(BIRDS WHISTLING) (NATURE SOUNDS) TO MANY OF US MOUNTAIN FOLK, THE HORSE'S BREATH ON A FROSTY MORE THAN, HIS VOICE ARE GABRIEL'S HORN, HOLDING FORTH AS RIDER NEARED, MORE THAN A MOUNT, NOT WORSHIPED, BUT REVERED.

EVERY MAN A KING, EVERY HILLSIDE FARM A KINGDOM.

PIONEER PELG SUCCESS GAVE US WINGS, GAVE US FREEDOM-- PIONEER PEGASUS GAVE US WINGS, GAVE US FREEDOM.

FEUD OR FAITH, POWER AND GRACE, BLOOD OR WINE WE'LL TAKE YOU TO THE HOLY PLACE.

HE WILL ALWAYS GET YOU TO CHURCH ON TIME.

♪ ♪ THERE IS A PASSION FOR THESE HORSES AND FOR, YOU KNOW, THE SAYING THERE IS NOTHING SO GOOD FOR THE INSIDE OF A MAN AS THE OUTSIDE OF A HORSE.

AND THAT'S STILL TRUE TODAY.

AND THIS BREED AND THIS HERITAGE IS STRONG EVIDENCE OF THAT.

>> WE DIDN'T HAVE USE FOR A TROTTING HORSE BECAUSE WE TRAVELED ON THE TRAILS.

WE TRAVELED ON THE TRAILS THAT THE CHOCTAW MADE, THAT THE SHAWNEE MADE, THAT THE CHEROKEE MADE.

THAT THE HOPEWELL AND BUFF BELOW MADE.

THOSE ROADS WERE STILL THE WAY TO GET AROUND.

ALL THE WAY UP INTO THE LAST CENTURY.

>> THESE HORSES TELL US A LOT ABOUT OUR FOREBEARERS AND THE WAY THEY LIVED AND THEY WERE USING HORSES-- I MEAN THEY HAD TO PULL A PLOW.

AND THEN THEY ALSO NEEDED TO BE EASY TO RIDE AND THEY NEEDED TO HAVE A LOT OF ENDURANCE TO GO TO COURT, WHEN COURT DAY WAS HELD AND THAT COULD BE A 20-MILE RIDE.

>> WE JUST CALLED THEM SADDLE HORSES.

WE CALLED THEM SADDLERS.

>> I'M VERY PROUD OF MY HERITAGE.

I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, NOT ONLY ARE OUR HORSES HEARTY, I THINK OUR PEOPLE ARE HEARTY, TOO.

THEY'VE COME THROUGH A LOT.

>> WITH THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, MORE ROADS WERE BEING BUILT, MORE AUTOMOBILES WERE BEING USED AND THIS HORSE WAS ENDANGERED.

IT ALMOST WENT EXTINCT.

>> AND THEN PEOPLE STARTED REALIZING THEY WERE SOMETHING SPECIAL.

AND WE'VE ALWAYS KNOWN THAT THEY WERE YOU KNOW.

THERE AIN'T MANY PEOPLE UNLESS YOU PUT JUST PURE MONETARY VALUE ON IT, THAT WOULD TRADE A MOUNTAIN HORSE FOR THE BEST THOROUGHBRED.

WHERE I'M FRO, FROM WE DON'T LET OUR FRIENDS RIDE A ROAD HORSE.

>> THAT'S SOMETHING KENTUCKY IS KNOWN FOR.

EVERYBODY SHOULD KNOW ABOUT OUR HORSES.

♪ ♪ IT'S INGRAINED IN THE CULTURE OF EASTERN KENTUCKIANS FOR CENTURIES AND CENTURIES AND CENTURIES.

MY FAMILY HISTORY SHOWS WE DID SOMETHING WITH HORSES ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE 12TH CENTURY.

BUT THAT'S NOT ABUNUSUAL STORY IN EASTERN KENTUCKY.

MOST OF US ARE SCOTTS IRISH.

THE SCOTTS IRISH PATROLLED THE BORDER BETWEEN SCOTLAND AND GREAT BRITAIN.

THEY WERE CALLED THE REAVERS.

THEY WERE THE PETERSEST LIGHT CALVARY IN THE WORLD.

