Strolling Jim (1936–1954) was the first
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 ...
to become World Grand Champion of his breed. Since Strolling Jim's death, a restaurant, street, and an annual
ultramarathon
An ultramarathon is a footrace longer than the traditional marathon distance of . The sport of running ultramarathons is called ultra running or ultra distance running.
Various distances, surfaces, and formats are raced competitively, from the ...
in his hometown of Wartrace, Tennessee have been named after him.
Life
Strolling Jim was
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 in 1936 near
Viola, Tennessee, and was bred by Ed Gilliam. Strolling Jim was sired by
Wilson's Allen and out of Allen's Strolling Jennie. Through his sire he was half-brother to
Midnight Sun
Midnight sun, also known as polar day, is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the Sun remains visible at the local midnight. When midnight sun is see ...
and
Haynes Peacock. He was a
chestnut
The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
Description
...
with a left hind sock, star, and snip on his nose.
Strolling Jim was first trained to pull a wagon and a
plow
A plough or (Differences between American and British spellings, US) plow (both pronounced ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses but modern ploughs ...
by Jim Rose. Like many horses at the time, he was used as a working farm horse until he was seen by a well-known Walking Horse trainer at the time, Floyd Carothers.
[ Carothers thought the young ]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 ...
had potential, bought him for $350 and took him into training.
Strolling Jim was a three-year-old in 1939, when the first 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 ...
was held in Wartrace. He was shown by Floyd Carothers
Floyd Carothers (died 1944) was an American horse trainer from Wartrace, Tennessee. Carothers trained Strolling Jim, the first Tennessee Walking Horse to become World Grand Champion of his breed. He also trained the third World Grand Champion, M ...
and the pair won the World Grand Championship.[
After his win, Strolling Jim was sold multiple times and finally sold out of state to a farm in ]California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. From there he went to Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
, where he had a successful show career, before being flown back to Tennessee in 1947. There he was given to Carothers' widow, Olive. She showed him in a ladies' class in the 1948 Celebration, which was his final show before his retirement.[
]
Legacy
A color portrait of Strolling Jim, painted in 1940 by Bill Humphreys, is on display in the Tennessee Walking Horse National Museum, along with the leather saddle Strolling Jim wore at the 1939 Celebration.
In the late 1990s, some guests at the Walking Horse Hotel reported seeing Strolling Jim's ghost "prancing" around by his old stables on New Year's Eve. The restaurant at the hotel was named the Strolling Jim Restaurant after a renovation in 2007.
An annual 40-mile ultramarathon held in Wartrace is named in the horse's honor, and there is a street named Strolling Jim Drive in the nearby town of Shelbyville, Tennessee
Shelbyville is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Bedford County, Tennessee. The town was laid out in 1810 and incorporated in 1819. Shelbyville had a population of 20,335 at the 2010 census. The town is a hub of the Tennessee Wa ...
.
Pedigree
Notes
..
References
{{Portal bar, Horses, United States
External links
Video of Strolling Jim
Individual Tennessee Walking Horses
1936 animal births
World Grand Champion Tennessee Walking Horses