Midnight Sun (horse)
Midnight Sun
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| Breed | Tennessee Walking Horse |
|---|---|
| Discipline | Show horse |
| Sire | Wilson's Allen |
| Grandsire | Roan Allen |
| Dam | Ramsey's Rena |
| Maternal grandsire | Dement's Allen |
| Sex | Stallion |
| Foaled | 1940 |
| Country | United States of America |
| Color | Black, no markings |
| Breeder | Samuel M. Ramsey |
| Trainer | Fred Walker |
| Major wins | |
| World Grand Championships, 1945, 1946 | |
Midnight Sun (1940–65) was one of the leading sires of the Tennessee Walking Horse breed, and a two-time World Grand Champion in 1945 and 1946. He was trained by Fred Walker and lived almost all his life at Harlinsdale Farm in Franklin, Tennessee.
Midnight Sun sired approximately 2,600 foals in his life, one of which became the three-time World Grand Champion The Talk of the Town. Of the horses that have won the annual Tennessee Walking Horse World Grand Championship since 1949, only four were not of Midnight Sun's bloodline.
Midnight Sun was foaled on June 8, 1940, out of a mostly Standardbred mare named Ramsey's Rena, and sired by the stallion Wilson's Allen. He was a solid black stallion who matured to just under 16 hands (64 inches, 163 cm) and weighed 1,350 pounds (610 kg), unusually stout for his breed. His original name was Joe Lewis Wilson.
Through his sire Midnight Sun was a great-grandson of Black Allan, also known as Allan F-1, who was the of the Tennessee Walking Horse breed. Midnight Sun's half-brother on his sire's side, Strolling Jim, became the first ever National Champion in 1939, and three of his other siblings were early champions as well. In 1944 Midnight Sun was bought by Wirt and Alex Harlin for $4,400 and taken to their Harlinsdale Farm.
Midnight Sun was trained by Fred Walker. He became the first Tennessee Walking Horse to win the World Grand Championship title when it was first awarded in 1945, and he followed up that win with another World Grand Championship the next year, in 1946, making him the second repeat winner after Haynes Peacock, his half-brother. At the time, the stake carried a purse of $1,000.
Midnight Sun was known for his calm disposition; it wasn't uncommon for stablehands at his home, Harlinsdale Farm near Franklin, Tennessee, to let visiting children ride him bareback, so they could say they rode a two-time world grand champion. In 1956 he was bought by Eleanor and Geraldine Livingston at the Harlinsdale Farm dispersal sale, for $50,000. The Livingstons stipulated that Midnight Sun be kept at Harlinsdale under the same routine he had had for most of his life. He continued to stand at stud on the farm until his death, and was handled and groomed nearly all his life by Red Laws, who died within a year of the horse's death. Midnight Sun was never turned out, and Laws once said, "Somebody had hold of him all his life." In all, he lived at Harlinsdale Farm for 21 years. Midnight Sun died of colic on November 7, 1965, and was buried at Harlinsdale Farm, where his grave is still visible today.
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