THEY WERE BRUTAL.

THEY ROAD GALLOWAYS AND HOBBIES.

HORSES DESCENDED FROM THE HORSES OF THE VIKINGS WHEN THEY INVADED THE BRITISH ISLES.

>> THE HISTORY OF THE GATED HORSE STARTED IN EUROPE AND SPAIN AND IBEH-- IBERIA, THE AFRICAN ARAB CONNECTION, AND THE PEOPLE WERE RIDING GATED HORSES AND THEY WERE LEADING THEIR WAR HORSES WHICH WERE THE DRAFT TYPES, TO THE PLACE OF BATTLE.

THEY DIDN'T RIDE THOSE GIGANTIC TROTTING HORSES THAT WOULD, YOU KNOW, POUND THE GROUND.

THEY USED THE GATED HORSES.

>> THE REALITY IS, IS THAT HORSES DO AN INTERMEDIATE GATE THAT DIVIDES INTO ONE OF TWO THINGS: THEY EITHER TROT OR THEY DO A GATE, WHICH DERIVED FROM THE PACING DAY IN VARIOUS FORMS OF A SMOOTH TRAVELING GATE.

IT'S NO SMALL CONJECTURE IS REQUIRED TO SEE WHY PEOPLE HAD TO GO SOMEWHERE ON A HORSE, HAD TO TRAVEL 30, 50, 100 MILES A DAY, WOULD PREFER USUALLILY A HORSE WITH A SMOOTH TRAVELING GATE.

>> THERE WERE GATED HORSES IN THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS AS EARLY AS 1520 AND THEY STAYED HERE.

THEY DIDN'T LEAVE.

THERE WAS SPANISH SETTLEMENT IN EAST TENNESSEE THAT LASTED FOR YEARS.

SOME SAID THEY WERE CAPTURED BY THE INDIANS, SOME SAID THEY WERE KILLED.

MOST LIKELY I'D SAY THEY JUST PARTNERED UP WITH THE INDIANS.

>> THE PALTRY WAS A GATED TRAVELING HORSE.

QUITE OFTEN YOU WOULD HEAR ABOUT IT AND WOMEN WOULD PREFER TO RIDE.

KNIGHTS RODE THEM AS WELL.

THE NAMES OF HORSES THAT WERE EASY GATED CAME ORIGINALLY INTO NEW ENGLAND, 1600s.

>> SO AFTER THE SPANISH CAME, THE NATIVE AMERICANS HAD HORSES AND THE WAY THAT THESE HORSES GOT INTO APPALACHIA WERE FROM WELL ESTABLISHED ROUTES OF COMMERCE THAT HAD BEEN HERE NOT FOR CENTURIES, BUT FOR 10 AND 12,000 YEARS THOSE WERE THE HIGHWAYS THAT BROUGHT THE TREASURE OF THE MOUNTAIN HORSE HERE.

>> THOSE HORSES WERE MOVED TO ALL OF THE ISLANDS AND HORSES WENT BACK AND FORTH AND MOST NOTABLY TO VIRGINIA ARE, WHERE FAST HORSES WERE PRIZED AND LATER ON THEY WERE CROSSED WITH THOROUGHBREDS AND THOSE HORSES MIGRATED INTO OR ONE OF THE PATHS FOR KENTUCKY AND CNS.

>> EVEN AFTER SPANIARDS WERE HERE, SIR WALTER RILEY SETTLED ROAN ROANOKE.

I'M SURE THEY HAD HORSES, THEY HAD THE GALLOWAYS, THEY HAD THE HOBBIES, BUT THEY ALSO HAD THE HORSES THAT WERE LEFT BEHIND BY THE SPANISH.

>> OTHER PATHS WERE LIKE MY ANCESTORS FROM RERCHED JAMES, SADDLE BAG PREACHER AND HIS FAMILY BRINGING IN.

>> WHEN DANIEL BOONE LEFT NORTH CAROLINA AND CAME THROUGH THE CUMBERLAND GAP, I KNOW WE LIKE TO THINK HE WAS ON FOOT.

BUT MOST LIKELY HE WAS ON A SQUARE FOUR BEAT GOING HORSE WITH SPANISH AND ENGLISH BLOOD IN IT.

