Beyond Thoroughbreds: Bath County, Spring Seat Saddles, and the Mountain Horse
The thoroughbred horse dominates Kentucky's landscape, from the iconic twin spires of Churchill Downs to the statues found on the city streets of Lexington and Louisville. While the images of racing icons have come to symbolize the Commonwealth, the significance of horses and the horse industry in the state extends far beyond thoroughbred racing. A group of Bath County residents, led by Owingsville Mayor Gary Hunt and horse enthusiast Langley Franklin, are working to expand the statewide narrative through a campaign to memorialize saddle making and the value of the mountain horse in Appalachian life.
Eastern Kentucky and the Art of Saddle Making
Eugene Minihan, who operated a thriving workshop in Owingsville Kentucky, from the late 1800’s through the early 1900s, invented and marketed the Kentucky Spring Seat saddle. Considered by many collectors to be one of the most well-crafted saddles ever developed, the Spring Seat was celebrated for its comfort and durability and designed to support riders during long journeys across Kentucky's rugged terrain. Minihan’s meticulous attention to detail and craftsmanship set a standard for saddle makers, ensuring that each piece he created was not only a tool for riding but also a work of art. His saddles became known for their ability to distribute weight evenly, making them ideal for the mountain horse, a breed that played an essential role in Kentucky’s history. The story of Minihan’s contributions, and the role of the mountain horse, are captured in a segment of the Kentucky Educational Television (KET) program Kentucky Life (linked below).
Memorialization Efforts
In 2017, the Bath County group, along with a team of Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) scholars, began collaborative work on Minihan’s legacy with the release of the documentary “A Quilted History: The Kentucky Riding Saddle,” produced by EKU faculty Stephanie McSpirit. The documentary chronicles preservation efforts around the art of quilted saddle-making. In March of 2019, Kentucky House Bill 212 was signed into law by Gov. Matt Bevin, declaring the Minihan Spring Seat Saddle the official saddle of Kentucky. From there, the Bath County group began working on the development of physical memorials for the town of Owingsville. In response to a press release about the creation of the University of Kentucky’s Monument Workshop, Mr. Franklin and Mayor Hunt reached out for assistance with the state historical marker process. Co-Director Zack Bray helped the group develop materials and recommendation letters that contextualize the Minihan saddle within larger narratives of Kentucky history and memorialization. The application was selected as one of twelve publicly funded historical markers through the Kentucky Historical Society, and the group is working with program coordinator Jim Seaver to finalize the process. The next steps for the Bath County group include fundraising for a larger saddle monument and exploring grant options for other downtown Owingsville improvement efforts.
Local Monuments, Larger Stories
Two of the priorities of the Monuments Workshop are uplifting untold local stories and addressing gaps in the monument landscape in rural areas. The Minihan Spring Seat Saddle project does both. By expanding the history of Kentucky horsemanship to include the Minihan Spring Seat Saddle, this project not only highlights the wealth and prestige of the thoroughbred industry, but also the networks of craftsmanship and industry that helped develop rural communities, particularly in Appalachian Eastern Kentucky. This work also showcases the ways in which memorialization is a process of collective memory and not just a single product that remains static over time. While historical markers play an important role in our heritage landscape and offer a sense of legitimacy to many smaller communities, they represent only a part of the larger landscape.
As Co-Director Zack Bray noted, “our work on the Minihan Saddle project has brought together historians, horse enthusiasts, and cultural workers from across the state. Mayor Hunt and Mr. Franklin were among the very first folks to contact us when we started the Workshop, and working with them has helped to deepen our understanding of how crucial local stories and rural experiences are to Kentucky stories. The true story of horses in Kentucky goes far beyond our larger cities and established tourist destinations, and the Minihan Saddle project is a way to begin telling that story properly.”
The Monuments Workshop staff are available to assist with local and community memorialization efforts that tell untold or underrepresented stories. More information about the Kentucky historical marker program can be found at Kentucky Historical Society website. Preliminary materials for the next round of marker nominations are due February 15, 2025.
This segment is part of Kentucky Life episode #2519, which originally aired on July 18, 2020. Watch the full episode.