D&W Quarter Horses Are Foundation For The Good Life by Tom Burriss "Anything that I can't do from horse back, it ain't worth doing," says Wyatt Wilkinson very matter-of-factly. But, if you had some of the horses he has, you just might trade your tractor gladly for some work on horseback. A native of Fayette County, he was born and raised on Somerville-LaGrange road, and now resides not far from the original homestead at the junction of Monkhouse and Sardis, where he has been living for the last 12 years with his wife Jeanette. "I've been around horses all my life." Starting with the work that Wyatt's dad used to do, breaking horses for the US Calvary, Wyatt was influenced from the beginning. Later, Wyatt and his father used to go to the North Memphis Stockyards and buy mustangs. They would bring them home and break them for work as crop horses. Wyatt could tell how many acres a farm had by how many horses they owned. The rule of thumb being one horse for every 20 acres. "Most had two horse farms around here," recalls Wyatt. Horses were good for more than just work in those days too. Wyatt remembers when he and his father would use them as their main mode of transportation to Somerville. His father was a Mason, and they would make the five mile trek into town, and park the horses at the livery where Morris Lumber Co. is now located. Wyatt would catch a show at the Fair Theater while his dad was at the Lodge. Wyatt would watch the first show and then go meet his dad. They would return to the livery, pick up the horses and head back home. "We had a car, but we wouldn't use it. We'd just ride the horses." His dad leaned more towards gaited horses. "He would say, 'they call them quarter horses, because there's not a one I'd give more than a quarter to ride.'" However, the mustangs left a certain impression on Wyatt and what he liked about horses. Today, he and his wife Jeanette have stables based purely on Foundation Quarter Horses. The pair are a great match, both are animal lovers. There are four dogs that make their run of the Wilkinson's place. Both are extremely devoted to the care of their animals. They call their horses a hobby, and Wyatt often claimed he was just "fooling around with them." Without a doubt it is easy to see that they are nothing but serious about the quality and care of their horses. "I am not in the horse business, but if you don't treat it like it is then you won't do very well." This business is much different than the others he has been in, chemical exports, tires, and cattle. "I am on my fourth retirement now." "I spend eight hours a day with the horses. It is what I really like to do," he says. Wyatt looks for durability in horses. "I want them stocky and blocky, a good foot and straight legs. They need to be quick and inquisitive, but gentle." "I know that they aren't going to meet up with tired cows in the field. They're not bred to show, they are bred to work." That is why the Wilkinsons stay with the Foundation lines of the Quarter Horse breed. They breed working horses: gentle and trusting, smooth and well muscled, not very tall and easy to work with. Wyatt keeps two stallions standing at stud in his barn. One is a spectacularly muscled blue roan stallion named SPURS BOW TY foaled out of JACKS SPUR TWO x AZURE TY SPECIALTY from Reichmuth ranch in Nebraska. "He is guaranteed to throw color," Dun, Roan, or Buckskin. "He is playful, and just smart as a whip." "He had never seen a cow before, and the first time I put him on one he was two years old. The neighbor had a bull that kept getting out, and so we went out to see what he could do. He drove right in to the middle of that thing, and worked him." The other is a five-year-old stallion named IMA RED ROAN SHINER out of MAGNOLIA BARTENDER x WATCH MCCUE KITTY bred by the WG Willis farm in Oklahoma. SHINER is equally impressive but possess a leaner look and a subtly inquisitive mind. Of course keeping stallions is only half the game. The Wilkinson's are as proud of their mare herd, although they seem to have some unconventional, yet sound, methods for selecting them. Take for instance the story of how they acquired their Palomino mare, JOANIE (IMPRESSIVE x TWO EYED JACK), from the Pitzer ranch in Nebraska, who breed exclusively in the TWO EYED JACK line. "The wife just had to have her," recalls Wyatt. "She was just a wild as she could be, raised on the plains of Nebraska, never been indoors and never been around humans. She had hair on her about five or six inches long." "She looked like a yak!" exclaimed Jeanette. "But I get this feeling about certain horses and animals." "At the sale, there were a lot of people were around and she wasn't very responsive. Well I was just watching her, and then I called her over and she rested her had on my chest." Wyatt admits he was reluctant to load her the way she looked. But Jeanette had already made the connection with JOANIE and she talked her right into the trailer behind her. To see her now, you could never guess that she ever looked as bad as they said, and "she has the most gorgeous colts," says Jeanette. Although, not every mare is selected by coincidence. He pointed out their mare SPURS TWIST. She is a full sister to a world champion roping horse out of CANDIES TWIST x JACK SPUR TWO. Another chestnut mare, JOE ROCKER is the one he says is his "kid horse." "Anyone can get on her. She's really smart. She won't walk under a limb. She'll get to one, stop and wait for you to tell her where to go." The Wilkinsons are pretty strict about their breeding. "I let the mares get as mature as possible before they breed; never less than 4 years old. Then only every other year after that." says Wyatt "I think it keeps their body in better shape." "I love it in the spring time when there's a pasture full of babies." Wyatt and Jeanette begin working with their foals early. "What all these famous trainers do, we do the same thing, except in our own way." Jeanette can retell stories of many a night she has waited in the barn for foals, and then spending time imprinting them. All of them are gentled and used to humans. "We treat them all right," says Wyatt. "You know what they say about a good horse, it's one that you ride everyday." And that is something the Wilkinsons just cannot do anymore. The Wilkinson's are downsizing their herd: mares, colts and fillies. "There is not a horse here that you couldn't take right a way and start showing and winning trophies with." "We just don't like to leave them," remarks Jeanette. "This is what we do, and not much else." However, they look forward to another "retirement." Wyatt already has his "growin' old" horse picked out, a young filly, SHINER MATTIE DARLIN', out of his IMA RED ROAN SHINER stud and his SHEZA HANDCOCK BADGER mare. They plan to make trail rides in the Smokey Mountains, sit around the fire and feel lucky.