SPOKEN WORD AND POETRY FESTIVAL Top poets from around the country will perform alongside local poets and songwriters representing diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds. BUY NOW NOVEMBER 12 Presenting Sponsor: Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery THE POWER OF THE SPOKEN WORD MINTON SPARKS' Horsman, a University of Tennessee extension agent at the Williamson County Agricultural Expo Center, said that newcomers with disposable income seem to be curious about hippology, the study of horses.SEE WHAT ALL THE NOISE IS ABOUT STOMP The eight-member troupe uses everything but conventional percussion instruments – matchboxes, wooden poles, brooms, garbage cans, Zippo lighters, hubcaps – to fill the stage with magnificent rhythms. Williamson County, he said, has the most active equine 4-H program in the state. 'We believe that in Williamson County, the heartland of the horse country in Tennessee, there's a place for it,' he said.Īccording to Matt Horsman, interest in learning about horses - at least in a 4-H program setting - is growing, despite a shrinking pool of large-scale farms. The United States Polo Association, he added, is making a concerted effort to give kids an opportunity to learn a sport that might otherwise be financially out of reach.Īt some point, he said, he and McInturff hope to start a local interscholastic polo league. While most polo is played on a larger private field, the arena would make it easier for anyone who's interested to watch a match. Armstrong helped found a Franklin polo academy this year in conjunction with the arena construction. The latter would make the facility unique in the area, as well as help open up what is sometimes seen as an 'elitist' sport, said James Armstrong, Nashville Polo Club polo manager. Moving forward, McInturff said, stakeholders envision a variety of uses for the new five-acre arena, from open riding days run by local stables to interscholastic polo matches. 'The horse deserves a place to play with the people that love them.' 'It's getting cleaned up, and it's getting corrected,' he said of the controversy. He said that while some horse trainers and owners have given the industry a 'black eye,' the walking horse itself is a 'fabulous' animal worthy of recognition. Still, McInturff emphasized that the scandal is in the equestrian community's rearview mirror. Kathryn Ayers, operations manager of the Tennessee Equine Hospital, stood by as her bright brown American quarter horse, Stitch, munched on grass, giving charmed visitors a glimpse of what they might encounter once the facility is built.īeyond recognizing the farm's past, McInturff said later in the week, bringing horses to a public park will make equestrian sports accessible to a broader swath of local residents - not just ones who can afford to keep or show horses.Īnd McInturff said he hopes to introduce families to a range of horse breeds, in addition to the Tennessee Walking Horse - an industry that has been wracked in recent years by widespread allegations of animal abuse. 'It could've so easily become a subdivision,' she said as a large yellow backhoe cut through the muddy earth behind her. Since 2011, Friends of Franklin Parks has raised $800,000 for the project, with a goal of hitting $1.1 million.īrooks Mathews, a granddaughter of farm founder Wirt Harlin, said it was touching to see the community rally around her family's establishment. The groundbreaking ceremony - set against the backdrop of a dilapidated main barn that officials hope also will be renovated - marked the fulfillment of a longstanding mandate to preserve the heritage of the farm, McInturff said at the time. Last week McInturff, as well as about 100 city officials and community members, applauded as a cannon blast signaled the start of the multipurpose arena's construction - just as cannons traditionally sent horses racing during steeplechases, according to Alton Kelley, executive director of Belle Meade Plantation. In 2007, it was transformed into a Franklin city park after its owners sold the land to the city for $8 million. As president of the nonprofit Friends of Franklin Parks, McInturff has led the charge to bring horses back to Harlinsdale Farm, a historic walking horse breeding farm founded in the late 1930s.

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