Horse industry in Tennessee



The horse industry in Tennessee is the 6th largest in the United States, and over 3 million acres of Tennessee farmland are used for horse-related activities. The most popular breed in the state is the Tennessee Walking Horse - developed by crossing Thoroughbred, Morgan, Saddlebred, and Standardbred horses in the 19th and 20th centuries - and it became an official state symbol in 2000.

Before statehood (pre-1796)
Horses were introduced to what would later become the Tennessee Territory when Europeans, including Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto, and settlers started to explore the land in the mid-16th century (1540s). De Soto brought Iberian horses, possibly Andalusians, with him on his expedition, and the local Native American tribes - including the Chickasaw, the Choctaw, the Cherokee, et al. - also obtained horses from European settlers. The Chickasaw Tribe would go on to develop the Chickasaw Horse, later known as the "Florida Cracker Horse".

In the 1750s and 1760s, longhunters from Virginia explored much of East and Middle Tennessee. After the end of the French and Indian War, Britain issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which forbade settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains in an effort to mitigate conflicts with the Natives. Despite this proclamation, migration across the mountains continued, and the first permanent European settlers began arriving in the northeastern part of the state in the late 1760s, bringing their horses with them.

William Bean, a longhunter who settled in a log cabin near present-day Johnson City in 1769, is traditionally accepted as the first permanent European American settler in Tennessee. Most 18th-century settlers were English, or of primarily English descent, but nearly 20% of them were Scotch-Irish. Settlers from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, and other colonial territories also began moving to the Tennessee Territory, with Virginians and Marylanders introducing the Thoroughbred breed to Tennessee.

The first Thoroughbred horse in the American Colonies was Bulle Rock, imported from Great Britain in 1730 by James Patton of Virginia. Bulle Rock was later sold to Samuel Gist of Hanover County, Virginia. Bulle Rock was thought to be an older horse by the time he arrived in America, but still was mated to at least 39 English, Spanish, or Narragansett Pacer mares, and his female descendants were in turn mated with other imported English Thoroughbred stallions. His reputation was made by the descendants of one of his daughters, who was owned by John Tayloe III (1770 – 1828) and the Belair Stud of Virginia.

Maryland and Virginia were also the centers of Colonial Thoroughbred breeding, along with South Carolina and New York. During the American Revolutionary War, importations of horses from England practically stopped, but restarted after the war. Four important stallions were imported shortly after the American Revolution: Medley in 1784; Shark in 1786; Messenger in 1788; and Diomed in 1798.

Medley arrived in Virginia in 1784 on the ship Theodorick. One of the partners of the firm who had purchased the horse, Malcolm Hart, decided to keep Medley for himself, and stood the stallion at stud at his stable at Hanover Courthouse in Virginia. Hart moved Medley every season for about 8 years, including some reports of him bringing Medley to Tennessee from 1790 to 1792.

Messenger left little impact on the American Thoroughbred, but is considered a foundation sire of the Standardbred, a forerunner to the Tennessee Walking Horse. Diomed, who won the Derby Stakes in 1780, had a significant impact on American Thoroughbred breeding, mainly through his son, Sir Archy (1805–1833). Sir Archy also became a popular sire in Tennessee, with his son, Stockholder (b. 1819), becoming most popular sire in Tennessee in the 1820s. Medley and Shark, who arrived in the United States before Messenger and Diomed, became important broodmare and dam sires by producing foundation stock, and their daughters and granddaughters were bred primarily to Diomed and his sons.

After statehood (post-1796)
After the American Revolutionary War, the center of Thoroughbred breeding and racing in the United States moved west, and Tennessee became a significant center for horse breeding. Andrew Jackson, later President of the United States, was a breeder and racer of Thoroughbreds in Tennessee. Match races held in the early 19th century (1800s) in Tennessee helped to popularize horse racing in the United States, with Sumner County, Tennessee providing the majority of Thoroughbred racehorses in the South.

