Graceland Stabes Open to Public

Could this be the Madeline Pickens effect or was Priscilla Presley always a horse lover? Apparently Elvis was and Priscilla's recent effort to turn the barns into stables for rescue horses is a wonderful gesture.

Last Wednesday, the stables at Graceland were opened to public tours for the first time. In residence were two rescue horses, Max and Bandit, whom Presley rescued last January in honor of Elvis' birthday.

There are also two other residents: Sun's Reflection, age 27 and Candy, age 17, who are distant cousins of horses from the Elvis-era. It is well known that the late singer loved all twenty of the horses he bought during his lifetime.

"We'd sometimes go out to the stables at 2 in the morning," Presley reminisced. "There was something very therapeutic that he got from it, and I did too. It's like you don't really feel like you're in the city."

In fact, even though some of Elvis' friends did not like horses, according to Presley once Elvis bought the Circle G Ranch in Mississippi, he "got them all horses whether they liked them or not."

Priscilla also let it be known that she is in staunch opposition to a bill currently in the Tennessee legislature that would enable a horse slaughter facility in the state if the federal ban is lifted on slaughter. The bill is currently tied up in committee and will not be acted upon before next year.

In the meantime, there is speculation that the current rescue horses might be joined by others since there are four empty stalls.

We think Elvis would approve.