White Star (1949 – 1961) was a Tennessee Walking Horse mare who won her breed's World Grand Championship in 1954. After her Championship win, she was exhibited in multiple shows across the United States.

Life and career

White Star 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 for a male foal and filly for a female foal, and are used until the horse is three or four. When the foal i ...

ed on April 8, 1949 at Willow Oak Acres, Prescott, Arkansas. She was sired by Sir Maugray and out of the mare Crain's Merry Lady. Her grandsires were

Wilson's Allen Wilson's Allen (1914–1939) was an influential early Tennessee Walking Horse sire. Although he himself was not used as a show horse, he sired the first three World Grand Champions of his breed. Life Wilson's Allen was a Tennessee Walking Horse ...

and Merry Boy. She was dark in color and had an odd appearance as a foal, which led her owners to name her Strange Gal. As she grew she proved to be a gray, and faded in color fairly quickly; by 1954 her haircoat was pure white in color. Trained by Percy Moss, she began competing in horse shows as a three-year-old, and winning multiple shows. In 1952 she competed 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 ...

for the first time and placed 5th in her age division. The next year she placed second in the mares class and was sixth out of ten horses in the World Grand Championship. In December 1953 she was sold to W. V. Garnier of

Bastrop, Louisiana Bastrop is a city in Morehouse Parish, Louisiana. It is the parish seat of Morehouse Parish. The population was 11,365 at the 2010 census, a decrease of 1,623 from the 12,988 tabulation of 2000. The population of Bastrop is 73 percent African A ...

, and renamed White Star. Moss moved to Bastrop from Arkansas so he could continue training her. Ridden by Moss, who was only 23 years old at the time, she won the World Grand Championship in the 1954 Celebration. Following her World Grand Championship, White Star was exhibited at "every large horse show" in the United States. White Star died on December 29, 1961. Her death was front-page news across the United States.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:White Star Individual Tennessee Walking Horses World Grand Champion Tennessee Walking Horses 1949 animal births 1961 animal deaths Prescott, Arkansas