How I Got Started with Tennessee

By Dianne Taplin, Soldotna Alaska Photos courtesy of Dianne Taplin.

Originally published in January/February 2023 Walking Horse News. Reprinted with permission.

For starters, I was born in Tennessee. You might say that I have Walkers in my blood.

My Walking Horses have been Stewball (green but willing), Sunny (gentle yet powerful), Romeo (intuitive, elegant, cautious), and soon Dusty (sweetly does it all, so I am told).

These basic Walking Horse traits, plus adaptability, personality and gaits, inspire my adoration for these amazing creatures. Each individual Walker has its own style. A ride in the backcountry on a strong, solid, trustworthy, brave TWH always took my breath away.

From my early years, my grandfather Hight made sure I had a horse on his farm near Culleoka, Tennessee. The first Walking Horse he gave me I named Stewball (named from a song). Not elegant, but a young teen age, horse crazy girl does not always rise to elegance.

The first time I tried to bridle him it took two hours. I do not know if that was due to his youth, lack of train- ing or just testing me. In any case, from there on, bridling was easy and quick. I love the trait of willingness.

A family friend loaned me a book on Allen F-1, the foundation Walking Horse. I absorbed every word of Walking Horse history.

During those years, Tennessee Walking Horse people focused on the stallions Midnight Sun, Merry Go Boy and Ebony. I see those names and their descendants in pedigrees of many current horses, including my Sunny (Alaska’s Golden Sun), Romeo (Image’s Tuff Stuff) and soon to be Dusty (Northfork Cotton Trim). I do not know the lineage of Stewball, but he had good sense.

Grandfather Hight also gave me his Richardson Walking Horse saddle (pictured below), which was nearly