ANOTHER WAY THAT THE HORSES GOT HERE, THERE WERE PEOPLE FROM BACK EAST HERE, PARTICULARLY KENTUCKIANS THAT WOULD TRAVEL TO THE PLAINS OF TEXAS AND CAPTURE WILD HORSES.

THERE WERE THE COXS, THEY WENT ALL THE WAY TO TEXAS, ROUNDED UP P MUSTANGS AND CARRIED THEM BACK THROUGH THE APPALACHINS IN STRINGS OF 100 OR MORE HORSES AT A TIME.

>> I'M VERY PROUD TO BE PART OF APPALACHIA.

I HAVE A GRACE HERITAGE HERE.

MY HERITAGE ON MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER'S SIDE, FELLA BY THE NAME OF CRABTREE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST PEOPLE WITH DANIEL BOONE TO GO INTO THE CUMBERLAND GAP.

HE WAS 16 YEARS OLD AT THAT TIME.

HE WAS ONE OF THE TWO PEOPLE THAT SURVIVED THE INDIAN ATTACK WHERE DANIEL BOONE'S OLDEST SON WAS KILLED.

>> I THINK I GREW UP ALWAYS KNOWING HOW IMPORTANT-- I MEAN THEY WERE ALWAYS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO OUR FAMILY.

>> YEAH, THAT'S WHAT I CONSIDER MYSELF IS EASTERN KENTUCKY, APPALACHIN.

IT MEANS A LOT TO ME BECAUSE, THAT'S WHERE MY ROOTS IS FROM.

MY GRANDFATHER, MY GREAT GRANDFATHER, THERE IS A HOUSE THAT I WAS BORN IN, IT HAD NEVER BEEN SOLD IN HISTORY.

HANDED DOWN TO MY GENERATION AND THAT'S THE WAY BLOOD LINES, SOME OF THESE HORSES-- I'VE GOT ONE MARE LEFT THAT BLOOD LINE HAS BEEN IN THAT FAMILY FOR OVER 100 YEARS.

>> WE HAD KIND OF A SCRABBLE FARM AND WORKED WITH MULES AND HORSES.

>> I WAS BORN HERE AT SMOKY VALLEY IN A SEARS AND ROEBUCK FARM HOUSE IN WHICH MY FATHER AND I WERE BORN IN THE SAME BEDROOM.

AND WHERE WE ARE SITTING ON IS PART OF THE ORIGINAL COLEMAN FARM.

>> HORSES.

THAT'S ALL MY FAMILY EVER FARMED.

FOR GENERAL RAWTIONS AND GENERATIONS, THAT'S ALL WE EVER HAD.

I HAVE HORSE CORRALS THAT ARE OVER 100 YEARS OLD.

THERE ARE STILL LOCUST POSTS IN THE GROUND WITH RUSTY BARBED WIRE THAT MY GRANDFATHER SET 75 YEARS AGO.

I PICK UP OLD ARROWHEADS AND OLD MONEY FROM THE CORRALS.

WE HAVE RICH DARK DIRT AND THE CLAY AND LIMESTONE THAT NOT MUCH MORE THAN CRAB APPLES WITH GROW ON.

>> DAD HAD A LOT OF HEALTH ISSUES.

HE GOT KICKED BY A MULE IN THE LOOK WOODS WHEN HE WAS ABOUT 40 PROBABLY, AND IT BROKE A FEW RIBS BUT IT ROLLED HIM OVER THE MOUNTAIN SIDE AND HE HIT A ROCK AND HAD 60 SOME ODD BONES BROKEN.

CLIMBED BACK UP, RODE THE MULES DOWN, HOOKED IT TO THE WAGON AND DROVE A JOLT WAGON HOME ON A GRAVEL ROAD.

>> MY GREAT AUNT, MY GRANNY'S SISTER LOLA, NIFER GOT TO MEET, RODE THE GATED HORSES TO THE ONE ROOM SCHOOL.

CROSSED THE HIGH WATER IN THE WINTER ONE TIME WITH HER HORSE, GOT PNEUMONIA AND PASSED AWAY IN HER 20s.

THAT WAS THE KIND OF LIFESTYLES THAT, YOU KNOW, AND THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS THAT PEOPLE HERE FACED.

