Published
October 2000
Republished in Memory of Billy Ray Reynolds
It may be the year 2000, but time spent with actor/musician Billy Ray Reynolds will hurl you headlong into a time warp and land you in the most tumultuous time in our nation’s history. Reynolds may be one of those people that should have been born at a different time. It is people like Reynolds though, that are best able to reenact the past so folks today can have a better understanding of history.
More than anything Reynolds is a storyteller. Whether it’s prose or songs, Reynolds words command attention.
He grew up in rural Mississippi and started the working portion of his life behind a mule plow. He was nine years old. Reynolds past most of the long, hot childhood days with a song.
It was behind that plow that Reynolds discovered one of his many talents: singing. Learning to ride and train horses came later. Reynolds is probably best known for tenure with country music superstar Waylon Jennings. Reynolds was Jennings’s bandleader for ten years. Beyond that, Reynolds has accomplished much on his own. He staged battle scenes in the famed mini-series The North and South, he and his horse Buck had a scene in the award-winning film “Roots”. He is president of the Nashville actors guild and on top of that is a hit producing songwriter.
Reynolds said despite all this one of his strongest loves remains to be horses. His experience with them is vast. It all began with Mississippi Mule Racing after long weeks of plowing. “I could tell horse stories all day,” said Reynolds. After a few years of growing, Reynolds and his “hog dog” Bozo used the horse to round up feral hogs. “I don’t get hurt as much as I used to,” said Reynolds.
His reason for riding has changed over the years. What began as a fascination with history has become a lifelong quest for Reynolds. His knowledge on the subject of the U.S. Civil War is of doctrinal proportions. In his quest, his knowledge has earned him awards from the Daughters of the Confederacy. In fact, he was one of the first three men ever accepted as a member of the once exclusively female organization.
The research Reynolds has done has his friends calling him a “walking Civil War encyclopedia” but Reynolds said that is re-enactments that bring him the best sense of what the life of a confederate soldier must have been like. “Some of the best, most fun riding I’ve done has been in Civil War reenactments,” Reynolds said.
His talents as a horseman and trainer have often come in handy during these large scale events. Reynolds was called upon to handle problem horses. He says he was the best at teaching horses not to rear. Now Reynolds puts a rearing horse in the movies.
According to Reynolds, horse owners are often much more stubborn than their four-legged companions.
“I always hated old abusive methods of dealing with horses,” said Reynolds, who believes the best thing a horse owner can do is talk to their animal.
Reynolds has trained horses to everything from running barrels to pulling wagons.
“The stuff I do is instructive,” said Reynolds.
These days Reynolds can be found entertaining on River Boat Cruises on the Mississippi, filming videos or writing songs. He lives in Nashville and travels quite a bit.
Before long he’ll be off to dedicate another Civil War memorial somewhere in the South. Reynolds’s recent work includes a video tour of the home of Tanya Tucker and a commercial for Dollywood.
He is excited about the release of Waylon Jennings box set now available in stores. He has released a Civil War album and is working on another.
We at HorseSouth were saddened when we learned of Billy Ray Reynolds’ recent passing. We take comfort in the image of him galloping down the streets of gold on his favorite horse, and hope you do too.