Silver Gait Farms

 For decades, the Corums’ program has bred fine Tennessee Walking Horse mares to proven stallions whose foals would grow up and give a rider the smooth running walk similar to the “old gait” of the former “plantation walking horse.”  In Mr. Ray’s world, the mares were just as important as the stallions, and he was successful in raising top-of-the-line walking horses of both genders. 

In 1966, Ray Corum purchased the stallion Merry Boy’s F-88 from the late Sam Paschal and brought the stallion home to Kentucky to stand.  Considered to be one of the last great sons of Merry Boy, F-88 lived a life complete and died at the age of 36 on February 2, 1990.  Buried on the Corums’ farm, F-88 lies in a grave surrounded by a wall built of Kentucky limestone, complete with a horse statue and engraved marker at his head.  The March 1990 VOICE printed a half-page story about the equine’s death entitled “End of An Era.” 

Breeding pleasure walking horses was the main objective of Ray Corum, but certainly not his only contribution to the breed.  Mr. Ray was an informative author and wrote several articles on the walking horse in magazines, journals, as well as the VOICE. 

One article appeared in the April 1969 VOICE entitled “Walking….Coast to Coast.”  The story detailed Mr. Corum’s idea to sponsor and showcase a pleasure Tennessee Walking Horse and rider’s 3,000 mile journey across the U.S., from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. A red roan stallion, Go Boy’s Missing Heir, was chosen by Mr. Corum as the horse to make the trip, and Farris (Dan) Wilson of Louisville, KY, was given the opportunity to make a trip of a lifetime.  On July 27, 1968, Go Boy’s Missing Heir walked into the Atlantic ocean at Folly Beach in Charleston, SC, and on December 27, 1968, in front of a San Diego, CA crowd, he walked into the Pacific ocean and turned for photographs!    

In the early 1980’s, Ray Corum obtained permission from the directors of the annual Louisville Pegasus Parade, held the week before the Kentucky Derby, to enter Tennessee Walking Horses and riders in the parade to showcase the breed.  He then solicited permission from the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders’ & Exhibitors’ Association to carry its official banner in the parade, followed by a unit of walking horses and riders.  Horse owners and their steeds traveled each year from Middle Tennessee to participate in the huge parade which was televised internationally.

Ray Corum loved any horse, but he made it his life’s mission to breed the best pleasure Tennessee Walking Horses possible.

Elvis Presley and his Tennessee Walking Horse named Bear