MORROW AND JACK DOSS: More than horse sense

By Patrick McCreless

Morrow Doss saddles up one of his prize-winning horses, the daughter of a five time world grand champion show horse. With stunning ease he guides her out of the family barn in Good Hope and into a nearby pasture.

Within moments the man and horse seemingly become one, their movements smooth and elegant — as if the two were gliding across ice.

“It’s just like sitting in a rocking chair. It’s smooth,” Doss’s father, Jack Doss, said about riding one of his family’s horses. “People want something smooth that doesn’t hurt their back.”

For several years now, Doss Farms has been the source of many a Tennessee Walking Horse.

“Mainly what we breed for is performance horses,” Jack said. “We’ve been really blessed. “We’ve had some good show horses come out of this.”

One wall in the Doss barn is literally covered with posters recognizing the many horses the father and son team have bred over the years that later won state and national show titles. Morrow said the main key to the success of the family’s horses is the natural gate the animals possess.

“You don’t have to teach the gait,” he said. “It will do it on its own.”

The Tennessee Walking Horse was originally bred in the South in the late 1800s to carry the owners of plantations across their lands.

“They are a versatile breed,” Morrow said. “Some people even use them out West to rustle cattle.”

Due to their regular successes in multiple competitions, the family’s horses have caught the eyes of state, national and even international pleasure riding enthusiasts. Just a few years ago, the two sold a horse to a riding enthusiast in Israel and to another in Poland.

“One found out through a magazine and another was over here at a sale and saw the horse,” Morrow said. The market is you’ve got people wanting to show these horses. This is big business. Like a rodeo circuit, you’ve got a horse circuit.

Jack said his family’s current success in the horse breeding business began when his father bought the Doss farm in 1943. Jack said when he took over control of the farm, his son convinced him to enter the horse breeding business.

“It’s something my son always wanted to do,” Jack said. “It’s kind of a family business. There’s a lot of pleasure in it.”

Morrow said he has been interested in horses for as long as he could remember. He said he spent much of his youth simply riding horses for fun.

“I’ve always had horses all my life,” Morrow said. “The first horse I ever remember riding ... I climbed on her bareback and rode her all day. Now kids today have computers.”

It was because of his love of riding that Morrow chose to breed Tennessee Walking Horses in the first place.

“Because I loved a good riding horse, the Tennessee riding horse was the way to go,” Morrow said.

But though he loves riding horses, Morrow has come to love breeding them even more.

“It’s like a new little miracle every time you get one,” Morrow said.

Morrow said breeding horses is a seasonal process. The Doss family holds their first round of breeding from March to May and then holds a second round in the fall. Since horses have an 11 month gestation period, each breeding season is also a birthing season.

Jack said the secret to breeding a prize-winning show horse is by getting a good mare (female horse).

“Just because you breed a mare to a champion doesn’t mean you’ll get anything good,” Jack said.

Jack explained the reason you want a good mare is because once a horse is born, it basically copies everything its mother does.

“It even walks the way she does,” Jack said.

Once father and son pick out a good mare from their farm, they will artificially inseminate her with semen from a well-reputed horse on another farm.

“Then we’ll bring her into a large stall about two weeks before her due date and she’ll fold that colt,” Morrow said.

In addition to breeding horses, both father and son spend much of their time on the farm providing riding lessons.

“I like the teaching aspect and I like dealing with kids,” Morrow said.

Morrow, who is a certified riding instructor, said he will teach about four days a week during the afternoon to adults and children. But how to ride a horse is just the beginning of what he teaches.

“Adults and children learn how to clean the feet, how to saddle, how to ride and take care of them,” Morrow said.

For Morrow, working on the farm usually does not seem much like work at all.

“It’s not like having to get up and go to work every day,” he said. “It’s a way of life.”