Because Tennessee was largely rural in its early statehood, horses were important as a form of transportation. During the Antebellum period (1812–1861), horse racing became a popular sport among the gentry. During the American Civil War (1861–1865), Tennessee horses also served as war horses, with Old Isham, the mount of Confederate General Benjamin Franklin Cheatham, being buried in Beechgrove, Coffee County, Tennessee. The Union also used captured Tennessee horses as war mounts during the conflict.

One of the foundation sires of the Tennessee Walking Horse, Boone's Grey John, was also born in 1863, during the American Civil War. According to some iterations of the story of the stallion's origin, "the Yankees left a fine saddle mare in Booneville, Tennessee, afterwards the property of Confederate Captain Nathan Boone, a member of General Nathan Bedford Forrest's staff; she was with foal, and gave birth to Boone's Grey John". Grey John was eventually captured by Union forces, where he became a hearse horse in Cincinnati, Ohio, before being returned to Boone after the war. The stallion later became "the most noted saddle horse in Tennessee" at horse shows. In 1885, Boone's Grey John was put to stud near Petersburg, Tennessee, before moving to Shelbyville, and covered many mares. The horse was considered by some to have blood from the extinct Narragansett Pacer, as he was gaited.

After the Civil War, most of the native Southern stock was gone, and horse breeding in Tennessee had to be continued with horses from Northern states. After betting was outlawed in 1905, horse racing in Tennessee moved to Kentucky, with the Kentucky Derby seeing success in the 1910s, and gaited horses and harness racing - including the Morgan, Saddlebred and Standardbred horse breeds, descended from the Narragansett Pacer and Canadian Pacer - rose in popularity. These breeds were often crossbred together.

Commonly referred to as "Plantation horses", gaited horses had been bred for a smooth gait that made riding over large distances easier, with one of the first American horse breeds being the Narragansett Pacer of Rhode Island, ridden by George Washington and other colonial settlers. As farms became motorized, and horses were replaced by tractors with mechanization in the late 19th century and 20th century, interest in horse shows rose. This led to the specialized breeding of gaited horses for saddle seat show competition; specifically, the Tennessee Walking Horse. Saddlebreds were also popular in the state during the 1930s and 1940s, but dropped in popularity as the Tennessee Walking Horse came to the forefront of the state's horse shows.

Today, Tennessee is ranked 6th on the list of US states by number of horses, and 3.2 million of its 10 million acres of farmland are used for horses or horse-related activity in some form. The Tennessee Walking Horse was the most popular horse breed in the state in 2016, with the American Quarter Horse coming in second.

Tennessee Walking Horse
The Tennessee Walking Horse, one of the first horse breeds to be named for an American state, was developed in the Middle Basin of Tennessee. Horse breeder James Brantley began his program in the early 1900s, using the foundation stallion Black Allan, who had a smooth running walk and a calm disposition, which he passed on to his offspring. Though Black Allan died in 1910, shortly after being sold to another breeder named Albert Dement, he sired 40 known foals, whose bloodlines became well-known in the region. One of his sons, Roan Allen, carried on his bloodline, and is estimated by breeding experts to be the ancestor of 100% of living Tennessee Walking Horses.

Black Allan was out of a Morgan and Thoroughbred cross mare named Maggie Marshall, a descendant of Figure and the Thoroughbred racing stallion Messenger; and sired by Allandorf, a Standardbred stallion descended from Hambletonian 10, also of the Messenger line. Although Black Allan was originally bred to be a trotter, he preferred to pace; and thus, never raced under saddle. Besides the pace, he also performed a lateral ambling gait, now known as the running walk, that became central to the breeding of the Tennessee Walking Horse.

Brantley's and Dement's farms were both located just outside Wartrace, and the town is known as "The cradle of the Tennessee Walking Horse". The breed's main registry, the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders' and Exhibitors' Association (TWHBEA), was founded in 1935 in Lewisburg and is still located downtown. In 1939, Henry Davis and a group of fellow horsemen held the inaugural Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration; it lasted three days, and ended with Strolling Jim, trained by Floyd Carothers, being crowned as the first World Grand Champion. After the founding of the TWHBEA and then Celebration, the Walking Horse rose in popularity, and many notable breeding farms were established, including Harlinsdale Farm, and horse trainers began to focus on training Tennessee Walkers specifically for show competition. Trainers who became notable during this period include Winston Wiser, Fred Walker, and Steve Hill.

