Charlee and Barry atop their horses on their wedding day.
Following the Trail: How the Woods Family Found Their Passion in Walking Horses
By: Mary Beth Pruett
Charlee and Barry Woods of Bristow, Oklahoma, are relative newcomers to Tennessee Walking Horses, being owners since 2014. What they lack in years, they make up for in enthusiasm. “They are just the greatest breed of horse,” says Charlee. “And their disposition is the best.”
The couple grew up with stock horses and were trail riding enthusiasts. They even got married on horseback. As guides for the Roman Nose Hills Trail Ride, they were first exposed to the Tennessee Walking Horse on those trail rides. “One of my friends rode a big Walking Horse named ‘Moon’,” she says, “and my friend Linda kept telling me that she knew where there were a pair of Walking Horse geldings for sale. We really didn’t think we needed more horses and didn’t think we had any interest in Tennessee Walking Horses, but on one ride my husband got bucked off his Quarter Horse and another rider got bucked off and ended up in a helicopter on the way to the hospital.” They went and looked at the two horses for sale and tried them out. “We both looked at each other with these big grins on our faces. We were sold.” Their first trail ride on their new horses cemented their love for the breed.
Shortly afterwards, the couple met Ann and Bob Kuykendall through Linda. Ann and Bob bred and raised Tennessee Walking Horses for over 50 years at their farm in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Ann trained and rode five Supreme Versatility Champions, beginning with GOOD FRIDAY K in the early years of the versatility program. On their first visit, Charlee recalls standing in the pasture surrounded by eight of the sweetest, most beautiful horses. Ann became her mentor, telling her about the breed and about her horses. Eventually, Ann, now in her mid-eighties, offered to sell two bay mares, the youngest of her mares. One was nine and the other was eleven. One had 30 days of riding eight years ago; the other was just halter broke. “By the way,” says Charlee, “that 30 days of riding – that was Ann, at 79 years old. I had 60 acres of pasture with no cross fences, no pens, nothing I really needed to start a colt, much less an aged horse. I had started a lot of horses, some really difficult horses, but never anything like this. It turned out these were the easiest horses I have ever started. Smart, willing and eager to please. They both just rode off like they had always been on the trail. SENORITA MISS AUTUMN will always be my very favorite trail horse. She takes care of me.” She describes both mares as unflappable, even under stressful situations on the trail.
Their relationship with the Kuykendalls led to the purchase of two fillies, full sisters BARBARA’S AMAZING GRACE and ROXANN GENIUS, who were products of JACKSON GOLD POWER and BARBARA ANN GENIUS. Barbara Ann traces back to FRIDAY’S MARAUDER K and his sire GOOD FRIDAY K, both TWHBEA Supreme Versatility Champions. This father/son pair of stallions were ridden regularly on public trail rides by both Ann and Bob. They also were ridden by Ann and her daughter, Dessa, in the Okie Belles in the early 1980s, a drill team group consisting of all ladies, all riding Tennessee Walking Horse stallions. The disposition of their stallions passed down to their last stud, ‘Jackson,’ who 89-year-old Ann still rode bareback around the farm.
The way these fillies came to the Woods was almost miraculous. Both ‘Jackson’ and ‘Barbara Ann’ were in their twenties when BARBARA’S AMAZING GRACE was born and the Kuykendalls had given up on getting a colt from her. Charlee fell in love with ‘Amazing Grace’ as soon as she saw her, and when Roxann was born two years later, she bought her too.
With these fillies, the Woods are building a breeding program at their TangleWoods Ranch. Charlee starts the young horses herself. “I’ve been starting horses since I was 16,” she says, “and I’ve taken on a lot of rescues and problem horses that no one else wanted to deal with. It’s much easier training from the start than fixing other peoples’ mistakes.” She says that one big advantage is that you know how the horse you started is going to react to new or scary situations. “And horses from these bloodlines have such good dispositions,” she says. Six mares currently make up their breeding herd, along with two stallions. THE COOKIE BANDIT is a double registered TWHBEA and SSABEA son of ALEN’S BELFAST BANDIT, and THE OKLAHOMA KID is a young bay stallion from Colorado with deep roots in Middle Tennessee from Leon Oliver’s stock. THE OKLAHOMA KID was bred by Nicole Heim from heritage and working western Walking Horse lines and Charlee knew when she first saw him that he was exactly what she wanted in a stallion.
Trail riding is Charlee’s first love and trail horses and versatility horses are the focus at TangleWoods Ranch. “I like versatility because I like competing with myself and I get bored doing the same things over and over.” Finding places to show in Oklahoma is sometimes a struggle. There are no Tennessee Walking Horse clubs in the area now, but luckily the Green County Fox Trotting Association has welcomed her into their group. They have started a Gaited Breed Show open to all gaited breeds, and Charlee has been competing in ranch horse competitions with one of her mares, MISCHIEF MANAGED AFW.
The Woods have no shortage of trail riding opportunities. “When we were looking for our dream farm, we were lucky enough to find a place with at least ten different trailheads within just over an hour of our place. One is just ten minutes away.” All of these trails give the Woods a golden opportunity to promote the Tennessee Walking Horse to fellow riders.
As members of the Oklahoma Equestrian Trail Riders Association, the Woods are active in clearing trails and making improvements on trailheads in the area. The association is responsible for additions and improvements on camping facilities and holds several trail rides during the year. Charlee says that at least once a year, they make a camping/riding trip to Robbers Cave State Park, located in the scenic woodlands of the San Bois Mountains of southeast Oklahoma.
Charlee had no idea when she went to look at those first two Tennessee Walking geldings that it would set her on the path to continue the legacy of Ann and Bob Kuykendall’s breeding program. Their goals are the same: to produce naturally gaited horses with great dispositions and good working conformation.
