HOW WE STARTED

Growing up in the Bay Area, California seems like an odd place to begin your roots in understanding the genetics of the Tennessee Walking Horse. I grew up Oakland, however spent weekends and summers on 300 Acres in the foothills overlooking Hayward, San Leandro and Oakland. This is where I began riding horses early on at eight years old. They were big coarse horses, with big heads, and good size. They were intriguing because they were so smooth, and my cousins and I could all ride on one horse without the horse getting upset. This aspect I never forgot. My entire family moved off of the farm when I was in high school because the State of California purchased the land to build the University Campus on, so there went all of my fun. After graduating from High School and College, I married a girl that also grew up in the country in Fresno, California. She was from San Francisco. After being married a few Years, I went to work for Eastman Kodak Company. It was awful tough dealing with the commutes in the Bay Area, and my wife and I spoke often of our youth and the things we missed in the country. I asked for a transfer to open up the state of Idaho for Kodak in 1982. We were finally able to begin establishing what seemed just a few years ago for the two of us. My very 1st horse that I bought was Romper’s Banner by Halls’ Golden Sun by Golden Hall Allen by Hall Allen. He was as smooth if not smoother than the horses of my youth, with his ride being gently soft, and he floated along and was never rough downhill uphill or on a flat trail. Kathy my wife, settled on Desert Song who had the blood of Barker’s Moonbeam, Red Mary, Nell Boswell and Nell Dement. I also owned and rode Peacock’s Promise and her daughter, Go Midnight Promise. Promise was by Peacock by Last Chance. These two mares were ultra smooth, shaking and always going down the road like they were in a hurry to get home for supper. They did this in any direction they went. It took a while to really appreciate what we had for horses. After observing many other Walking Horses from all over the United States on my multiple trips around the USA with Kodak, I realized that I had to better understand and break the genetic code on these horses. They seemed so complex, but not all that complex.

 

After realizing that the key to success was in the Dam’s side of either the paternal or maternal parent, I begin looking deeper at the bloodlines of Nell Boswell and Gray Lad by Bramlett F-9 by Buford F-11. I started to better understand Hall Allen, Last Chance and especially Sun’s Delight D. By Snips Chance by Snip by Grey Lad. One stallion we recently acquired is He’s On Georgia Time by Pride’s generator by Ice Cold Love by Delights Cold Ice. This cross is noted as the most successful cross in TWH History. Sounds good, but let’s look deeper. We know that Sun’s Delight D traces to Snip by Grey Lad. In reviewing the dam of Delight’s Cold Ice, we note that she is bred on top by Grey John Allen by Bramlett, and on the bottom by Peacock by last Chance. The other dam is Toney Girl directly by Bramlett. Delight’s Cold ice offers (3) three direct cross to Bramlet by Grey Lad and once to Last Chance. I can truly see what occurred when daughters of Delights Cold Ice were bred to Prides Generator. Truly knowledgeable breeders understood the reason why as it seems this was not an accident. To ride He’s On Georgia Time will explain the bloodline along with his laid back disposition. The influence of Ray Corum and Arthur Dement today is vast and runs very deep. My Selection of Merry Boy Duplicator along with Gay Boy Chance were very good choices. I really studied the way successful dog breeders bred, the British Horse Racing breeders and noting that the bottom side had the greatest influence and bred with unparalleled reliability. In traveling abroad, and all over our country, I have noted that the horse breeders that fully understand this issue had a long running program that was successful. Those that bred for color, in vogue horses were very troubled by inconsistent and unreliable results. At Cottonwood Crossing, we wanted to breed the uncanny smoothness of what I rode as a child, and knew deep down that the real reason people select a Tennessee Walking Horse is because of its disposition and smooth ride. I had been troubled by noting that I had to ride 15 horses to find one that was ‘really good’ in all gears. That is why today we still breed the blood of Last Chance, Nell Dement, Grey Lad, Merry Boy and Sun’s Delight D as close up and concentrated as we can, with the uncanny smoothness coming through with off spring after off spring with our Cadillac maker’s. The reliability is genetically encoded. We feel we have broken the code for bringing back the original TWH in the same form as it was from 1840 to 1955.