The Talk of the Town (horse)

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The Talk of the Town
Breed Tennessee Walking Horse
Discipline Show horse
Sire Midnight Sun
Grandsire Wilson's Allen
Dam Merry Rose
Maternal grandsire Merry Boy
Sex Gelding
Foaled 1947
Country United States
Color Bay
Trainer Steve Hill
Major wins
Three World Grand Championships

The Talk of the Town (foaled 1947) was the first Tennessee Walking Horse to win three World Grand Championships, and one of only two horses ever to do so.

Foal A horse of either sex up to the age of one year

A foal is an equine up to one year old; this term is used mainly for horses. More specific terms are colt for a male foal and filly for a female foal, and are used until the horse is three or four. When the foal is nursing from its dam (mother), it may also be called a "suckling". After it has been weaned from its dam, it may be called a "weanling". When a mare is pregnant, she is said to be "in foal". When the mare gives birth, she is "foaling", and the impending birth is usually stated as "to foal". A newborn horse is "foaled".

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.

Contents

Life

The Talk of the Town was foaled May 7, 1947, in Salisbury, Maryland. [1] He was by the influential sire Midnight Sun and out of a mare named Merry Rose, the daughter of the well-known sire Merry Boy. [2] [3] His sire line traced directly back to Black Allan. He was a bay with no white markings. The Talk of the Town was sold at a dispersal sale as a weanling and went to Mississippi. From there he was sold again to an owner in Arkansas. While he was there, a Walking Horse trainer named Steve Hill came across the horse and bought a half interest in him. The Talk of the Town's other owner soon put him in full-time training at Hill's Tennessee stable. Hill described The Talk of the Town as an extremely tough horse to ride and handle for the first year and a half of his training. It was possibly because of this problem that the horse was gelded. Eventually, Hill was able to begin showing The Talk of the Town, with much success. [4]

Salisbury, Maryland City in Maryland, United States

Salisbury is a city in and the county seat of Wicomico County, Maryland, United States, and the largest city in the state's Eastern Shore region. The population was 30,343 at the 2010 census. Salisbury is the principal city of the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is the commercial hub of the Delmarva Peninsula, which was long devoted to agriculture and had a southern culture. It calls itself "The Comfortable Side of Coastal".

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.

Black Allan (horse)

Black Allan or Allan F-1 (1886–1910) was the foundation sire of the Tennessee Walking Horse. He was out of a Morgan mare named Maggie Marshall and by Allendorf, a stallion descended from Hambletonian lines. Black Allan was registered as No. 7623 by the American Trotting Registry. Although Black Allan was supposed to be a trotter, he preferred to pace and so never raced. Besides the pace, he performed a lateral ambling gait now known as the running walk. He was a black stallion standing 15 hands high. He was given the designation Allan F-1 when the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders' Association, precursor to the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders' and Exhibitors' Association, was formed in 1935. He had multiple owners throughout his life, but his last owners, James Brantley and Albert Dement, were the only ones to recognize Black Allan's use as a breeding stallion. Black Allan sired 40 known foals in his lifetime, among them Roan Allen, registration number F-38, Hunters Allen F-10, and Merry Legs F-4. Black Allan died September 16, 1910, at the age of 24.

Show career

The Talk of the Town won the three-year-old geldings class at the 1950 Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration. [4] A year later in 1951, he won his first World Grand Championship. He would win the class again in 1952 and 1953, making him the first of only two horses to win three World Grand Championships. The only other three-time winner, I Am Jose, won over 50 years later, in 2013, 2014, and 2015. [5] The Talk of the Town made a final appearance at the Celebration in 1976, at age 29. That year, instead of starting the show each night with the traditional white horse and rider carrying the American flag, the show organizers invited notable trainers to bring their favorite horses. Steve Hill chose to ride The Talk of the Town, who was 29 years old at the time, and carry the flag. [4]

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.

I Am Jose

I Am Jose is a Tennessee Walking Horse stallion and three-time World Grand Champion. He is the first stallion and second horse to win the World Grand Championship three times. I Am Jose is black with a star on his forehead.

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References

  1. ↑ Green, Ben A. (1960). Biography of the Tennessee walking horse. Parthenon Press, originally from Cornell University.
  2. ↑ Tennessee Dept. of Agriculture (1951). The horse and its heritage in Tennessee. University of Wisconsin – Madison.
  3. ↑ Ward, Kathleen Rauschl (1991). The American horse: from conquistadors to the 21st century. Belleville, Mich.: Maple Yard Publications. ISBN   9780962893100.
  4. 1 2 3 "Tennessee Walking horse – Talk Of The Town #473791, home page by Walkers West".
  5. ↑ "I Am Jose 3-peats at Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration". The Tennessean. 6 September 2015.
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