On the afternoon of Tuesday, March 21st, CasMol Farms of Cookeville, Tennessee was able to showcase the great Tennessee Walking Horse breed to one of Tennessee Tech University’s agriculture classes. The Equine Production class of the College of Agriculture and Human Ecology met with Rod Slagle and Jordan Stacy at the Hyder-Burks Facility in Cookeville and was introduced to the nine year old gelding, A Good Time Charlie. Big Charlie, as he is affectionately known, is a performance show horse who has competed since the age of two, most commonly in the Amateur 15.2 & Under division with Cassi Slagle.
Each student received three pamphlets from TWHBEA and The Celebration with some incredible information about Tennessee Walking Horses and the breed, as a whole. The students learned quite a lot of information, with the highlights being the following:
The breed’s natural gait and how that sets them apart from others.
The shoeing process and a breakdown of the shoeing parameters.
Each student held a 6 oz action device to ascertain the weight and learned about the required uniformity in the links.
The meticulous inspection process each and every horse goes through in order to make it in the show ring, and back out again, if you have placed accordingly.
The versatility and longevity of our amazing breed, both in and out of the ring.
After giving an example inspection, Jordan rode Big Charlie both ways of the ring. He was able to showcase the dog walk, flat walk, and running walk. A Good Time Charlie had all winter off and had sparingly been ridden in the last two weeks, so the students were able to see how natural our breed truly is and how much they enjoy getting to show off!
The TTU students had great questions for Rod and Jordan, and were very receptive and interested throughout the entire experience. Big Charlie was a very well-behaved and a patient participant. When the students praised him at the end of the class, he absolutely adored the attention, further proving our breed’s superior disposition. It was a great afternoon promoting the greatest breed on earth: the Tennessee Walking Horse!