A Tribute to the Walking Horse Breed

His show days have long been over yet he continues to make a contribution to all those who know him. He is held in high esteem as our Senior Equine Team Member at Canopy Cove, helping those who struggle with anorexia and bulimia to gain confidence, trust and self respect as they overcome their life-threatening eating disorder.

Have you ever seen one of those movies that show how things would have turned out if only one thing had been different? I often wonder how my life would be if I had not had Sweet Georgia Brown as a friend and show buddy.

It seems that his talents and notoriety has created an identity for me and certainly not the other way around. Whether I’m at a one night horse show, the Celebration or just visiting a barn I’m almost always asked about Sweet Georgia Brown. Although the people asking often don’t remember my name they always remember his. It doesn’t take but a minute before they have a story to tell about him. Past show ring competitors or those who just appreciated his talents will ask about him.

They will inquire hesitantly at first or in an indirect way sort of hinting around to see if he is still alive. Most are shocked to hear that he is not only alive but also that he is in good health as well. Fortunately, he does not have wobbly legs or arthritic joints that cause swelling or deformities nor does he show any signs of malnutrition.

Even though I have had the opportunity and privilege to experience some major accomplishments in the walking horse world they tend to go unnoticed. For example, no one remembers or mentions the honor I experienced the night I won a Blue Ribbon at the Celebration in the first Amateur Two Year Old World Championship Class ever held or the privilege we had of owning Pride’s Generator as a four year old. And you know what? They pale in comparison to being Sweet Georgia Brown’s companion. In the past couple of years I’ve had many requests for an update article on Sweet Georgia Brown, so in response to those who have cared about him in the past and for those who still hold him dear please know that he is alive and well.

It is hard to believe that Sweet Georgia or “Pops” as we affectionately call him is actually forty years old. However, he has been in our lives for so long that I can hardly remember a time without him. Unless we are at a horse show or at our home in Shelbyville, he is almost always our first responsibility of the day. We make sure that he is up and well and then give him his morning feeding and care. This could include a number of things from removing a blanket, to applying fly spray, giving an eye treatment or various other things depending on the time of year and his needs. Routine grooming still includes a bath every week (weather permitting), always a clipped bridle path and a full body clipping for the summer. The fierier routinely trims his feet and the vet checks are frequent.

Those of you who fall in the younger generation of walking horse enthusiasts may not recognize the name Sweet Georgia Brown. But, some of you who have been around the ring a few more years will probably remember the striking 15.2 bay horse that always came into the show ring doing all that he could do for as long as the class lasted. Many times that attribute earned him a ribbon that tied over his competitors; he just never quit. (Mickey McCormick remembers how he would “sit on the rail and pound out a blue never missing”). He was often a crowd favorite; even the organists would frequently play the tune “Sweet Georgia Brown” as he came it to the ring and again when he received his ribbon. His natural talents, especially his ability to use his back-end would often capture the attention of the judge as well as the crowd and sometimes generate a “slip” to go back through inspection. I never got anxious when I saw a show official headed our way with a small piece of paper in hand because it was a relatively common occurrence and we always passed.

Sweet Georgia Brown’s successful show ring career included retiring several trophies as well as winning blues in major shows across the country. One of the most memorable blues was won in the 15.2 and under class in Jackson, Mississippi. We were in the warm up area waiting for our class to be called and since I was somewhat new to the Walking Horse show ring I didn’t recognize the horses or their riders. As we waited, Gary Edwards looked around at our competition, and then proceeded to name each of them and to describe their numerous world championship accomplishments. Then he added, in a somewhat solemn tone, “and Sweet Georgia Brown”. He was a no name yet he showed his heart that night making one of his most spectacular performances and we came home with a blue ribbon the size of a dinner plate.

Although Sweet Georgia Brown never won a blue ribbon at the Celebration he won blues in the hearts of many the night we tied 5th in the Ladies Championship Class. That was our greatest victory in the Celebration Ring. However, he and our daughter Donda won their Juvenile Class at the Fun show during their show ring career making that his highest achievement at the Celebration grounds. In and out of the show ring he taught three generations of the Brogdon ladies to ride. Both daughters, Tam and Donda, showed him in Juvenile competition while our granddaughter Channing began her riding experience on his back at age three.

For most of us horse lovers there just seems to be some horses that we love or feel a special attraction to. Sometimes we can explain those reasons and other times we can’t. It’s not necessarily the rider or the trainer but there is just something indescribable that makes them special. I really believe that Sweet Georgia Brown is one of those Special horses. He would often receive applause as he came in the ring or as he performed. Little children would come up and ask if he was going to show because they didn’t want to miss his class. “Miss Dixie” (Mrs. Parnell) came up to me one night at the Celebration and asked if Sweet Georgia Brown was going to be in the same class with her, when I told her no she was thrilled. I think that was probably one of the greatest compliments Sweet Georgia Brown ever received. I was shocked that she was dreading showing against him.

