walkers West" . Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  3. ↑ Green, Ben A. (1 January 1960). "Biography of the Tennessee walking horse". Parthenon Press. Retrieved 23 June 2016– via Google Books.
  4. ↑ Harris, Moira C.; Langrish, Bob (1 January 2006). "America's Horses: A Celebration of the Horse Breeds Born in the U. S. A." Globe Pequot. Retrieved 23 June 2016– via Google Books.
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