Elizabeth Fay Sain, (born November 20, 1942) is a former

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

trainer and breeder from

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. In 1966 she became the first woman to win the breed's World Grand Championship with the horse

Shaker's Shocker Shaker's Shocker was a Tennessee Walking Horse stallion who won his breed's World Grand Championship in 1966. Life Shaker's Shocker was foaled in 1962, by World Grand Champion Mack K's Handshaker and out of My Darling. He was bred by Tom Barham o ...

Life

Betty Sain was born Elizabeth Fay Sain on November 20, 1942, in

Manchester, Tennessee Manchester is a city in Coffee County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 12,213 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Coffee County. The city is located halfway between Nashville and Chattanooga on Interstate 24. Manchester is ...

. Her parents were Virginia Wright Sain and H. Pearl Sain, and she was their second child. As of 2010, Betty Sain had retired from the horse industry and was living in

Lynchburg, Tennessee Lynchburg is a city in the south-central region of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is governed by a consolidated city-county government unit whose boundaries coincide with those of Moore County. Lynchburg is best known as the location of Jack Dan ...

Career

In 1962, the Sain family bought the

weanling A weanling is an animal that has just been weaned. The term is usually used to refer to a type of young horse, a foal that has been weaned, usually between six months and a year. Once it is a year old, the horse is referred to as a yearling. The w ...

colt Shaker's Shocker from Tom Barham, of

Lewisburg, Tennessee Lewisburg is a city in, and the county seat of Marshall County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 12,288 in 2020. Lewisburg is located in Middle Tennessee, fifty miles south of Nashville and fifty-two miles north of Huntsville, Alabam ...

. Betty Sain trained the colt exclusively and started him under saddle herself. In 1964, she began showing him. In 1966, she entered Shaker's Shocker 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 ...

and won the four-year-old junior stake. She was expected to compete in the four-year-old division again but instead chose to enter the open stake, making her the first woman ever to enter the World Grand Championship class. Sain and Shaker's Shocker placed first out of 13 horses. Sain was the first woman to win, and at age 23 was the youngest rider in the class. After his win, Shaker's Shocker was retired to stud at Sain Stables in

Bell Buckle, Tennessee Bell Buckle is a town in Bedford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 500 at the 2010 census. The downtown area is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Bell Buckle Historic District. Geography Bell Buckle is ...

. Sain later exported horses to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and several other countries, as well as many US states. She rode Shaker's Shocker at

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

football games. She raised goats as well as horses, and supported a controversial Tennessee law that would have enacted a bounty on the killing of

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...

s. When a reporter denied that there were coyotes in Tennessee, Sain froze a dead coyote to preserve it, tied a bow around its neck and presented it to him.

Legacy and recognition

Although Sain was offered several book and movie deals, she turned them all down. In 2010, the Sain House at Webb School was given a Tennessee historical marker. In 2015, Betty Sain gave a presentation on her family's history, her own experiences with Shaker's Shocker and later horses, and an overview of the Tennessee Walking Horse breed at a meeting of the Bedford County Historical Society. The Tennessee Walking Horse National Museum in Wartrace has a permanent exhibit on Betty Sain and Shaker's Shocker.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sain, Betty 1942 births Living people People from Bell Buckle, Tennessee People from Manchester, Tennessee Tennessee Walking Horse breeders and trainers People from Lynchburg, Tennessee