Today, the Tennessee Walking Horse continues to be highly important to the Middle Basin. The town of Shelbyville is called "the Tennessee Walking Horse Capital of the World", and has hosted the Celebration for most of its history; the first few Celebrations were held in Wartrace, but the move was made due to space issues. The Tennessee Walking Horse National Museum was founded in the 1980s, and was hosted in several locations before moving to its permanent location in Wartrace. The Middle Basin is home to many farms and training stables which specialize in the breed, with Bedford, Rutherford, Coffee and Cannon counties having the largest populations. The breed also brings in large amounts of revenue to the state; the Celebration annually generates $41 million in income to Shelbyville alone, and individual horses can sell in excess of $100,000.

There are multiple institutions and landmarks in the area named after the Tennessee Walking Horse, including the Walking Horse and Eastern Railroad, which runs between Shelbyville and Wartrace, and the Walking Horse Hotel in Wartrace, which was the home of Strolling Jim.

The Tennessee Walking Horse was officially named the state horse by the General Assembly of Tennessee in 2000.

Notable farms and stables



 * Ailshie Stables, Greeneville, a Racking Horse stable run by three generations of the Ailshie family. The founder, Kenny Ailshie, won six World Grand Championships in the Racking Horse World Celebration, in 1987, 1991, 1992, 1998, 2002, and 2006. His son Keith won the World Grand Championship in 2001. Grandson Brandon won it in 2017.
 * Ashcrest Farm, Hendersonville, a historic plantation on the National Register of Historic Places. It now serves as a horse boarding facility.
 * Belle Meade Plantation, Belle Meade, a former Thoroughbred racehorse breeding farm that produced Iroquois, the first American horse to win England's Epsom Derby.
 * Bobo Farms, Shelbyville, a Tennessee Walking Horse training facility that showed the 2003 World Grand Champion, The Whole Nine Yards.
 * Brantley Farm, Wartrace, the earliest Tennessee Walking Horse breeding farm.
 * Clearview Farm, an all-breed boarding facility that also hosts horse shows.
 * Dickie Gardner Stables, Shelbyville, a Spotted Saddle Horse stable that has produced multiple World Champions.
 * Harlinsdale Farm, Franklin, a Tennessee Walking Horse breeding farm that became notable as the home of 1945-1946 World Grand Champion show horse and sire Midnight Sun. Harlinsdale also bred Dark Spirit's Rebel, 1992 World Grand Champion, in addition to Rowdy Rev and several dozen other champions.
 * Joe and Judy Martin Stables, Shelbyville, a Tennessee Walking Horse stable that trained the World Grand Champion Shades of Carbon.
 * Milky Way Farm, Pulaski, a former Thoroughbred breeding farm that bred and owned the 1940 Kentucky Derby winner, Gallahadion. Milky Way was the leading Thoroughbred owner in America for the 1940 racing season.
 * Waterfall Farms, Shelbyville, a Tennessee Walking Horse breeding farm. It stood World Grand Champion He's Puttin' on the Ritz at stud.

Horse shows and rodeos
Many horse shows in Tennessee are oriented around the state's official breed, the Tennessee Walking Horse. The largest of these is the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, an 11-day competition that takes place on the 105-acre Celebration Grounds in Shelbyville, just before Labor Day every year. The Celebration attracts over 1,500 horses and 200,000 spectators. The Spring Celebration, also known as the "Spring Fun Show", is another Tennessee Walking Horse show that is traditionally important for horses and trainers hoping to compete in the main Celebration later in the year. It is held on the Celebration Grounds, and dates back to 1970. The National Trainers Show is held annually by the Walking Horse Trainers' Association. It is usually held in Shelbyville, although it has been held in Alabama twice, in 1988 and 2015. Besides the larger shows that last multiple days, Tennessee also hosts a number of significant one-day Tennessee Walking Horse shows. The Wartrace Horse Show is the oldest one-night horse show in Tennessee, and has been held annually since 1906.

