By Mary Beth Pruett

Jake leading Ally Jo on MY LITTLE RED WAGON with her first World Grand Championship in the 2020 Leadline division.

When Ally Jo Jacobs won her first World Grand Championship in 2020, her smile lit up the big oval almost as brightly as the Celebration spotlight. Her father, Jake Jacobs, led her under that spotlight on My Little Red Wagon, after an undefeated season in the Leadline division.  Ally Jo was five years old at the time, and now, at just a few days short of eleven, that smile has never stopped.

When Ally Jo was six months old, her father sat her on her mini-horse Goldilocks and walked her up and down the barn aisle for hours and hours.  That was the beginning.  Or maybe the real beginning was with her great-great grandfather, who started the farm in Rutherford County, where the Jacobs family now lives.  Jake got his start with horses on that farm, and he began showing when he was twelve, under the direction of Johnny Puckett.  He showed through his high school years, took time off during college and early years of his career, then showed again in his mid-twenties.  After another break, he resumed showing shortly after Ally Jo was born and has been immersed in the Tennessee Walking Horse industry ever since.  “When Ally Jo became so interested, I mainly started just helping her.  I didn’t win my first World Championship until my mid-forties,” he says.  “Ally Jo gives me all kinds of grief about it taking me so long.” Like many other riders, Jake remembers his first Celebration, and he remembers the first time he made the workout.  “I didn’t even realize they had called my number,” he remembers.  “But I was on cloud 9 from the thrill of it.”

Jake’s wife, Amanda, had only ridden a horse twice in her life before the couple were married.  “She didn’t know what she was getting into,” he says with a laugh.  Both Jake and Amanda graduated from Middle Tennessee State University, where Amanda played on the basketball team.  Jake owns and operates Jacobs Construction, and they operate a farm a few miles out of town.  “Ally Jo is a fifth-generation farmer,” he points out.  “She rode with me in the combine from the time she was a baby and has already learned how to run the machine.  She drives the tractor and knows almost as much as I do about the construction business. She’s like a fifty-year-old in a ten-year-old body!”

Ally Jo became the youngest rider to win a World Championship in equitation, winning the 11 & Under division at barely six years of age. That win did not happen easily. After winning the Leadline Championship in 2020, Ally Jo set herself a goal of riding solo in the 2021 Celebration.  The family contacted riding instructor Leigh Stuart to instruct her. Stuart, coach of several winning equitation riders, said no.  “She’s too young,” she told the Jacobs.  But Stuart had not met the tiny dynamo that was Ally Jo.  Finally, they persuaded her to watch their daughter ride before making a definitive decision. 

“She didn’t even finish her first pass before Leigh realized that Ally Jo had what it takes,” her father says.  They went to work on her goal, not only of riding solo but competing in the 11 & Under Equitation class at the Celebration.  I’M A HUSTLER, Stuart’s 21-year-old black gelding, an old hand in the show ring, became Ally Jo’s mount.  Their partnership seemed destined for success until Hustler died of colic just four months before the Celebration.  Another horse was found in AIN’T HE GRANDE, a World Grand Champion with no equitation background.  Stuart set about training the gelding for the patterns and maneuvers required for the class at the same time she was refining his rider’s skills.  Then, two weeks before the Celebration, Ally Jo broke her arm.  “The whole time they were setting her arm, she was just crying and crying,” Jake says.  “The doctor asked if it was hurting and she said, ‘no, but I won’t be able to show my horse!’“

With the grit and determination she has always shown, Ally Jo relentlessly practiced compensating for the weight of the cast while in the saddle.  Her riding suit was altered to cover the cast and most people watching her flawless ride would not guess that she was riding with a broken arm.  After winning the equitation championship on AIN’T HE GRANDE, she returned to the show ring to win the 6-11 Novice World Championship, making her also the youngest rider to win a blue in both divisions in the same year.  Ally Jo would repeat her 11 & Under Equitation World Championship four times more and would also win the TWHBEA Medallion Equitation Performance 3 gait Reserve World Championship in 2025.

Her hard work mastering the equitation division no doubt led to her ability to ride and show successfully in other divisions.  Four different trainers put Ally Jo in the ring throughout the show season.  Laurie Toone trains her flat shod horses, Leigh Stuart has her equitation horses, Leighanne Tibbs trains her spotted horses, and her padded horses are with Spencer Benedict, whose training and breeding operation is right next door.  Ally Jo also has her own string of horses she works, including “Princess Jasmine”, a spotted mare who competes in both rail and versatility events such as water glass and speed events.  A serious accident this spring led to a few weeks off from horse shows, but, once again, the grit and spunk she has always possessed didn’t let her down and she is back in the saddle again.

She just cares so much about being with horses . . . Her work ethic is amazing.

“She just cares so much about being with horses,” says Jake, “whether it’s cleaning stalls or grooming behind the scenes or leading horses through the DQP.  Her work ethic is amazing.”  She also helps with the breeding operation and always is eager to help the veterinarian stitch up wounds or treat other injuries.  The Jacobs have about fifty mares and foals on the farm, and several stallions. JOSE IT AIN’T SO and MR. TRUE BLUE stand at stud with Spencer Benedict Stables, just across the hayfields.

MR. TRUE BLUE was the Four-Year-Old World Grand Champion in 2022.  He was named in honor of Jake and Amanda’s alma mater, MTSU, whose sports teams are known as the Blue Raiders.  Ally Jo has delivered the game ball for the Blue Raiders Homecoming game twice, once on MR. TRUE BLUE and more recently riding SWEET WALKING MATILDA, her World Grand Champion Youth Trail Pleasure horse.  She also takes horses to MTSU twice a year for “farm days” and introduces groups of third graders to the Tennessee Walking Horse, talking to them about the breed and what they can do.  Her most successful Celebration yet came in 2025, when she not only won six world championships in four different divisions but also won her first solo World Grand Championship.

Ally Jo has built friendships and relationships across all ages.  Ann Marie Couch, owner/exhibitor of MY TEQUILA SUNRISE says that Ally Jo is one of his best friends and always nickers a greeting when she comes to the barn. She usually is around to help get TEQUILA SUNRISE and Ann Marie into the show ring and accepted the Performance Gelding of the Year award for his owner at the 2025 TWHBEA Awards Banquet. She had an especially close friendship with Jimmy McConnell, spending time sitting with him and soaking up his knowledge.  “She’s like a sponge,” Jake says.  “And it’s a real adventure for us every day with her.”  An example of her attention to detail came about when her mother Amanda was persuaded to ride in a trail horse class at a spotted horse show.  “Ally Jo insisted that she had to have ear buds so she could instruct her in the ring.  And before she went in the ring, I heard her give every piece of advice she has ever had from her trainers to her mother.  I was laughing so hard!” says Jake.  She loves to help younger riders in and out of the ring and is always willing to lend a hand behind the scenes.  No matter how early preparations for horse shows start, she can usually be found at the barn helping Spencer Benedict and R.M. Kellett get horses ready to show.

I’m so grateful for all the opportunities the Tennessee Walking Horse has given us.

“I’m so grateful for all the opportunities the Tennessee Walking Horse has given us,” says Jake.  “My daughter has learned things in her ten years that will go with her throughout her entire life.”  Ally Jo probably doesn’t think much about the lessons she is learning. Although she has had amazing success in the show ring, for Ally Jo, it’s really just all about the horses and her love for them.