By Sarah Gee
©Voice, August 2006

Born in 1927 in Shelby, Mississippi, Jack Kinkade began his involvement with Walking Horses in 1932. His father ran logging crews for well-known Walking Horse enthusiast Clyde Westbrook in Cleveland, Mississippi. Mr. Kinkade would take Jack to work with him and while he was out with the logging crews, Jack would spend time at the barn with Mr. Westbrook. Jack reminisces, “I remember riding these horses long before they were ever registered or recognized as a breed. They were called Plantation Walking Horses back then and we had a lot of them in Mississippi.”

Impressed with his ability and feel around the horses, Mr. Westbrook invited Jack to tag along on horse buying trips to Middle Tennessee. Often, they were accompanied by a trainer from Gunnison, Mississippi, named Gus Blanchard. Jack explains, “We could come up to Tennessee and buy horses to sell to the plantation owners in Mississippi. Those plantation owners were the first big market for Walking Horses, they would use them to ride their fields.”

During one of their trips to Tennessee, the traveling trio took part in the meeting that resulted in the formation of the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders’ Association. Discussing the meeting, Jack says, “It took place in Lewisburg, Tennessee, in April of 1935. Six men put up $10.00 each to start the registry. On the way to the meeting, Mr. Westbrook told us that he was going to name the new association. We thought he was nuts. Well, he suggested the name Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders’ Association and it was accepted by the group.”

Another trip exposed the three to what Jack believes was the very first night show for Walking Horses. He remembers, “We were up buying geldings in 1938 or 1939 and they had a night show on the main street in New Herman, Tennessee. They set up two or three big kerosene lights at either end on the street and put some regular lamps on posts along the sides and that was how they lit the first night show.”

In 1939 Jack attended the very first Celebration with Mr. Westbrook and Mr. Blanchard. Mr. Westbrook was the judge for the show. Jack relates, “He was the first and only judge I’ve ever seen ride a horse at the Celebration. He rode Strolling Jim and then he rode Lilly White. He said he couldn’t make up his mind until he rode them both.” Adding to the excitement for young Jack, Mr. Blanchard won the gelding class with his horse Bugaboo.
The next year, Mr. Blanchard moved to Jack’s hometown of Shelby. Jack states, “I started spending most of my time at his place and I started going to shows with him in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. It was at one of those shows that I met S.W. Beech, Jr. S.W. and I hit it off right away and I decided to leave Mississippi and move to Belfast, Tennessee, to work with him. I lived with S.W. and his family until 1947 when I moved to the west coast.”

S.W. and his family relocated to Arkansas in 1942 and Jack went with them. In Arkansas, he met the man that he calls the, “best trainer in the whole country in his day,” Jimmy Gray. Clarifying, Jack remarks,” Jimmy was the first trainer I ever saw that could get a horse to come off the ground in front and come way up under in back. I think it all had to do with how he used his hands and the bit.” Continuing, Jack further explains, “While I was very impressed with Jimmy’s horses, a lot of judges back then didn’t like that way of going, they thought the horses should just stay on the ground. In fact, in 1944, when S.W. and I took Black Angel to the Celebration, she was marked down because she was coming higher off the ground than the other horses in the ring.”

In addition to taking horses to shows throughout the southeast and, of course, the Celebration, S.W. and Jack took horses to a multitude of places unfamiliar with the Tennessee Walking Horse, places like Chicago, New York, and even Waterloo, Iowa. Jack states, “When we first started going to shows in Chicago and New York and places like that, everybody made fun of us. They called us the hillbillies and every time a Walking Horse entered the ring they played Turkey In The Straw. We were never embarrassed but we knew we were the poor folks at the shows like that and we knew the other people laughed at us and made fun of us. Thank God I have lived long enough to see the Tennessee Walking Horse become the number one show horse in the world with the largest show in the world.”

Discussing one show in particular, Jack relates, “In 1945 we took horses to the National Stallion Show in Waterloo, Iowa. This was the first time Walking Horses competed in that show. I had a little weanling colt that I wanted to take and show. I didn’t have the money for a blanket so I made him a blanket out of a couple of tow sacks. I tied it in the front and around his middle with ribbons. I unloaded him up there in front of all those rich people. Well, there happened to be photographer in the crowd and his picture ended up in the newspaper. He also went on to win his class.”

An accomplished horseman by the mid 1940s, in addition to working for S.W., Jack was often asked to work horses for sales, particularly for C.G. Smith’s sale in Blytheville, Arkansas. Discussing his work for Mr. Smith, Jack says, “Every year when he would have his sale in the fall, S.W. would let me go over there for about a month to tune up the horses.” Jack was very good at bringing out the best in a horse and often times owners would bring their horses to Mr. Smith’s just so Jack could work them. One mare that he worked at Mr. Smith’s was later sold for $26,000 at a sale in Springfield, Missouri.

In 1947, Jack left S.W.’s for a training job on the west coast. At the time he was engaged to Marianne Gray. He reminisces, “When I left to go to the west coast I was engaged to Marianne Gray. I got out there and I called back to Mrs. Gray to tell her I’d send a ticket for Marianne to come out so we could be married. Mrs. Gray said that if I wanted to marry Marianne I’d have to come back to Tennessee. That ended that and Marianne ended up marrying J.T. Leech.”