Sweet Georgia Brown’s specialness has transcended the show ring world to the eating disorder world. He holds rank as our Senior Equine Therapy Team Member at our Eating Disorder Treatment Center--Canopy Cove and is well loved by all. His contributions have been recognized and featured in several national magazines, at national and world level conferences as well as being highlighted through television coverage. He is well known throughout the country’s eating disorder treatment community and is often asked about at our conferences. Since 1985 I have been working with individuals who experience anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorders. A great amount of my time has been invested in developing Canopy Cove and running its programs to help people recover from these life threatening disorders and little time has been spent at horse shows. So, for many of you my family will seem to be new comers as we head back to the show ring and for others we will seem like old timers just coming home.

However, we will continue to follow our passion for helping eating disorder victims recover and Sweet Georgia Brown will remain in the capacity he has served for over 16 years as the leader of our equine team. He offers many opportunities to address eating disorder issues. As you probably know there is no one thing that causes an eating disorder but rather a host of issues that makes someone vulnerable to developing anorexia, bulimia or binge eating disorders. Females are more likely to develop these disorders and usually fall prey to perceiving themselves as unworthy, fat or ugly to the degree that nothing else matters. Even though they may have started out to just lose a few pounds or feel better, once they become trapped in an eating disorder, no weight is ever low enough or nothing they do is ever considered good enough. Unlike what some may mistakenly think, eating disorders have little or nothing to do with weight, food or how someone looks or wants to look. There are a number of reasons that cause over 500,000 people to die each year in the USA from the consequences of eating disorders. To help put this number in perspective consider that everyone who attended every class at the Celebration for the past 4 years suddenly died this year. This unbelievable and horrifying tragedy would still represent fewer people than will lose their lives to eating disorders this year in our country. Some things that make eating disorders so life threatening include the lack of knowledge in the general public and the professional community. This contributes to the difficulty in identifying and diagnosing. Since eating disorders develop gradually they can easily go undetected. Even the victim may not know that she has an eating disorder until it is far down the road. At this point the eating disorder has become a part of her life and it may feel scary to disclose this to anyone for fear that she may have to give it up. This ultimately means getting fat to the person struggling with any eating disorder.

So you may ask, how does this affect me? Hopefully not at all. But I doubt that most of you reading this article have been exempted from having this travesty affect someone you know and care about. You may pass people every day that you would never dream had a problem. They are so good at hiding the eating disorder that they go unrecognized by those around them for a long time; again contributing to such a high incidence of mortality. Unfortunately an eating disorder spares no one. Everyone is a candidate; those who love walking horses and those who don’t. Those who have an intense need to please others, are unusually hard on themselves, perfectionistic and beautiful both physically and spiritually are likely targets. It is alarming that the age of onset for an eating disorder is becoming younger and younger with children presenting at early ages between four and 11 more and more frequently. Also, at the other end of the spectrum we are seeing an increasing frequency of women in their 50’s developing eating disorders as well. Although men are less likely to develop eating disorders their number is increasing also.

The gifts that Sweet Georgia Brown continues to give include his contribution to the healing of these victims. Regardless of their age or gender they seem to connect with him and can clearly see how being with him and the other horses makes such a difference in their treatment and recovery. The staff at Canopy Cove know that I believe any eating disorder issue can be addressed through Walking Horse assisted therapy. We often work on body image issues challenging the myth of “looks are everything” by comparing the worth of Sweet Georgia Brown to that of the younger horses who have a more pleasing conformation. One of the most powerful therapeutic activities that we do at the barn is the Five Horses Four Stalls Body Image Session. We introduce five of our horses and describe all of their needs then we let each patient decide which one they will choose to eliminate so that we will have adequate housing. Of course Sweet Georgia Brown is the most costly to care for monetarily and timewise as well as being the oldest and having the least attractive physical appearance. But, they will never eliminate him regardless of his challenges. Eating disorder victims benefit from indirect approaches such as Equine therapy to be able to move beyond their distorted perception of themselves. Activities such as the Five Horses Four Stalls help them to experience that their beauty, like Sweet Georgia Brown’s, is more than just a physical appearance.

