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| Location | 27 Main Street Wartrace, Tennessee |
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| Coordinates | 35°31′39″N86°19′57″W / 35.527438°N 86.332483°W |
| President | Phillip Gentry |
| Website | Official website |
The Tennessee Walking Horse National Museum is the only museum dedicated entirely to the Tennessee Walking Horse. It is located in downtown Wartrace, Tennessee, and contains exhibits on all aspects of the Walking Horse industry.
The Tennessee Walking Horse National Museum was first established in Shelbyville, Tennessee, at which time it was housed in a room adjacent to the Calsonic Arena. In the 1990s it was moved to Lynchburg, but subsequently closed in 2005. In 2011 it reopened inside an old store in Wartrace, which is known by the nickname "The cradle of the Tennessee Walking Horse". [1]
In 2016, the museum was given over $3,000 in state grants. The money was used to restore old film of the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration and make it available for viewing. [2]
The Tennessee Walking Horse National Museum contains a variety of exhibits related to all aspects of the Tennessee Walking Horse industry. There is an exhibit on the current World Grand Champion, updated yearly as a new horse wins, and saddles and tack worn by past winners. There are also exhibits honoring select breeders and trainers, which are changed periodically. [3] One prominent piece is the saddle worn by the first National Champion, Strolling Jim, as well as a color portrait of him painted in 1940 by artist Bill Humphreys. [4] Another exhibit is focused on Betty Sain, who became the first female rider to win a World Grand Championship. Sain won the title in 1966, on her horse Shaker's Shocker. [1] The museum also contains a hands-on section where visitors can look through old show bills, industry-related magazines, and the like. [5]
Shelbyville is a city in and the county seat of Bedford County, Tennessee, United States. The town was laid out in 1810 and incorporated in 1819. Shelbyville had a population of 20,335 residents at the 2010 census. The town is a hub of the Tennessee Walking Horse industry and has been nicknamed "The Walking Horse Capital of the World".
Wartrace is a town in Bedford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 548 at the 2000 census and 651 at the 2010 census. It is located northeast of Shelbyville. The downtown area is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Wartrace Historic District.
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.
Strolling Jim (1936–1957) was the first Tennessee Walking Horse to become World Grand Champion of his breed. Since Strolling Jim's death, a restaurant, street, and annual marathon in his hometown of Wartrace, Tennessee have been named after him.
The Walking Horse Hotel is a hotel on the National Register of Historic Places. It is located in downtown Wartrace, Tennessee, and is a part of the Wartrace Historic District. The hotel is in business as such, and also contains the Strolling Jim Restaurant, named for the original owner's World Grand Championship-winning show horse.
The Wartrace Historic District is an area on the National Register of Historic Places. It covers an area in downtown Wartrace, Tennessee ranging roughly from Spring Street, from Coffey to Main Streets, from Vine Street from Broad to McKinley Streets, and Knob Circle Road from Main to McKinley Streets.
The Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders' and Exhibitors' Association is the oldest breed association for the Tennessee Walking Horse. It was founded in 1935 and is headquartered in Lewisburg, Tennessee. The association also runs the Tennessee Walking Horse Hall of Fame.
Wilson's Allen (1914–1939) was an influential early Tennessee Walking Horse sire. Although he himself was not used as a show horse, he sired the first three World Grand Champions of his breed.
The Spotted Saddle Horse Breeders' and Exhibitors' Association (SSHBEA) is an equestrian organization for the registration and promotion of the Spotted Saddle Horse breed. The SSHBEA is headquartered in Shelbyville, Tennessee.
Emerson "Bud" Dunn was a Tennessee Walking Horse trainer from Kentucky who spent most of his career in northern Alabama. He trained horses for over forty years and won his first Tennessee Walking Horse World Grand Championship at age 74 with Dark Spirit's Rebel; at the time, he was the oldest rider to win the honor. He was inducted into the Tennessee Walking Horse Hall of Fame in 1987 and named trainer of the year in 1980 and 1991. In 1999 at age 81, Dunn surpassed his own record for the oldest winning rider by winning his second World Grand Championship, riding RPM. He died of a heart attack in January 2001.
Winston Wiser (1910–1961) was a Tennessee Walking Horse trainer from Shelbyville, Tennessee, who won five World Grand Championships on three separate horses.
Elizabeth Fay Sain, is a former Tennessee Walking Horse trainer and breeder from Tennessee. In 1966 she became the first woman to win the breed's World Grand Championship with the horse Shaker's Shocker.
Shaker's Shocker was a Tennessee Walking Horse stallion who won his breed's World Grand Championship in 1966.
Floyd Carothers was an American horse trainer from Wartrace, Tennessee. Carothers trained Strolling Jim, the first Tennessee Walking Horse to become World Grand Champion of his breed. He also trained the third World Grand Champion, Melody Maid.
RPM was a Tennessee Walking Horse who won a World Grand Championship in 1999. As a four-year-old, RPM was sold for $1.25 million, estimated at the time to be the highest price ever paid for a Tennessee Walking Horse. RPM was trained by Bud Dunn, who also trained the horse's sire to a World Grand Championship in 1992.
Billie Nipper was an American artist who specialized in painting portraits of horses. Nipper, a native of Cleveland, Tennessee, painted every horse to win the Tennessee Walking Horse World Grand Championship from 1976 until her death. Besides Tennessee Walking Horses, she painted other breeds of horse, as well as landscapes. Her paintings were made into prints and transferred onto china and other objects. Nipper also bred horses, and her husband and son were horse trainers.
Charles Emmett Brantley was a Tennessee Walking Horse breeder. He grew up on a farm in Coffee County, Tennessee and competed in the first Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration. Besides breeding horses, he was a horse trainer for several years, but quit riding due to health issues. He was married to his wife Nellie for 70 years, and was inducted into both the Tennessee Walking Horse Hall of Fame and the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.
The horse industry in Tennessee is the 6th largest in the United States, and over three million acres of Tennessee farmland are used for horse raising or horse-related activities. The most popular breed in the state is the eponymous Tennessee Walking Horse, and it became an official state symbol in 2000.
William Earl Bobo is a Tennessee Walking Horse trainer. He won the World Grand Championship at the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration in 2003 with the stallion The Whole Nine Yards. Bobo also showed the notable horse Rowdy Rev, who competed in the World Grand Championship several times but never won. Bobo has been named Trainer of the Year by the Walking Horse Trainers Association.
The Wartrace Horse Show is an annual one-night horse show held in Wartrace, Tennessee. It has been held since 1906 and is traditionally popular with competitors hoping to enter the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration later in August.