True Grit: Honoring Marty Luffman and a Legacy Hung on the Wall
A champion’s saddle, 49 states, and a story that deserves to be told
By Mike Sparks | TennesseeLedger.com
There is a kind of grit that doesn’t make the evening news. It doesn’t come with a press release or a ribbon-cutting ceremony. It shows up in the saddle leather of a man who hauled his horse across 49 states and Canada, chasing excellence one shot at a time — and winning.
That man is Marty Luffman. And last week, Rutherford County had the privilege of honoring him — not with a plaque or a trophy, but with something far more personal: the mounting of his custom competition saddle on the wall at The Beanes restaurant, a beloved gathering place that has become a fitting home for a piece of Tennessee history.
“I rode Doc Holiday for almost 19 years doing mounted shooting. We won the national championships 3 years straight. And we did it on this custom made saddle fitted to his back and my legs and butt.”
— Marty Luffman
Marty is not just a competitor. He is a historian, a keeper of traditions that stretch back to the earliest days of the American West. His discipline — mounted shooting — demands split-second precision, seamless coordination between horse and rider, and the kind of nerve that can only be forged through years of relentless commitment. To win the national championship once is extraordinary. To win it three consecutive years is a testament to something deeper than talent. That is what we call, in plain Tennessee terms, True Grit.
400,000 Miles and Counting
Consider this for a moment: Marty hauled his horse, Doc Holiday, more than 400,000 miles across this country — from Tennessee to the Pacific Coast, from the Canadian border to competitions far and wide, through 49 states in pursuit of a dream. That is more than sixteen trips around the circumference of the Earth. Every mile was a memory. Every competition was a story. And every one of those stories was told from the seat of that saddle.
When Marty said at the dedication dinner, “So many memories, so many stories are now hanging there,” he wasn’t speaking metaphorically. That saddle is a physical record of a life lived with purpose, passion, and an unwillingness to do anything halfway.
A Historian Who Lived History
What makes Marty Luffman’s story resonate so deeply in Rutherford County is that he has never separated his love of competition from his love of history. Mounted shooting is not merely a sport — it is a living connection to the heritage of the American frontier. Marty understood that. He didn’t just ride; he carried something forward. As a historian, he has dedicated years to preserving the stories of people and traditions that might otherwise be forgotten, ensuring that future generations have a thread back to who we were and where we came from.
That is no small thing. In a world that moves fast and forgets faster, men like Marty Luffman serve as anchors. They remind us that history is not something that happened to other people in another time — it is the ground beneath our feet, and it is worth protecting.
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