By Sarah Gee
©Voice, October 2006

Black Bart Esquire and Nicole Carswell

LEXINGTON, KY – On August 12th and 13th, visitors to the Kentucky Horse Park were treated to a series of special demonstrations by a group of very talented Tennessee Walking Horses. All accomplished versatility competitors; these horses demonstrated their skills in a variety of disciplines including plantation pleasure, barrel racing, reining, driving, jumping and dressage. The demonstrations were part of the Parade of Breeds presentation held twice a day at the Horse Park. Kentucky resident and long-time walking horse enthusiast Arlene Gray organized the demonstrations and TWHBEA^SM contributed as a sponsor.

Horse and rider teams that participated in the demonstrations included Black Bart Esquire and Nicole Carswell, Go Boy’s Carbon Dust and Danielle Johnson, 88’s Merry Molly and Gary Sandlin, Generator’s Mac Attack and Melanie Lehman, Some Inherited Gold and Abbie Lehman and Champagne Watchout and Jennie Jackson. Vic and Carolyn Gernt, David Lehman, Kathy Sandlin and Nathanial, Rebekah and Jeremiah Jackson provided valuable assistance on the ground.

Some Inherited Gold and Abbie Lehman

The demonstrations started with Nicole Carswell and Black Bart Esquire presenting perfect plantation pleasure form at the flat walk, running walk and canter. Then, Danielle Johnson and Go Boy’s Carbon Dust kicked things up a notch as they flew around the barrels displaying both the speed and agility of the Tennessee Walking Horse. Fluidity and teamwork were the catchwords for the next team to enter the ring. Gary Sandlin and 88’s Merry Molly put on an amazing free-style reining demonstration packed with lead changes, spins and sliding stops. Driving was the next discipline on the agenda with Generator’s Mac Attack and Melanie Lehman exhibiting beautiful in-harness style. 12-year-old Abbie Lehman and Some Inherited Gold proved time and time again that the Tennessee Walking Horse can make an outstanding jumping horse as they cleared jump after jump during their part of the demonstration. Last but certainly not least, Jennie Jackson and Champagne Watchout performed a marvelous crowd-pleasing free-style dressage routine set to music. Following each demonstration all the horse and rider teams were brought back to the arena to interact with the visitors.

88’s Merry Molly and Gary Sandlin

Each of the demonstrations was a huge hit with park visitors. Crowds were near capacity for each demonstration with some people coming back later in the day to see the demonstration a second time. Comments heard in the audience included, “Wow, I didn’t know Tennessee Walking Horses could do all that,” and “You mean all those horses are the same breed, I didn’t know a single breed could do so many different things so well.” The Kentucky Horse Park staff was equally impressed. In fact, they are planning on using a videotape of the demonstrations as an example for other breeds to follow when they hold special demonstrations at the Park. Overall, the weekend was huge hit and of tremendous benefit for our great breed.