I Am Jose (

foal A foal is an equine up to one year old; this term is used mainly for horses, but can be used for donkeys. More specific terms are colt (horse), colt for a male foal and filly for a female foal, and are used until the horse is three or four. Whe ...

ed October 8, 2008) is a

Tennessee Walking Horse The Tennessee Walking Horse or Tennessee Walker is a horse breed, breed of gaited horse known for its unique four-beat running-walk and flashy movement. It was originally Horse breeding, developed as a riding horse on farms and plantations in t ...

stallion and three-time World Grand Champion. He is the first stallion and second horse to win the World Grand Championship three times. I Am Jose is

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

with a star on his forehead.

Life and career

I Am Jose was foaled on October 8, 2008 near

Franklin, North Carolina Franklin is a town in and the county seat of Macon County, North Carolina, United States. It is situated within the Nantahala National Forest. The population was reported to be 4,175 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, an increase from ...

. He is a black stallion with a star on his forehead, sired by Jose Jose and out of Pride's Angelique. He was bred by Robert Rollins and sold to Billy and Debbie Woods of

Lexington, Tennessee Lexington is a city in Henderson County, Tennessee, United States. It is midway between Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, lying south of Interstate 40, which connects the two cities. Its population was 7,956 at the ...

on February 14, 2011. The Woods put him in training with Casey Wright of Reagan, Tennessee. In 2013, Wright entered I Am Jose in the

Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration (TWHNC), sometimes known as the Celebration, is the largest horse show for the Tennessee Walking Horse breed, and has been held annually in or near Shelbyville, Tennessee since its inception in 19 ...

, where he won the four-year-old World Championship. Wright and the Woods made the decision to enter I Am Jose in the open World Grand Championship, which he won. I Am Jose won a second World Grand Championship in 2014, and a third just after midnight on September 6, 2015. I Am Jose is the first

stallion A stallion is an adult male horse that has not been gelded ( castrated). Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cre ...

to win three World Grand Championships and only the second horse ever to do so; the first was the

gelding A gelding (Help:IPA/English, /ˈɡɛldɪŋ/) is a castration, castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. The term is also used with certain other animals and livestock, such as domesticated Camelidae, camels. By compa ...

The Talk of the Town in 1951, 1952 and 1953. I Am Jose is the first repeat winner since Go Boy's Shadow in 1955 and 1956. His winning entry was his only show appearance in 2015, and his owners did not comment on whether it was the last of his career. Of note was that the Celebration has very strict inspection standards to prevent

soring Soring is the use of chemicals, pressure or devices to cause pain to the front feet and legs of horses when they touch the ground. This results in the horses picking up their front feet higher and faster than they would do naturally. Sometimes ca ...

and I Am Jose passed. His trainer explained in 2014, "that's why we took him up there. We ain't got nothing to hide." Following the 2015 show season, the Walking Horse Trainers' Association named I Am Jose Horse of the Year in their stallions and over division. Between show seasons, he also stood at stud each fall after his championships and again between March and June, returning to show conditioning about a month prior to competition. It was this ability to switch focus from breeding to showing that was viewed as particularly impressive.

Pedigree

† denotes

inbreeding Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely genetic distance, related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genet ...

References

{{reflist Individual Tennessee Walking Horses 2008 animal births World Grand Champion Tennessee Walking Horses