A historic marker was unveiled last week at the historic Haynes Haven site on Highway 31, commemorating the famous walking horse Haynes Peacock at the stock farm where he spent his decorated show career.
The horse known to the world as Haynes Peacock started life as a workhorse named “Dan,” foaled in 1928 on the Monette farm in New Herman, a rural community in Bedford County. Dan was worked like any other utility horse for his first 11 years, but his exceptional abilities and traits were evident even then.
“[Even in his show career], I’m pretty sure the trainers and everybody around him [called him] Ol’ Dan. [The name] was in his vocabulary up to the very end,” said Greg Spears, the caretaker of the Haynes Haven site that’s now the General Motors Welcome Center. “He would pull a plow [or] do whatever they wanted him to do… [Somebody recalled] he was carrying groceries, and they would just cross the reins and let the horse go home, which is incredible.”
Spears was invited in 2024 to attend Haynes Peacock’s induction into the Walking Horse Hall of Fame in Lewisburg, which inspired him to research the horse’s life and achievements…