Lewisburg, Tenn. - This year the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders’ and Exhibitors’ Association (TWHBEA) was pleased to present four Master Breeder Awards. The highest and most prestigious recognition given to a breeder of Tennessee Walking Horses, the TWHBEA Master Breeder Award recognizes those breeders whose body of work over an extended period of time has had a significant and long-lasting impact on the Tennessee Walking Horse breed. For 2011, Master Breeder Awards were bestowed upon J. Mac Carter, Charles Ramsey, Sam Stockett and the George Wright family.
J. Mac Carter
J. Mac Carter began his breeding program in the 1950s after purchasing a farm on Midland Road just outside Murfreesboro with the intention of turning it into a dairy, which he did. The farm became home to what was, in its time, the best producing dairy herd in Rutherford County. It was J. Mac Carter’s ability to study the production records of cows that gave him the idea that the same principles might work with horses. It was his belief that somewhere within the complicated and baffling laws of nature there is a definable pattern of genes that will produce superior products that led Carter to produce a string of royally bred and unquestionably talented Tennessee Walking Horses.
He started his breeding program with a band of mares by Midnight Sun, Merry Go Boy and Miller’s Wilson Allen, which he out crossed with other prominent walking horse families. The first broodmare of significance Carter purchased was Shadow’s Nookie by Goy Boy’s Shadow and out of Jay’s Traveler, who was also the dam of the successful show mare Midnight Mystery. When Carter bought Shadow’s Nookie she was in foal to The Impala and the next spring she gave birth to Impala’s Shadowette, the dam of 1973 World Grand Champion Delight Bummin’ Around, Delight’s Tramp, Delight’s Vamp and Delight’s Hobo.
Over the years Carter continued to gather a herd of outstanding broodmares, and his reputation as a breeder of great horses was solidified. Other horses produced by the J. Mac Carter breeding program include Delight’s Double Clutch, Bum’s Storm Cloud, Ebony’s Hacksaw, Time To Deal, Delight’s Delightful and Delight’s Caper.
Charles Ramsey
A native of Viola, Tenn., Charles Ramsey made one of the most momentous and influential breeding decisions in the history of the Tennessee Walking Horse breed when he decided to breed his mare, Ramsey’s Rena, to the great stallion Wilson’s Allen. This cross produced the horse that has been referred to as the greatest sire of all time and the horse of the century - Midnight Sun.
Ramsey’s decision on that long ago day in 1940 set the tone for future generations of Tennessee Walking Horses. Midnight Sun was shown to both the 1945 and 1946 World Grand Championships before finding what may have been his true calling in the breeding shed. He went on to sire more that 2,000 foals including World Grand Champions Midnight Merry, The Talk Of The Town, Setting Sun, Sun’s Jet Parade and Sun’s Delight D. He also produced the great Pride Of Midnight and a slew of good producing broodmares and sires.
Sam Stockett
Sam Stockett hails from Jackson, Mississippi, and began riding when he was five. He made his first show ring appearance aboard a Shetland Pony when he was eight and three years later he made the transition to Tennessee Walking Horses under the direction of J. H. Noblin. Influenced by a childhood spent immersed in the Tennessee Horse World, Sam Stockett has spent the years since that time working towards the betterment of the breed he loves.
In February of 1979, he purchased from Tom Jones of Franklin, Tenn., a three-year-old son of Pride Of Midnight. This talented young stallion was named Pride’s Royal Master. After a successful show career, Royal Master was retired full time to the breeding barn where he quickly made a name for himself as a top choice among knowledgeable breeders. His first crop of seven foals arrived in 1981 and all seven made successful show horses. When Stockett acquired Pride’s Royal Master, he owned only three mares, and he had been adding, very selectively, to his broodmare band. The success of the stallion’s first foal crop stressed, even more strongly, the importance of assembling a group of top caliber mares.
Stockett intensified his search and by the mid to late 1980s his broodmare band included such standouts of Tiger Lilly K.C.H.C., Rock’s Romance, Lonely Little Star, Delight’s Star M., Delight’s Caper, Bum’s Caper, Senator Special Babe, Delight’s Kay M. and Delight’s Ideal among others. Crossing these mares with Royal Master, Stockett produced successful contenders such as Royal Label, Royal Seal, Royal’s Dark Bum, Royal’s Kay, Royal Deal and Royal Sparkle. Stockett also proved successful when crossing his mares with his second stallion Pride’s Last Recall and other prominent stallions.
Today, Stockett continues to seek out only the best mares and to produce top quality foals that are full of potential.
The George Wright Family
The breeding program of the George Wright family began with one mare - Shadow’s Juliet. By Go Boy’s Shadow and out of a Stately Allen mare, Shadow’s Juliet produced Master Perfection who, in turn produced two Pride Of Midnight daughters whose offspring would become the beginnings of the George Wright family broodmare band.
From this broodmare band, the Wright family breeding program produced such greats as World Grand Champions Gen On The Run and Play Something Country, and Reserve World Grand Champion and sire of numerous world champions Pride’s Main Man. They are also the breeders of record for over 20 world and national futurity champions as well as numerous reserve title holders.
The Wright family currently has 12 producing mares, seven of which are by Pride’s Main Man. At the 2011 National Futurity and Celebration, five of their mares had offspring that won two world grand championships, three world championships, one reserve world championship, two national futurity championships and two reserve national futurity championships.