Black Allan (horse)

Black Allan or Allan F-1 (1886–1910) was the foundation sire of the Tennessee Walking Horse. He was out of a Morgan horse mare named Maggie Marshall and by Allendorf, a stallion descended from Hambletonian lines. Black Allan was born in Lexington, Kentucky and was registered as No.7623 by the American Trotting Registry. Although Black Allan was supposed to be a trotter, he preferred to pace and so never raced.^[1] Besides the pace, he performed a lateral ambling gait now known as the running walk.^[2] He was a black stallion standing 15 hands (60 inches, 152 cm) high, with a sock on his left hind foot, coronet on his right hind foot, and a star on his forehead. He was given the designation Allan F-1 when the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders' Association, precursor to the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders' and Exhibitors' Association, was formed in 1935. He had multiple owners throughout his life, but his last owners, James Brantley and Albert Dement, were the only ones to recognize Black Allan's use as a breeding stallion.^[3] Black Allan sired 40 known foals in his lifetime, among them Roan Allen, registration number F-38, Hunters Allen F-10, and Merry Legs F-4. Black Allan died September 16, 1910, at the age of 24.^[3]

Background

Black Allan was foaled in 1886.^[3] He was sold many times throughout his life, the first time at the side of his dam. He was bought by George Ely, who already owned an 1882 colt out of Maggie Marshall, Elyria, whose record for trotting the mile was 2:25. Ely hoped Black Allan would compare to the older colt, but sold him in 1891 when he discovered that Black Allan was a 'pacer'. Allan was then bought by John P. Mankin of Murfreesboro, Tennessee for $335, only to be sold again a few years later. One owner, J.A. McCulloch, used Black Allan as a "teaser" to see if mares were in estrus before they were bred to jack donkeys to produce mules. Another owner traded him for a black filly, a milk cow and $20. When Black Allan was sold to his most famous owner, James Brantley, his purchase price was $110.^[4] He was sold without papers, but Brantley eventually recovered his registration certificate.^[5] At the very end of Black Allan's life, he was sold by James Brantley to Albert Dement of Wartrace, Tennessee, one of the earliest Tennessee Walking Horse breeders. Dement stood Allan at stud for only a few months before Allan's death, during which the stallion was bred to 111 mares.^[4] He died at Dement's farm in 1910, due to having been fed green sorghum.^[3]

Bloodlines and offspring

Black Allan's pedigree traced back to Justin Morgan, the foundation sire of the Morgan breed, on his dam's side and to Hambletonian 10, the foundation sire of the Standardbred on his sire's side.^[6] Three of his offspring, Roan Allen, Merry Legs, and Hunters Allen, were given special registration numbers beginning in the designation F, which mark them as foundation stock.

Pedigree

References

• The Tennessee Walking Horse, Western Horseman, October 1994