>> J.B. WAS A MINER AND HE WOULD RIDE TO WORK VERY EARLY IN THE MORNING AND SOMETIMES GET BACK VERY LATE AT NIGHT.

AND HE WOULD SLEEP ON THE HORSE AND THE HORSE KNEW THE PATH TO TAKE OVER THE MOUNTAIN TO GET J.B. TO WORK BACK AND FORTH TO WORK.

AND ONE DAY HE RODE IN VERY BAD WEATHER OVER TO THE MINE AND NOBODY ELSE SHOWED UP FOR WORK.

SO BY THE TIME HE GOT HOME, HE WAS FROZEN TO THE SADDLE AND THE KIDS HAD TO COME OUTSIDE AND CHIP THE ICE OFF OF HIS BOOT SO THEY COULD GET THEM OFF OF THE STIR UPS.

THOSE WERE HARD TIMES.

>> IT WAS MY GRANNY AND HER SISTER.

THEY WERE BOTH SCHOOLTEACHERS.

MY GRANNY TALKED ABOUT RIDING THE HORSES TO THE ONE ROOM SCHOOLS IN THE AREA AND AND HOW EASY GATED THEY WERE AND HOW SMOOTH THEY WERE AND JUST A PLEASURE TO RIDE AND OF COURSE HALF THE TIME THEY WOULD HITCH THEM WHEN THEY GOT TO THE SCHOOLHOUSE AND THEY WOULD STAND TIED ALL DAY AND BE READY FOR THE TRIP HOME.

GRANNY WOULD SAY A LOT OF TIMES THE WATER WOULD BE UP.

IT WOULD BE MUDDY.

IT WOULD BE SNOW ON, AND IT WAS JUST THEIR TRANSPORTATION AND IT WAS RELIABLE, AND IT WAS SOMETHING THAT THEY RELIED ON FOR THE EDUCATION OF EASTERN KENTUCKY.

>> THEY CARRIED OUR BACKS.

THEY CARRIED OUR SICK.

THEY CARRIED OUR TEACHERS.

AND THEY CARRIED OUR MAIL.

>> AND EVERYDAY LIFE JUST FOR A MODE OF TRANSPORTATION, THEY WERE ESSENTIAL.

THEN YOU HAD PEOPLE MADE SLEDS.

THEY MADE HOMEMADE SLEDS AND THEY USED THOSE.

THOSE WERE LIKE THE PICKUP TRUCK OF TODAY.

IT WAS JUST ESSENTIAL.

YOU CLEANED OUT THE BARN, YOU HARVESTED YOUR CORN, YOUR CROPS, YOUR HAY AND EVERYTHING.

I THINK ABOUT THE FOUR HORSE DRAWN IMPLEMENTS WERE HERE.

HOW DID PEOPLE SURVIVE?

IT'S AMAZING.

AND THE HORSE, THEY COULDN'T HAVE HAD, HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR THE HORSE.

HAULING IN FIREWOOD, JUST EVERY WAY, ANYTHING THAT YOU CAN THINK OF.

THAT HORSE WAS ESSENTIAL.

>> SEEMED LIKE EVERYBODY KIND OF LIVED KIND OF HARD, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT'S THE REASON WHY WE HAVE THE BREED OF HORSE AND BETTER HORSES BECAUSE OF THE POVERTY AND THE PEOPLE THAT KEPT STAYING.

IF THE STALLION DIDN'T PRODUCE OFFSPRING THAT WOULD SELL OR, WHY THEN THEY DIDN'T KEEP THEM.

THEY CASTRATED THEM AND PUT THEM ON THE PLOW AND PUT THEM TO WORK.

THERE WASN'T THAT MANY STALLIONS AROUND AND IT WAS JUST THE BEST ONES.

>> PEOPLE REALLY WERE PARTICULAR AND KEPT THE MOST-- AND THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT'S MADE OUR MOUNTAIN HORSES SO GREAT IS BECAUSE SELECTIVE BREEDING.

U HARDSHIP, ALL THE FACTORS COME INTO PLAY FOR EVERYBODY THAT WANTED TO BRIDE THE MOST OUTSTANDING HORSE.

>> THEY WERE THE PARTNERS AND THEY WERE THE WORKING PARTNERS.