Jack took 50 head of horses to Snowy Butte Ranch in Medford, Oregon. He remembers, “The people in Oregon couldn’t understand me and I couldn’t understand them very well. Also, the horses were used to southern accents and hardly knew what the Oregon cowboys were saying. So, every night I’d walk down the barn aisle and tell the horses, ‘I realize we’re away from home but don’t worry because I’ll look after you.’ I had a good understanding with them and always took good care of them.”

Jack stayed in Oregon until 1956 when he moved to California. He continued to train for a short while but changes in the industry eventually caused him to quit. He explains, “One reason I quit training was that other trainers had started soring horses. I sored one horse and I went back out to the barn that night and cleaned him up. I just couldn’t do that to a horse; I couldn’t stand to see them suffer. I’m so thankful that it’s so much better now than it was. The soring is about gone and I think it’ll all be gone soon.”

Following his training career, Jack worked for 40 years as a Greyhound Bus driver. After hauling horses all over the country, the transition to driving a bus was very easy. Over his four decade long career, Jack accumulated 2,800,000 miles of safe driving.

While he was no longer training, Jack continued to be involved with his breed of choice. He continued to breed, own, and show horses, and to work as a horse show judge and DQP. In fact, it was at a horse show that he met his wife of 37 years, Bea.

An accomplished all-around horsewoman, Bea had been raising and showing colts for several years and she and Jack had much in common. Of her, Jack says, “Bea has always been a partner. I’d just as soon have her break a colt to lead and park as anybody I’ve ever seen. She loves them and she has the patience to work with them.”

Always interested in genetics and breeding, Bea made it her mission to get Champagne recognized as a color by the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders’ and Exhibitors’ Association (TWHBEA). It took her eight years of keeping records, taking hair and blood samples, and consulting with geneticists from around the country to fulfill her mission. The Kinkades now stand the champagne foundation stallion Champagne Look (the last foal out of the late great Champagne Lady) and raise several fine champagne colts a year.

Fully committed to the breed they love, both Kinkades have served terms on TWHBEA’s board of directors. Additionally, while in California they would often host TWHBEA officials when they visited the region.

In addition, Jack was instrumental in organizing the DQP program on the west coast. He worked with the Regulatory and trained several DQPs. He states, “The best thing that ever happened was when they started the DQP program to stop the soring.”

Always an in-demand judge, Jack judged the 1982 National Futurity. Reminiscing about the experience, he remarks, “There were 89 weanling fillies that year. I took the time to walk the line-up and look at each on individually. I was still out long after the other two judges had sat down. After the show was over, those filly owners met me at the gate and thanked me for looking at each of their horses. That made me feel good. I was staying with S.W. during the show and he usually won most of the blues at the Futurity. Well, that year he only got one. He didn’t speak to me for about three days after the show. When he finally asked me why I hadn’t tied him, I told him that I just wasn’t going to tie him if his horse wasn’t the best in the class.”

While Jack returned to middle Tennessee two or three times a year most years that he was on the west coast, by June of 2005 he was ready to permanently return to the region and he and Bea and their horses relocated to Lewisburg, Tennessee. In addition to their stallion Champagne Look and their broodmares, the Kinkades currently own half interest in the talented four-year-old contender Busting Special, currently in training with Jimmy McConnell at Formac Stables. So far in 2006, Busting Special has claimed blues at the Mississippi State Charity Show, Germantown, Tony Rice, and the Magnolia Classic.

When asked why he has devoted so much of his life to the Tennessee Walking Horse, Jack answers, “I think the Walking Horse is the greatest horse God ever put on this earth. The disposition is excellent and the gaits are smooth. They’ve always been like family to me.”

Questioned about what he’s learned during his time in the horse industry, he replies, “No matter what you’re doing, if you started when you were three or four years old and do it all your life, you’re bound to learn a little something about it, especially if you love it like I do these horses.”
Discussing his thoughts on the breed’s development and the industry, he relates, “ I believe that Wilson Allen gave the breed its gait and that stallions like Merry Go Boy and Sir Maugray gave the breed its beauty. In my opinion, the best breeding today is Gold Coin and Ebony. Both of these horses put a lot of shake and swing on their offspring and, to me, a Walking Horse has got to shake its head. If they’re not shaking, they’re not walking. One of the biggest problems today is that people are breeding too many horses that shouldn’t be bred and we’re starting to see some problems like horses that are calf kneed and horses that have parrot mouths. People need to geld more and they need to only breed mares that are good. A lot of stallions would make better geldings and not every mare will make a good broodmare.”

Discussing what he thinks has made him so successful in life, Jack pronounces, “The main thing I believe in is God. I think He looks after us and if we help other people and animals He will reward us. I believe that with all my heart.”

Jack Kinkade has spent his entire life fully immersed in the Walking Horse industry. He has been around since the beginning and he has witnessed most of the momentous events in our breed’s history. A caring and considerate man, his first concern has always been the welfare of the horses and the betterment of the breed. Jack Kinkade has been a true asset to the breed and the industry.