Grace started riding walkers when she was 10 years old. Her mother had purchased Silvertip Rickey, a line bred Last Chance stallion, when Grace was 8. Rickey was so athletic and smooth with so much stamina. Grace was away from horses while she was raising her children. Once she was able to get back into horses again she wanted walkers. She had ridden different breeds and learned to ride as a child on a retired race horse. Lyle was not at all enthused about riding until he rode Tegun’s Mt. Fawn. He enjoyed her smooth gait and spirit and now loves to ride. His previous experience had been with work horses and a few of their neighbor’s saddle horses.
High Plains Walkers is located in Eastern Montana. Initially Lyle & Grace offered their own walkers for sale. After a number of people asked for help in selling their walkers High Plains started offering a sales service. Now they advertise Tennessee Walkers and many different breeds for others and raise a few foals. GLL’s Sun Chief and Goldust Royal Trigger stand at stud to a limited number of mares. High Plains no longer offers shipped semen.
Grace enjoys pedigree research and is knowledgeable of the bloodlines of many different breeds. She designs ads for those who want to sell their horse or horses and can help them describe their horse’s breeding,disciplines,and potential.
If you are looking for a gaited or non-gaited horse please check out our sale horses and the different stables, farms, and ranches we advertise for. If we don’t have what you are looking for we will try to find it.
Remember to check back often, as our sales pages are updated regularly!
OUR PROMISE: first-class breeding
first-class animals
and satisfaction — guaranteed
If you’re ever in eastern Montana, stop on in at
High Plains Tennessee Walkers
Lyle & Grace Larson
53 Kraus Lane
Forsyth, Montana 59327
406-356-2854
Close to 60 years ago my mother, Marie McBroom Was going through a catalog put out by the TWHBA when she saw Trouble’s picture. Mom said all of the TW champions and foundation stock were in that catalog. She wrote to the Association in Lewisburg and that is how she found Silvertip-Rickey our ranch’s foundation sire.
Rickey was bred by E. E. Everson of Carrol, Iowa. He was sired by Trouble and out of the mare, Strolling Beauty A. Her sire was a full brother to Trouble so Rickey was line bred Last Chance. Rickey was shipped by train in a crate from Iowa to Polson, Montana as a yearling. This was in 1947. That same year Mom bought the sorrel mare, Richardson’s Honey Chile.
Honey would be considered a sabino now. Honey’s sire was Chief’s Allen, a lit up chestnut stallion sired by Edward King O’Chiefs. Chief’s Allen was considered the best of the living sons of Edward King O’Chiefs. Chief’s Allen was shown in 20 classes and won 20 blue ribbons.
Honey was transported with several other walkers that Fred Pierce of Billings, MT had bought. My parents picked her up in Billings. Honey was bred to Spiller’s Gold Dust, a rich dark gold Palomino stallion. At that time he was standing at stud in Tennessee.
In 1948 Chief O’Chief’s was the result of this cross and the first TWH foal born on our Big Arm Ranch. Chief was a lit up sorrel sabino. Chief was sold as a yearling. His most notable offspring was Chief Joseph who was owned and trained by Ross Howell. Chief joseph went on to sire 44 registered TWH offspring. Some of those in Alberta. Chief O’ Chiefs was purchased by Frank Smith in 1948 or 1949.
In 1949 Mom bought Tom Moss’ walking horses when he retired from the Rafter 33 Ranch , Big Horn, Wyoming.
Black Beauty Allen 440890 foaled 7-1-1935
Patty La Marr 380002 foaled in 1937.
Margaret La Marr 440480 foaled in 1943
Ruby Jones 431032 foaled in 1941
Dixie La Marr 474575 foaled in 1947
Baby Kay 2nd 482684 foaled in 1948.
Buck La Marr 450574 foaled in 1944
Patty La Marr’s dam was Lady La Marr , a mare that Mrs. Bill Eaton sold to Tom Moss. Lady La Marr was 19 years old when she was bred to Tom Moss’ stallion, Billie Gene. Patty La Marr was the result of that breeding. Lady La Marr’s sire was the Thoroughbred stallion, Jack La Marr. The noted trainer and author, Lee Zeigler , has mentioned Jack La Marr in some of her writing about Tennessee Walkers.
Mom was excited about the La Marr horses some having strong Copper Bottom blood lines through Yellow Jacket. Yellow Jacket’s sire was Last Chance and his dam Golden Lady. Tom Moss said, “there are other palomino TWH from other families but none of them that I have ever seen have the beautiful color of gold that the family founded by Golden Lady has, nor do they seem to pass that color on from my observations, as regularly as Golden Lady’s family. ” Mom said Yellow Jacket wasn’t really a palomino. She described his color as almost an orange or pink shade of Yellow. She said he was close to a Claybank. The genetics of a claybank are Chestnut + Cream + Dun.This color is described as very rare.
Buck La Marr, a grandson of Yellow Jacket, and Black Beauty Allen produced Marie La Marr , a buckskin mare that has a glow to her color and she has had champagne offspring.
Mom believed that these old lines Tom Moss had were an excellent cross with Silvertip-Rickey which has proven to be so true. One of the most notable mares born to Silvertip-Rickey and Black Beauty Allen was Sago (Black beauty II) . Mom sold her to Pearl Tompkins in 1957. Pearl was asked when she was 90 years old which walker was the best she’d ever owned. She replied “Old Beauty.”
Silvertip-Rickey sired 20 fillies and 9 stallions, 3 of those were gelded. The 6 stallions who passed his bloodlines on were:
Lightfoot Rickey (501200)
Golden Copperbottom (1952)
Rickey’s Frosty Son (1953)
Rickey’s Silver Star (1954)
Reveille Boy (1955)
Silvertip Shawn (1955)
Lightfoot Rickey, a son of Silvertip-Rickey and Richardson’s Honey Chile was foaled in 1950. Mom sold him to Homer Davis in 1952 or ’53. Homer is the one who got Pearl Tompkins interested in walkers. Pearl never looked back . She went on to become involved in breeding and promoting TWH throughout the Northwest and Canada.
Patty La Marr’s daughter, Col.s Princess Pat was the dam of Red Cloud V. , one of Gene Autrey’s Champions. Black Beauty Allen’s daughter, Melody O Rollin Hills, (owned by Raili Tenkula) and Col.s Princess Pat were traded by Mom to Calvin Miller for Zephyr’s Flash O Gold in 1959. Silvertip Rickey had to be put down due to a broken shoulder in 1954. Mom had been using Colonel D. a son of Black Beauty Allen and she was also trading stud fees with Homer Davis, Ross Howell, and Pearl Tompkins.
Zephyr’s Flash O’ Gold’s first foal crop for Mom was in 1960. He sired 16 foals for Mom. Mom said Flash was gentle and lovable. A person would never know he was a stallion. Silvertip-Rickey was the same way. My sister, Alice, and I were riding Rickey all over the ranch, around mares, and other riders when we were 8 and 10 years old.
Golden Copperbottom sired Copperbottom Patty who had Patty’s Silvertip. Patty’s Silvertip was the dam of Coldwell’s Pat, the stallion who sired Montana Travler the foundation sire for the Montana Travler Horse Breed.
Our Big Arm Ranch was instrumental in bringing in some of the best TWH bloodlines that are still popular in the Northwest and Canada today. Most of our High Plains Walkers go back to these old foundation bloodlines.
