| The
story of the Tennessee Walking Horse, the only horse named for a state, is one
filled with history. It has been through dedication and perseverance to keeping
the bloodlines pure that the breed has grown to the enormity it enjoys today.
The popularity and the conformation of the walking horse can be traced directly
to Charles Brantley's family. Charles
Brantley has been a constant force in the breeding and development of the Tennessee
Walking Horse. | 
|
| He
has worked diligently to insure that the walking horse breed remains pure and
the gaits are bred into the horse. Without
Charles Brantley's dedication to detail and his love of the breed, neither the
walking horse nor the industry would have grown to where it is today. Located
in northern Coffee County, Tennessee, in the Noah community, Charles Brantley's
family farm has a long and rich heritage associated with the Tennessee Walking
Horse. It was to this farm in March 1903, that Allan F-1, who has come to be known
as the foundation sire of the Tennessee Walking Horse, came to live. In
the past century, Allan F-1 and his descendents have been at the Brantley family
farm passing on the traits that have made the Tennessee Walking Horse a distinct
breed. Following in his father's, J. French Brantley's, footsteps, Charles chose
farming and livestock for a vocation.
Bob
Cherry, executive director of the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders' and Exhibitors'
Association said, "Charles Brantley and breeding operations such as his are
the life blood of the walking horse industry. He and his family have bred the
famous walking horse gait into the walking horse, and foals on his farm have dominated
the breeding industry."
|