A LOT OF THEM WOULD BREED BECAUSE THEY KNEW THEIR BABIES WOULD SELL BUT THEY COULD TELL YOU EVERYTHING ABOUT THEIR OFFSPRING.

THEY KNEW THEIR HORSES.

>> PEOPLE TOOK A LOT OF PRIDE IN THE BLOOD LINES OF THE HORSES.

THEY WOULD SELECT A STALLION.

YOU KNOW IN TODAY'S TIME, THEY KEEP STALLIONS AND A LOT OF THEM, I DON'T THINK THEY SHOULD.

BACK THEN, IF YOU HAD AN OUTSTANDING HORSE THAT HAD ALL THESE CHARACTERISTICS THAT ARE SO DESIRED, THEN PEOPLE WOULD KEEP THEM FOR A STALLION AND THEY WOULD CHARGE A FEE.

>> OUR BREED IS WHAT YOU CALL A LAND RESTER WHICH MEANS IT WAS GEOGRAPHICALLY BRED WITHIN A GEOGRAPHICAL AREA, A SMALL GEOGRAPHICAL AREA.

THEREFORE THERE WAS NOT A LOT OF OUTSIDE BREEDING AND THE TRAITS WERE NAMED TRUE THROUGH THE YEARS THROUGH THE BREED.

>> HERE I THINK ABOUT THE DIFFERENT STALLIONS AND IT WAS PRETTY MUCH LIMITED GEOGRAPHICALLY.

YOU HAD, IN DIFFERENT REGIONS OF THE COUNTY, A HORSE AND PEOPLE WOULD RIDE A LONG WAY TO BREED A MARE TO A HORSE.

AND THAT'S ONE REASON WE HAVE THE HORSES THAT WE HAVE IN EASTERN KENTUCKY BECAUSE WE HAD A LAND RACE OF HORSES HERE: WE HAD HORSES ADAPTED TO THE ENVIRONMENT, HORSES THAT WERE ADAPTED TO THE PURPOSE >> ONE HAS TO KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON THE TERM TRAVELING HORSE.

IF YOU NEED IT TO GO 100 MILES BETWEEN SUN-UP AND SUNDOWN, YOU WOULD LOOK FOR SOMETHING THAT WOULD LEAVE YOU ABLE TO WALK WHEN YOU GOT OFF THAT HORSE.

AT THE END OF THE DAY.

>> 50 YEARS AGO THERE WERE MANY ROADS THAT DIDN'T HAVE GRAVEL ON IT IN EASTERN KENTUCKY.

MANY ROADS THAT WEREN'T MORE THAN A CREEK BED.

WE DIDN'T HAVE AS MUCH USE FOR CARS AS EARLY AS A LOT OF CULTURES AND COMMUNITIES DID.

WE DIDN'T HAVE USE FOR A TROTTING HORSE PULLING BUGGIES BECAUSE WE TRAVELED ON THE TRAILS.

>> NOW THE UNIQUE THING ABOUT THE GAIT OF THE MOUNTAIN HORSE, RUNNING WALK WHAT IS MY DAD CALLED IT.

AND MOST HORSES HAVE BETWEEN THE WALK AND THE CANTOR, THEY HAVE A TROT.

WHEN YOU SPEED THAT UP A LITTLE BIT, IT'S A FOUR COUNT BEAT AND YOU CAN HEAR EACH HOOF HIT THE GROUND INDIVIDUALLY.

>> A GOOD RUN/WALKING HORSE WILL BARELY MOVE YOU IN THE SADDLE.

JUST LIKE THIS, KIND OF FLOAT.

I GREW UP ON A HORSE I RECKON, I REMEMBER WHEN I FIRST GOT ON ONE.

I WAS TOLD I WAS TWO OR THREE YEARS OLD.

I REMEMBER GOING UP THE HIGHWAY IN FRONT OF MY PAPAW'S HOUSE.

IT WAS A DIRT ROAD FOR A WHILE AND THEN A BLACK TOP ROAD.

I CAN STILL HEAR MY PAPAW HOLLERING AT ME, MAX, GET HIM IN GAIT.

THE REASON IT'S SMOOTH, LEAVE THREE FEET ON THE GROUND.

GROUND COVERING GAIT.

