You may know Elvis Presley’s public image well. His music, dancing and movies top pop-culture history. But do you know where he relaxed and found peace when at home in Memphis, Tennessee?

His inner circle knew Elvis’ sanctuary was at the stables of Graceland, which he called “House of the Rising Sun” to honor his prized American Quarter Horse who lived there.

Quarter Horses have lived at Graceland since Christmas 1966, when Elvis first bought “Domino,” a black horse gifted to his then-soon-to-be wife, Priscilla. Today, the Quarter Horse tradition continues, as Graceland is home to a palomino who shares ancestry with “Rising Sun.” Read on to find out about Elvis’ love for the Quarter Horses that graced the Graceland pastures.

Horses for All

When Elvis purchased Domino, he set off an effective horse-shopping spree. In the documentary “Elvis, by the Presleys,” Priscilla Presley reminisced about Elvis and his horses.

“He surprised me with this beautiful black Quarter Horse named Domino,” she said. “That was definitely the start of the horse craze.”

Graceland archives show that in the winter of 1966, Elvis purchased Domino, as well as a buckskin mare named Sheba for Priscilla’s friend Sandy Schilling to ride. He wanted to make sure Priscilla had someone to ride with.

According to Elvis’ longtime friend, music-industry professional Jerry Schilling, Domino came from “Spence’s Ranch,” not far from Graceland. Elvis contacted William Spence when looking for a very gentle horse for Priscilla for Christmas. While no registration records line up perfectly, it’s possible that Domino was a horse Spence owned named Slagle’s Midnite.

Those first two horses were joined by 19 more Presley-purchased horses in the winter of 1966-1967. Graceland archives show that four of these “gift” horses were Quarter Horses.

Priscilla said Elvis bought a horse for everyone in his entourage. He even bought the tack and a truck to go with the horses.

“One for every guy and for the wives also,” Priscilla said. “It didn’t matter if you liked them or not. You were getting a horse!”

Palomino Search

At first, Elvis wasn’t a big fan of riding, according to Graceland’s longtime stable supervisor Alene Alexander. She said a horse once ran away with Elvis on a movie set, and he was a bit wary of horses after the incident. But when he saw Priscilla enjoying her new horse, he began a search for his own mount. Elvis’ main objective was to find a palomino.

“He wanted a special one,” Priscilla said. “He wanted a golden palomino. He would get up at 3 in the morning, go to certain farms and ranches and say, ‘Do you have a golden palomino for sale?’ People would say, ‘That was Elvis Presley.’ ”

Soon, Elvis heard about the horse that would be his. Rising Sun’s registered name was Midget’s Vandy. AQHA registration records show that Elvis A. Presley of Memphis acquired the horse on January 5, 1967. The horse was a 1961 son of the Indiana-based roan stallion Vandy Bear and dam Salty Midget. Bred by James Leininger of Crown Point, Indiana, the colt was one of four or five born at the family farm that year, according to Leininger’s son, Larry.

“The horse was at Pat Earnheart’s stables in Hernando, Mississippi,” she says. “Elvis’s father, Vernon Presley, found out about the horse. There were five men involved, all associated with top-end expensive Quarter Horses. Marshall Grant, Johnny Cash’s right-hand man, was involved in the search, too. This horse that was placed with Earnheart had shown in western pleasure. They say he had gone ring sour and wouldn’t show any more.

“They all set up a time to go and see the horse at the stables, but by 8 o’clock at night, no one showed. At 10 o’clock, after the lights had been turned out, Pat saw lights coming up the drive, and it was Priscilla. Elvis didn’t want to go because he didn’t want to be seen riding in front of anyone. Elvis always wanted to be perfectly appointed. To come out and just ride a horse in front of somebody, without knowing the horse, wasn’t going to fit into who he was. Priscilla rode quite well, and so she came and rode the horse. Priscilla decided Elvis should see the horse, so he was brought to Graceland so Elvis could develop some privacy in handling the horse.”

Elvis ultimately purchased the horse, who quickly became his favorite.

“The horse was $2,500 and a $500 handling fee,” Alene says. “The check was for $3,000.”

Happy Place

Elvis was smitten with the horse he renamed Rising Sun and made him the namesake of the stable.

“He had a great time,” Priscilla said in the documentary. “He rode as soon as he got up in the morning or in the afternoon. He had his breakfast, and he was out riding. He put on a show for all the fans. He’d take his horse and ride out to the end of the field and then race the horses back up again.”

Alene recalls more little-known facts about the horse: “I do know that one of the requirements for purchasing any other horse was that they could not be able to outrun Rising Sun,” she says. “There are also fun stories of that horse leaning into the Pepsi machine and knocking the drinks out of it. The horse had a sense of humor that matched Elvis’ sense of humor.”

Because Priscilla had Domino and Elvis had Rising Sun, they could retreat to the stables and take time with their horses.

“Elvis had such little privacy,” Alene says. “The stable was one of the areas where Elvis could go where he didn’t have to be Elvis the entertainer. I think Elvis found solitude and comfort in the stables.”

The King Was Gone

Alene arrived at Graceland as a tour guide when the estate opened to the public in 1982, a few years after Elvis’ untimely death in August 1977. With a wealth of horsemanship knowledge, she quickly moved to work at the stables.

“Rising Sun wasn’t in very good shape when I got here,” she says. “I was very concerned for him, but we got him healthy, and soon I saddled him and rode him. Well, he ran like crazy. Just wide open all the way from the barn to the front pasture, then he turned around and ran all the way back to the barn. After I watched some home footage, I knew why – that’s what Elvis did.”

Elvis’ fans loved to see Rising Sun at the front gates. Alene says they loved to pet him, and many people were emotional. “He was all that was left behind.”

Rising Sun suffered from kidney failure at the end of his life.

“I remember getting here all dressed up and went into his stall with a dress and panty hose,” Alene says. “He was sick, and we were doing whatever we could to help. I crawled in for comfort because he knew who I was. Our CEO, Jack Soden, gave Rising Sun the very last bottle of pop that he ever had. It was a bottle of Coke.”

Alene says the horse is buried at Graceland and that she knows where the grave is, but it isn’t marked. “We placed him facing the east, so he’s always facing the rising sun,” she says. “His grave was lined with his blanket, and his head was placed on a pillow of hay.”

Living Memorials

After Rising Sun died in 1986, Graceland searched for a palomino in need of a home. Alene says there will always be a palomino at Graceland in honor of Rising Sun.

Robert Boyd, of Senatobia, Mississippi, offered Royal Prosperity for sale. The 1984 palomino gelding was by Prosperity Breeze (tracing to King) and out of Golda Princess (tracing to the Thoroughbred Three Bars). “Graceland Div. of E. Presley Ent.” acquired the horse in June 1988 and began calling him “Sun’s Reflection.” Both Rising Sun and Sun’s Reflection share a distant common ancestor, Zantanon. Zantanon was a fourth great-grandfather to Rising Sun and a sixth great-grandfather to Sun’s Reflection.

Today, the resident palomino is “Tucker” or officially “Tuscan Sun” at Graceland. His AQHA registration lists him as Bos Easy Time. The 1996 palomino gelding is by Bodaciously Blue, out of Baroness Alibi by Baron Cowboy. Lyn Myers of Memphis, gave him to Graceland when it was time for him to retire.

Rising Sun and Tuscan Sun share common ancestors in Leo and Joe Reed II.