The horses’ unique and varying feed requirements helps to challenge the irrational thoughts about the size of each person’s meal plan and the myth that they never need as much or more than anyone else regardless of their extreme low body weight. By comparing the large amount of food “Pops” requires each day to the ½ scoop another horse needs and seeing that they are equally fit allows us to begin chipping away at the denied right to nourishment. I could go on but I’m sure that you get my point and likely agree. Where would we be without our Walking Horses? My job would be much moredifficult and our patients would miss a lot. We frequently hear:

Quite frankly, I can hardly believe that I will be able to exist without having him as a part of my life. Yet a few months ago I was faced with the cold reality that he might have given up his desire to live. That in its self was terrifying.

For the past year he has had ongoing problems with his right eye. Eventually he was diagnosed with Equine Recurrent Uveitis (Moon Blindness). We treated it as the Veterinarian recommended and it improved some yet continued to deteriorate until finally he had lost complete vision. He learned to cope with the loss of sight of one eye very well and life went on as usual for him. Then, one evening in early December I went to call the horses in for their evening feeding and Sweet Georgia Brown didn’t come to the barn with the others. Eventually I saw him heading to the barn but noticed that he ran into the fence and seemed startled but made his way on in to be fed. I rationalized that the barn lights blinded him and didn’t think any more about it. However, the next evening, he didn’t follow the other horses to the barn once again. This time after about an hour of looking for him and panic stricken I found him wandering around in our heavily wooded back pasture. He was disoriented and continuously walked into trees as he attempted to find his way out. Since he is practically deaf and was now obviously blind in both eyes he had no idea about how to find his way out of the woods. Eventually, through screaming his name and gradually getting close enough to touch him I wrapped my jacked around his neck and led him out; about an hour later we made our way to the barn.

The next few days were extremely trying for all of us. Our entire family and our patients are all attached to Sweet Georgia Brown as we are to no other horse. We tried all kinds of things to make his life more manageable. Yet, he simply would not eat or drink anything. After a few days the Vet also became very concerned and began to suggest the possibility of the inevitable. I would not even discuss that unspeakable choice. I suddenly remembered that I knew someone who lived nearby that bred who raised miniature horses. I quickly called her and described my dilemma and the need for a quiet and gentle companion for Sweet Georgia Brown. Surprisingly she had an 8 month young filly that she believed would be a match. We immediately picked her up and took her home within the hour and introduced her to our old guy. It was an instant success. He nuzzled her as they stood in the breezeway and she snuggled under his neck and they have been best of friends since. He began drinking and eating and finally stopped the continual pacing that had left him drenched in perspiration all day. We were able to imprint him to the feed bucket (that is attached to the round pen at a level that his little companion can’t reach) and to the water bucket within a day or two. We attached a large vinyl awning over his feed bucket to prevent the rain from ruining his food and to provide a dry place for him to eat. We later removed a panel of the round pen and erected a covered three sided soft vinyl stall that provides shelter from the rain and cold. This was an easy transition for him as well. He now moves about freely in the round pen and eats his usual feedings and finds his way into his stall with no trouble. For the first three months he seemed content to be in his confined surroundings then we began to notice that he was becoming agitated. I thought about what might be different then decided that he probably wanted to be out grazing. The winter months had given way to Spring and budding grass and he knew that. At first I was anxious about taking him out so I kept him on a lead line to let him graze. After a few days of lead line grazing I detached myself and just stood close by and let him know I was near by touching him occasionally. Next, I left him alone for a short while and watched him. He would graze in a small area and stay close to where he had been left. So, I thought that he would be ok left alone for short periods. Time proved that to be true and eventually he has become comfortable venturing out across a 6 acre pasture. Since he has difficulty finding his water in such a large space, we lead him to the water bucket about every 2 hours. He seems to be content and he and his little companion Angel make a cute pasture couple. As summer approached we discovered a new round pen need; shade during the middle of the day. So, additional panels were added to the existing round pen to include a large oak tree, providing all day shade. Plans are currently underway for the addition of a fan and mister to make the summer months in Florida more enjoyable.

Our patients continue to benefit from interacting with him and are even more caring for him now that he has such special needs. We invite you to visit our website for more pictures of “Pops” and the other girls and guys on the team.

We would also like to invite you to visit Billie Nipper’s gallery during the Celebration and enjoy the painting of Sweet Georgia Brown’s life that she will have on display. Also, we would be honored for you to stop by our booth in the Calsonic Arena during the Celebration and let us share how we include the Tennessee Walking Horse in equine therapy at Canopy cove.

For additional information on Equine Recurrent Uveitis please see the websites listed below. Prevention or a delayed process may be possible with early intervention. However, if the unfortunate circumstance of equine blindness occurs, please remember that a fulfilling life can exist after sight loss. There are websites that are available for the care of a blind horse. Unfortunately we did not discover them until we had figured out how to handle most situations; however, I hope that they could be useful for anyone who is in need.