THEY GOT SOME SPEED TO 'EM AND THERE ARE THREE FEET ON THE GROUND, AND IF, LIKE IF TWO BEAT GAIT, A TROT OR PACE, A HORSE HAS TO JUMP FROM ONE SIDE TO THE OTHER.

>> THE GREATEST PLEASURE PROBABLY OF BEING AROUND THEM WAS 1: THE FRIENDSHIP, THE KINSHIP, I SUPPOSE, WOULD BE THE GREATEST.

BUT A CLOSE SECOND WAS THE FEELING WHEN YOU ARE RIDEING THEM DOWN THE BLACK TOP AND THAT NICKEL DIME, NICKEL DIME SOUND.

IT'S THE GREATEST HIGH IN THE WORLD.

>> ONCE YOU HEAR IT, YOU CAN'T FORGET IT.

[LAUGHTER] >> I DON'T KNOW IF I'VE GOT THE RHYTHM TO DO IT.

>> IT'S NOT... (MAKING GAIT SOUND) >> YOU KNOW IT WHEN YOU HEAR IT.

YOU KNOW IT WHEN YOU GOT A GOOD ONE.

THAT'S WHAT YOU HEAR WHEN THEY'RE GOING DOWN THE ROAD.

SOUND LIKE A LITTLE SEWING MACHINE.

>> IS, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4.

YOU CAN HEAR EACH HOOF HITTING THE GROUND INDIVIDUALLY.

>> SO I CAN STILL HEAR HOW YOUR TRAIT WOULD GO.

SOMEONE-- TRADE WOULD GO.

SOMEONE WOULD BRUSH IT OFF A LITTLE BIT, THEY WERE ALL SHINING LIKE NEW PENNIES BECAUSE THEY EVERYBODY TOOK PRIDE IN THEM.

FIRST THING THEY WOULD ASK IS CAN A HORSE SADDLE?

THAT WAS THE STANDARD FIRST QUESTION.

NOW OF COURSE THEY COULD.

THERE WERE VERY FEW THAT COULDN'T.

YOU WOULDN'T TAKE A MARE IF THEY COULDN'T SADDLE.

THE NEXT QUESTION WAS WELL, IS HE GENTLE?

AND OF COURSE HE WAS.

IF IT GOT GOWN TO THE BRASS TAX, DOES HE WORK?

THAT DIDN'T MEAN WAS HE SUITED FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

THAT MEANT CAN YOU HITCH HIM TO A PLOW.

WOULD HE WORK IN THE GARDEN?

THAT'S HOW THE TRADES WENT.

>> JP B.

TOLD ME, HE SAID I COULD GET IN THE SADDLE AND GO TO SLEEP AND THE HORSE WOULD TAKE ME TO WORK.

I COULD COME OUT OF THE MINE, GET ON THE HORSE AND HE WOULD BRING ME HOME.

HE STOOD TIED ALL DAY WHILE J.B. WAS WORKING AND I'M SURE IT WASN'T JUST AN EIGHT-HOUR SHIFT.

WHEN YOU TALK TO THE MINERS, THEY TALK ABOUT WORKING 16 AND 18 HOURS A DAY UNDERGROUND.

SO THEY WERE VERY MUCH ADMIRED FOR THEIR WORK ETHIC, THE HORSE AND THE PEOPLE, YES.

>> IT'S KIND OF LIKE, YOU KNOW, THE PEOPLE AND HORSES EVOLVED TOGETHER TO WHERE WE ARE NOW.

I DON'T KNOW.

YOU KNOW, THEY COME WITH HERITAGE TEACHING THE HISTORY, TOO.

I DON'T KNOW IF THEY KNOW IT, BUT I FEEL LIKE THEY DO.

>> HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT HOW THAT HORSE HAS CHANGED YOUR LIFE AND IT HAS.

I MEAN I'VE GOT-- I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY THOUSAND MILES I'VE GOT ON HER.

I'VE HAD HER OUT IN THE OCEAN WITH SURFERS.

I'VE HAD HER ON PLACES NO MAN WOULD TAKE A HORSE.

SO THEY ARE-- THESE HORSES DO ABOUT ANYTHING.

>> THEY WOULD TAKE YOU PLACES THAT A GOAT COULDN'T FOLLOW YOU.

