Bob Medina Family: Success Breeds Success
By Mitzi Oxford

When Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote about success breeding success, he could have easily envisioned the future of Bob Medina’s family, their contributions to history and to the Tennessee Walking Horse industry.
The origins of the Tennessee Walking Horse can be traced back to the 1860s and the Civil War. Among the horses of both the Confederate and Union cavalry were Southern Plantation Walking Horses, which in later years became the Tennessee Walking Horse.

By the 1880s, breeders in the heart of Middle Tennessee saw the development of great walking horses including Allan F-1. They were the beginning for the early sires and dams of future World’s Grand Champions beginning with Strolling Jim in 1939.

Not long after those foundations for our breed were laid in the 1880s, Harold Medina was born. His father. Joaquin Adolfo Medina, descended from Spanish conquistadors. He grew up on a prosperous plantation on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico before becoming a naturalized American citizen and a successful importer.
Harold went on to become an attorney in New York. He was later appointed by President Harry Truman as the 2nd Circuit Judge of Appeals. Two years later, Harold was featured on the cover of Time magazine.

His son, Harold Medina, Jr. was also a lawyer and an expert in libel, privacy and copyright and would later win a case representing Time before the U.S. Supreme Court.

He had three children, Harold Medina III, Robert and Ann. Harold, also known as Kurt, had a successful career with Time-Life books. Ann is an Emmy award winning TV correspondent and producer. She has worked for ABC, NBC, PBS and the BBC.

Then there is Robert, who everyone in the walking horse world knows as Bob Medina.

Smart investments

In the late 1930s, Bob’s grandparents and parents bought more than 50 acres of land in Westhampton, New York, and built cottages for their family. 

After attending Princeton, the alma mater of his grandfather, father and later his brother, Bob didn’t know what he wanted to do.

“I joined the Navy. I had polio when I was nine years old so an ex-business partner of my father, who happened to be the former Secretary of the Navy, helped get me in. In 1965, I volunteered for Swift Boats. The Navy decided they weren’t too swift, and I got out of the Navy,” explained Bob.

After that he worked for Chase Manhattan Bank and Bessemer Trust, a wealth management company. Bob soon started building his own real estate investment business. At their peak, with various partners through those years and eventually becoming sole owner, his company was in 26 states.

“When I graduated from Princeton, my father gave me a briefcase. He said don’t worry about the big picture, worry about the details and the big picture will take care of itself.”

Those smart business moves and attention to details would lead to wise investments and eventually unwavering support for the Walking Horse industry.

Along comes Mary

Mary Dunn grew up in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. There was a farm on the hill near her home with two Tennessee Walking Horses. The owner let all the neighborhood kids ride them. It was her first experience with the breed, or any horses for that matter.

Unlike all the Medina boys who attended Princeton, Mary went to Cornell University and later attended graduate school at Harvard.

“My roommate lived in Westhampton. She invited me to a party where I met Bob. That was in the fall of 1966. We married in July the following year,” explained Mary.

Bob says that when Mary became his wife, that made him “The luckiest guy in the world.”

The Medinas moved to Westhampton, and then Bob decided “We needed to own horses, a lot of horses,” said Mary. That led the Medinas to buy a farm in Skillman, New Jersey, in 1968. It became Thornridge because of all the thorn bushes which had to be dug up on the property.

Initially, they bought a few horses through Wallace and Laura Brandon and took a padded horse to a show in Quentin, Pennsylvania. The judge of that show was Jimmy McConnell.

“After judging up there, Bob started calling about buying more horses. I recommended a mare and gelding, Pride’s Riddle and Mark Of Pride. He became one of my top customers,” said McConnell.

Riding on cruise control

Even before McConnell became their trainer, the Medinas worked with Peter Huff and Ron Green. “Peter was a great horse-to-cart driver,” according to Bob. He worked with Standardbreds and Walking Horses. 
Huff’s description of Tennessee Walking Horses was “It’s like the ride you get behind the wheel of a new Cadillac driving down a freshly paved highway. It’s almost like the horse has wheels instead of legs.”

Ron, spent his life training and showing. He trained several winners for the Medinas, including Chief Of Staff, Pride’s Painted Rose and Ebony’s Lady K.  

Ebony’s Lady K was the first horse Mary showed in Tennessee. She has fond memories of both Lady K and Chief Of Staff. She refers to her favorites as “riding on cruise control”.

Ron’s son Charlie would later play a role in building the Medina’s hoofprint in Shelbyville.

