Where Horses Walk

by John McBryde

Leaning on a rail inside the horse barn she has owned since 1986, Bonnie Cady is getting philosophical. “Something’s wrong with this picture,” she says, smiling a wry grin. “The older I get, the harder I work.”

Such is the life of the breeders and trainers of Tennessee walking horses in Shelbyville, Tenn. (pop. 16,105), where horse farms line the rolling hills like vineyards line Tuscany. And in the numerous barns and stables that sit on these farms, scores of people like Cady are doing the work that has given Shelbyville the title of Walking Horse Capital of the World.

Sure, the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration is what draws more than 150,000 visitors to Shelbyville in late August each year, but the soul of the culture can be found in breeders and trainers such as Cady who see it as a lifelong labor of love. Owner of a 318-acre farm named The Horse Hub, Cady stays busy year-round.

“I guess you could say that this is my life’s calling,” Cady says as she helps prepare one of her stallions for a training routine on a hot summer day. “I had a horse when I was a teenager, so I’ve been around horses most of my life.”

Her involvement is centered on the competition that comes with showing walking horses. On almost any weekend of the year in nearly every horse town of America, there’s a walking horse show.

Still, the biggest show of all is the 66th annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, set for Aug. 25 to Sept. 4 in Shelbyville.

“We’re the walking horse capital the same way that Indianapolis is the speedway capital or Nashville is the music city capital,” says Ron Thomas, the celebration’s CEO. “The pulse of the industry is in Shelbyville.”

And it has been since 1939, when the inaugural Walking Horse Celebration was held there. It was the late Henry Davis who came up with the idea of a three-day festival that would celebrate Shelbyville’s most important asset. From that inaugural festival came today’s competition, which now features more than 5,000 entries and about $650,000 in prize money.

Not everyone involved in the walking horse culture is in it for show, however. Just ask Jackie Styron, who buys and sells the breed through the farm she’s owned in Shelbyville since the early 1990s. She enjoys the Tennessee walking horse not for its showmanship, but for its walking ability.

“These are excellent pleasure horses,” says Styron, who owns and manages Bold Impressions Farm. “I think it’s important that people think of these horses as more than just show horses. They have a tremendously smooth gait, and they’re just wonderful to ride. I tell people it’s like riding in a Cadillac.”

Like most breeds, the Tennessee walking horse can be a variety of colors. But it is distinguished by its long, sloping shoulder and hip, and its three distinct gaits: the flat foot walk, running walk and canter.

The breed can actually be traced to nearby Manchester (pop. 8,294) in the early 1900s, when a farmer there purchased a stallion named Black Allen. This natural pacer was bred with selected Tennessee mares, and the resulting foals had an exceptionally easy-moving gait. Black Allen, ancestor of future show champions, was designated as the foundation sire of the Tennessee walking horse.

And in a sense, Black Allen has had an impact that goes beyond the horse farms, the equestrian stores and the annual celebration. For some, the Tennessee walking horse has become a way of life.

“So many people have bought homes and moved here, just so they can be a part of the walking horse culture,” Shelbyville Mayor Geneva Smith says.

For more information on the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, log on to www.twhnc.com or call (931) 684-5915.

John McBryde is a regular contributor to American Profile.

first appeared: 8/8/2004