WITH MORE SPEED AND GRACE.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> I SPENT FOUR AND A HALF YEARS WITH MY BEST FRIENDS AND ALL MY RIDING BUDDIES, SERIOUS HARD CORE TRAIL RIDERS IN HAZARD, KENTUCKY.

FOR YEARS I TRIED TO GET THEM TO LET'S DO HORSES.

WE WANT TO DO KENTUCKY BRED, KENTUCKY-TRAINED, KENTUCKY HORSES FOR PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD TO COME TO AND GET.

AFTER ABOUT FOUR AND A HALF YEARS RIDING WITH THESE PEOPLE, AND WE SORT OF-- WE WERE STILL GREAT FRIENDS AND EVERYTHING, BUT I DON'T GET TO RIDE WITH THEM AS MUCH AS I USED TO.

THEN ONE DAY I REALIZED, I AM THAT PERSON.

I AM FROM THESE MOUNTAINS.

I AM A MOUNTAIN PERSON WITH MOUNTAIN HORSES.

>> TO RIDE A REAL GOOD ONE, NO EXPERIENCE LIKE IT.

I CAN BE AGGRAVATED WITH EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD, YOU KNOW, AND WE ALL, AS HUMANS, WE ALL GET AGGRAVATED WITH THINGS.

THERE IS NOTHING LIKE SADDLING A HORSE UP, TAKING YOUR DOG, GOING ACROSS COUNTRY, RIDING A GOOD HORSE, IT'S JUST SO RELAXING.

IT'S LIKE YOU AIN'T GOT A CARE IN THE WORLD.

>> IF YOU LOOK AT THE WHOLE STATE, IT'S PROBABLY ONE OF THE BEST PRODUCTS EVER COME OUT OF THE STATE OF KENTUCKY.

>> WHAT WOULD I SAY TO THE NEXT GENERATION?

KEEP THIS BREED ALIVE.

KEEP IT GOING.

TAKE CARE OF IT.

I AM SO THANKFUL THAT, YOU KNOW, THE FOLKS THAT DAVIES TALKED ABOUT HAD THE FORETHOUGHT TO, YOU KNOW, REGISTER THESE HORSES AND START THESE BREED REGISTRIES BECAUSE WITHOUT THAT, THE HORSES WOULD HAVE GONE BY THE WAYSIDE.

>> I LIKE NOTHING BETTER THAN GOING TO THE MOWN MOUNTAINS TRAIL RIDING, TRAVELING THE BACKROADS AND THE LITTLE TOWNS AND PLACES IN EASTERN KENTUCKY.

I WAS ALWAYS WELCOME.

THEY WERE SO APPRECIATIVE OF YOUR INTEREST IN THEIR HORSES.

THEY LOVED TO SHOW YOU THEIR HORSES.

OH COME AND LOOK AT THIS ONE AND THEY WOULD TELL YOU THE WHOLE LINEAGE ON IT AND WHAT ALL IT HAD DONE AND WHERE THEY HAD GOTTEN THEIR HORSE.

THAT'S WHERE MY HEART IS.

>> PEOPLE WERE STARTING TO CATCH ON, IF YOU WANT THE VERY BEST TRAIL HORSE, IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE BEAT TO DEATH AND FEEL GOOD AT THE END OF THE RIDE, THE SAME AS YOU DID WHEN YOU FIRST SADDLED THE HORSE, THEN YOU NEED A GOOD MOUNTAIN HORSE.

♪ SETTLING IN A FOREIGN LAND ♪ WITH MOUNTAINS ALL AROUND ♪ ♪ HE WOULD BRING THE DANGER THROUGH THE GAP FOR A PIECE OF FERTILE GROUND ♪ ♪ WEARY BUT NOT SHAKEN, BOUND TO BUILD A NEW LIFE ♪ ♪ ALL HE OWNED IN A WAGON, WITH FOUR KIDS AND A WIFE ♪ ♪ HE WONDER WOD THEY MAKE IT THERE, WOULD THEY BE SO LUCKY ♪ ♪ THEY PUT ALL THEIR FAITH IN GOD AND THE HORSE THAT BUILT KENTUCKY ♪ (BIRDS CHIRPING) (FIDDLE MUSIC) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