Both Huff and Ron were part of generations that helped build the breed and were instrumental in the Medina’s growing interest in the walking horse business. That led to their desire to learn to ride from one of the best.
Three time World Grand Champion trainer Joe Webb was also renowned for his riding school. He often displayed his ability to train horses to obey voice and whistle commands. Webb would entertain visitors to his stable by putting a horse through its gaits, riderless.

“Bob and I both attended Joe Webb Riding School in the mid 1980s. I don’t know that we would have ever shown without that experience. It was wonderful, like a grown-up camp with the result of more confidence for any rider,” said Mary.

On with the show

Bob and Mary soon became familiar faces in the showring. 

Then came Walkin’ All Over, Dragonfly, They Call Me Sir, Can You See Me Now, BeeBee King, Barracuda, Cash’s Good Wife, Grandy’s Rhythm Lady and Orient Express. Those horses were trained by McConnell. The Medinas and McConnell shared shows on most of them.

“Dragonfly was special. He was a Christmas gift from Bob and was one of the best gifts ever. He was a great horse with a great personality. Jimmy showed him more than I did, but he was always one of my favorites,” said Mary.

Dragonfly was a winner with Mary in amateur classes at the Mississippi Charity and Germantown Charity horse shows and with McConnell at the Gulf Coast Charity and was a world grand champion at the Celebration in 2008.
Bob has shown hundreds of times over the years, in some shows back-to-back-to-back. He loved every minute of it. Pride’s Hurricane was one of his favorite mounts. He also enjoyed winning rides on Hey Hey Ole’, Mystery Woman, Jazzing Papa and Zapata. 

Bob and Mary had great success showing some of the same horses in flat shod and performance classes across the southeast.

Building for the future

Formac sits on 86 acres in Shelbyville, Tennessee. It was funded by Bob and built with the help of Ron and Charlie Green in 1988. 

“The Medinas were very good to my family,” said Charlie. “We trained there for four years.”

Several years later, McConnell moved his training operation from West Tennessee to Formac. 
“Bob gave me that place. He is probably one of the most generous people I’ve ever known,” said McConnell.
In 2016, Formac became Thornridge South as an extension of the Medina’s farm in New Jersey. With McConnell’s guidance and support, Sam Martin now trains there.

Two years later, Mary was diagnosed with lung cancer. She didn’t miss a beat. A few weeks after surgery, she returned to showing at the Fun Show and then the Celebration.

Bob describes those early days of investing in the walking horse industry as interesting. Coming from a successful investment background, that statement speaks volumes.

“You can be sitting around a table with a billionaire, a guy with 25 cents in his pocket and a trainer who is struggling.”

Investing time and $ for success

Bob began using his acumen as an investor in businesses and people to make a difference in the walking horse industry. He was tapped to serve on a Celebration Advisory Board. The goal was to improve the accountability of the judging system.

“I devised a system for doing that. It involved totaling the scores of the list of judges and seeing who would be best, sort of like grades for a Master’s Degree.”

It worked well at the time, and today, some of Bob’s suggestions are still being utilized in the judging system for the TWHNC.

He also supported the historic vote in 2009, when the Walking Horse Owners Association (WHOA) agreed with the Walking Horse Trainers Association (WHTA) that the National Horse Show Commission (NHSC) should be dissolved and all its duties transferred to the independent Horse Industry Organization (HIO) known as S.H.O.W.
After coming under attack for alleged abuse and other reported indiscretions, the campaign was a way to demonstrate the industry’s commitment to bringing about reform where it was needed. The goal was to see that only sound horses were exhibited at every show, that judging would be impartial, that inspections would be objective and that the best horse wins.

Bob served as Chairman of the SHOW HIO Task Force Finance Committee. He not only shared his time and expertise, but also gave $200,000 to support the struggling industry through Friends of the Show Horse.

The next chapter
Although neither Bob nor Mary show horses any longer, they are not out of the business.
“I miss riding and showing and I want more horses,” said Mary.

The Medinas have two daughters, Elizabeth and Rachel. Elizabeth showed for a while but never really got involved. Their daughters and grandchildren will be together in Westhampton for most of August. Towards the end of the month, the Medinas will make their way to another beloved place, the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration. 

They will be cheering on their latest acquisition, Midnight Mafia. He will be shown by Martin under the Thornridge South banner.

In his debut last month at the Christmas in July show in Shelbyville, he took the blue. He was also reserve at the Heart of a Champion show.

“I thought Midnight Mafia was appropriately named from an owner in New Jersey,” said Bob.
McConnell said he is one of the better horses Bob and Mary have owned. So on with the next success story for the Medina family.

Upon hearing of McConnell’s passing, it was important for Bob and Mary to express what he meant to them.
"Outside of family, Jimmy McConnell had the greatest positive influence of anyone in our whole lives. We loved him dearly."