On the early morning of January 1, 2013, the Tennessee Walking Horse community lost a talented horse with the death of two-time Reserve World Champion and Reserve World Grand Champion, Lightswitch.

The sweet 24-year-old pony was born on April 16, 1988 after being bred by Carroll Doyle of Cynthiana, Ky. Lightswitch was sired by My Midnight Lightfoot and his dam was Almost Black. In 1991, the then three-year-old Lightswitch was bought by the Billy Ball family of LaFollette, Tenn. With Billy Ball in the irons, the sorrel pony won 20 blue ribbons, including one Reserve World Grand Championship, two Reserve World Championships. The team also claimed blues at the Trainer's Show, Woodbury, Tennessee State Championship, the Kentucky Celebration, two International blue ribbons, and numerous blues in the Upper Cumberland area, East Tennessee, and Kentucky.

The Ball family owned and showed Lightswitch until 2004, when the Robinson family of Cookeville, Tenn., purchased the trusty little gelding and had a very successful 2005 show season with the great pony. In June of 2006, Cassi Slagle of Cookeville, Tenn., acquired the 18-year-old Lightswitch, or as he was known at the barn, "Butterball". Cassi and Lightswitch had a very successful show ring career, spanning from 2006 to 2009, and accumulated five blue ribbons and five reserve ribbons from their twenty shows in which they competed. Along with his countless ribbons, Lightswitch earned an array of high point awards from different associations, with his last award being the Upper Cumberland Walking Horse Association's 2008 Youth Pony Champion with Cassi Slagle. Lightswitch was retired after showing one time in the 2009 season when he and Cassi walked their way to their last blue ribbon in their final outing as a team.

Lightswitch then spent his last years in the barn with his fellow companions, slipping his halter whenever it was on, or out in the round pen bucking in the sunshine. "Lightswitch was the sweetest, most patient horse, and he was always ready and excited to go to a horse show. He truly enjoyed what he did, and I'm blessed to have owned him for six years. It's bittersweet losing him, but I know he's in a better place now,” said Cassi.