Interracial couple seeks acceptance in horse industry

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Nathanael and Jennie Jackson are an anomaly in the world of the Tennessee walking horse, a domain that's almost exclusively Southern and white.

The interracial couple and their four children have paid a high price for their love of a breed that has stirred controversy because of the way the horses are sometimes trained.

Nathanael Jackson, who is black, hesitates to dwell on the racial elephant that sits in the middle of his family's livelihood. "I don't want to come across as an angry, disgruntled black man," he said. "Acceptance of something different is still an issue in the world today."

The Jacksons, owners of Walkin On Ranch in Cooke ville, Tenn., are the official breed representatives of the Tennessee walking horse at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. Starting Sunday, Jennie Jackson will demonstrate a training technique she has devised called dressage en gait.

The Jacksons are hoping those demonstrations will open the doors to a new dressage discipline that would allow gaited horses to compete against one another.

Read more: http://www.kentucky.com/2010/10/02/1459817/interracial-couple-seeks-acceptance.html#ixzz1Bu90nUhX

 

Very cool article, as some of you know my wife and I have horses, we have noticed the occasional "look" from others at events, pony club http://www.ponyclub.org/ (our daughter started this year), and other horse related gatherings, but I must say that by and large the horse community is a very open and accepting group in our experience.