Tennessee is also known for breeding mules, and a mule show called "Mule Day" has been held in Maury County for 170 years. The Calsonic Arena in Shelbyville hosts the Great Celebration Mule Show each July.

Tennessee also hosts a number of horse shows for breeds that predated, or derived from, the Tennessee Walking Horse. The Spotted Saddle Horse is a pinto-patterned breed that was developed using large amounts of Tennessee Walking Horse blood. Two major shows for it are held at the Celebration Grounds every year; the Spring Show in May and World Championship in September. The Spotted Saddle Horse's biggest registry, the Spotted Saddle Horse Breeders' and Exhibitors' Association, is located in Shelbyville.

For several decades, the World Championship for the American Saddlebred, one of the forerunners of the Tennessee Walking Horse that provided foundation stock for the latter breed, was held at the Music City Horse Show in Nashville. Although it has been moved to Lexington, Kentucky, Tennessee still hosts some Saddlebred shows and sales.

Tennessee also hosts rodeos and other Western riding events, which usually feature American Quarter Horses, and non-traditional events beside traditional horse shows. The Lone Star Rodeo has been held at Calsonic Arena for more than 25 years. It features all traditional rodeo events. In 2016, the group that owns Lone Star Rodeo held their first youth rodeo in Tennessee. It awarded more than $70,000 in prize money and featured specialized events such as pony bronc riding. A 2016 article also noted that the American Quarter Horse was the second-most popular horse breed in Tennessee, after the Tennessee Walking Horse.

Road to the Horse, a colt-starting competition for professional trainers, was held at Murfreesboro's Tennessee Miller Coliseum from 2002 to 2011.

Horse racing
Horse racing was a popular form of recreation in colonial and Antebellum era Tennessee. Early races were held on public roads, including a notable match in 1806 between Andrew Jackson's horse, Truxton, and Erwin's Plowboy. Truxton, who won the race, was a son of Diomed, a Thoroughbred racehorse imported from England to Virginia in 1798. In 1836, a horse breeder said, "The prevailing opinion in the South is that Tennessee possesses more and better racehorses than Kentucky." The Standardbred Little Brown Jug, who had a premier pacing race named after him, was foaled in Middle Tennessee. Standardbred racing was very popular in late 19th-century Tennessee.

Tennessee continued to host many notable horse racing stables throughout the post-American Civil War years, until Tennessee passed an anti-gambling law in 1905, which essentially outlawed betting at racetracks. This led to a steep drop in the number of horse races and racehorses, and a loss of interest in the sport. The passage of the law also ended the Tennessee Derby, which had been held since 1884, and at one time rivalled the Kentucky Derby for prestige with Thoroughbred horse racing in America.

However, horse racing itself is not illegal in Tennessee, and races are still held in the state, including Standardbred harness races at the Lincoln County Fair every year. There have been multiple attempts to legalize betting on horse racing in Tennessee again, but most have eventually failed. In 2016, Republican state senator Frank Niceley sponsored a bill that would have legalized betting at racetracks, but it failed in the State House of Representatives. However, the Horse Racing Advisory Committee was formed in order to promote horse racing in the state. One of the largest horse races in Tennessee is the Iroquois Steeplechase, a steeplechase held in Nashville's Percy Warner Park. It was founded in 1941, and is held annually on the second Saturday in May, along with six other races. Attendance routinely averages 30,000.

Trail riding
There are three horseback riding concessions located near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, which allow visitors to rent horses and ride them through Great Smoky Mountains National Park, including Cades Cove. Visitors may also bring their own horses to ride in the park, but a negative Coggins test is required.

The smaller Lebanon State Park also allows visitors to bring their own horses and ride through the park, but there is no rental stable.