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1980 World Grand Champion

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Ebony Mountain Man, by Ebony Masterpiece, out of Mountain Gold. G.,  was foaled in Etowah, TN, in 1967 and raised by C. E. Ingram.  He was started under saddle by Johnny Stephens who showed him for several years in the East Tennessee Area.   Ingram sold him to trainer Tommy Howell who worked him for eight months and then sold him to Joe Tillett as an amateur mount for his daughter, Judy.  Shortly after Mr. Tillett purchased him, Judy Tillett Day and Mountain Man won the Owner-Amateur Stallion and Owner-Amateur World Champion titles, in 1977.

In 1978, despite a pulled tendon, Mountain Man was named Reserve World Grand Champion at the Celebration, with Sammy Day in the irons.  In 1979, he tied third while weakened by a kidney infection.  After winning the stake championship in November of 1979, he stood at public stud in Shelbyville.

The owners had decided that the 1980 competition was to be the final attempt at the big title, win or lose.  In early July,  Mountain Man’s shoes were put back on and he went to work.  His first appearance in the 1980 Celebration was in the stallion class on Wednesday night.  Sammy Day rode him to a perfect performance in all three gaits and walked away with the blue in Section A of the Over 15.2 Stallion Class. 

 His second and only other appearance in showring competition in 1980 was in the Celebration’s  Big Stake class on Saturday night.  Nine horses entered that class, but number 834 was called, and Sammy Day and Ebony’s Mountain Man walked away with the roses.  Immediately after the Celebration, owners Tillett and Day announced that the horse would not be put under saddle again – even for retirement ceremonies.  He would be led, instead.  

If you have a story or photos of  Ebony Mountain Man that you would like added to this page, please forward them to Walkers West.

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