The gaits for the horse in the video run between 5-8mph for a running walk and 6-10 mph for the foxtrot. He canters around 10-15 and gallops about 15-20 mph. Calculated using a Garmin 305 wrist mounted unit while riding. So yes, very much able to complete an LD, speed-wise.
I think with most gaited horses, the ability to complete depends more on their metabolic conditioning and resting heart rate, than speed. The successful gaited riders that I’ve seen are mostly riding twice as much for conditioning to get half the results as a comparable Arabian, although I’ve heard of the occasional rare gaited horse with an arab-like loooow resting HR.
I know when I did a 50 over 10 years ago - on an arab - that arab had less total conditioning miles on her than I ride in a month on that horse in the video. Yet she breezed by with all A’s, and trotted ME out for each check. I know that if someone could breed the perfect gaited horse with the metabolism of an arab, the endurance community would experience a huge growth spurt… and save a lot of money on painkillers post-ride
You won’t be sorry you got this horse, Fivesocks. Walkers are really great horses. About how old is he? I saw where you posted that he is a craigslist fixer-upper. He may be narrow-chested because he is underweight or because he has been kept stalled without a chance to exercise. Also younger walkers are usually more narrow. They all muscle up with proper exercise and they gain weight with good feed, hay and/ or pasture.
The one “mistake” I have seen new walker riders make time and time again is that they “override” or push their horses to go faster too quickly. If a walker is pushed to go faster than they are comfortable with or used to, they will often go into a pace.
Walkers are supposed to be born with a natural four- beat lateral gait. But due to some poor breeding practices, some walkers do not possess a good natural running walk- they are either too pacy or too trotty.
Just take things easy, and you should do well. Do be careful about being suckered in for ads for walking horse or gaited saddles, bits etc. Get a saddle that fits your horse-- don’t be in too much of a hurry to buy a saddle until you have brought your horse back to its ideal weight.
There are several good books and training videos on the market for gaited horses, just avoid any of the ones that lean toward the showring big lick- that is an artificial gait, and not what you should want to aim for in a trail horse.
Walkers tend to be very trusting horses with even dispositions.
Properly trained and conditioned, a walker will be a great pleasure riding horse for trails or can be used to compete in endurance rides.
I just pleasure ride mine and I use a rolled cantle and pommel plantation saddle about 100 years old. I also like to use Buena Vista saddles. If you get a western saddle, I’ve found that the ones with rounded skirts rather than square seem to fit better.
I also have a Campbell brand deep seat cutback or saddleseat saddle that I used when I showed flatshod walkers- more than 20 years ago, but these saddles are not comfortable for either the rider or the horse for long rides.
Do avoid the old-fashioned 8 and 10 inch walking horse bits often advertised on eBay-- these are severe bits aqs are the gag bits that are used on the big-lick show horses.
Have you posted a link to photos yet? Sorry for the misspelled heading
Hope this works to his album. These pics make him look not quite as awful, but I swear in real life he’s a touch thinner The vet said he was a body score of 2. Gradually introducing hay and chopped alfalfa forage. The vet said no grain yet.
Elysian he is suposed to be 14. Don’t worry, he won’t be over-ridden or worked in a huge old fashioned bit or any of that stuff…all we want is a nice quiet trail horse!
Thank you for sharing fivesocks. My heart goes out to that guy! He is very lucky to have you looking out for him. I just told my fiance it is a good thing we don’t have a bigger farm because I would be scooping up the TWH rescues!!! I have my one… whom I am in love with.
I’m sure this guy will start feeling real good in time. The first day he runs from sheer joy you will have tears in your eyes.
[QUOTE=katarine;5044327]
I betcha he’ll be a racker not a walker. sweet skeletor, best wishes and good vibes on getting him back to health…[/QUOTE]
Ok I think I could tell the difference between a walker and a racker in motion…but can you explain just to be sure?
I’m pretty sure he is a TWH. Can they be rackers? Or are you saying you don’t think he’s a TWH? FWIW I’ve only seen him trot…not pace or rack or anything. But sometimes his walk is very “pacey”.
He is really such a cheerful cutie…I don’t care how he moves!
I let him out in the good pasture for a few hours yesterday, and when I brought him back into his little area around the barn (which does have a little bit of grass) all he did was stand at the fence and gaze over at the good pasture! He’s discovered heaven and wants nothing else!
both are four beat gaits- in the rack the topline is steady and still- they lock their backs down and you just glide. The tail shakes like crazy and the head is still.
a running walk is a huge walk- just imagine the biggest, head nodding-est walk. You move some but it’s not as smooth as a rack. Lots of head action pumping with the motion of his hind end.
I am just guessing but I bet once he’s fat and feeling ok, he’s going to offer a rack rather than moving up from regular walk to flat walk to running walk.
Get the Easy Gaited book or look up the links already offered for more/better explanations than I can slap together. Short story, my TWH would rather rack or step pace, my double registered SSH/TWH is a racker, and my little SSH is a run walking machine. They do what they are designed by God- not their breed name or Daddy- to do.
He’s beautiful, ok I know he is skinny, and it pains me that people do this to horses, but I think he is very handsome and will be just gorgeous when he is fat.
I’m not sure what the difference is between a Racker and a Walker, though I know there is a Racking horse registry. I’ve always thought that a Racker was a horse that was better at racking, or didn’t have the running walk gait, or something.
I have a TWH pony (he’s between 14.1 and 14.2), and I know he can rack because that is what his former owners were using him for. He does a running walk and trots, too. Plus the canter, of course, though he doesn’t really like to canter. So they can have a lot of gaits!
There are a lot of videos on youtube of people racking their horses. They can really go fast!!
When we first got him he assumed we would want to rack too, I guess, because he would zoom around the round pen when you first got on. Nowadays he’s figured out that I am NOT in a hurry, so he is much calmer. He is sooo sweet. It is true what they say about how kind they are!
He has the same coloring as your horse, just in a much smaller package. But I’m pretty small too, so JJ is perfect for me! (I’m 4’ 11 1/2").
I have a Tucker trail endurance saddle. I think I’m going to have him evaluated by a saddle fitter, though, to make sure it’s not too narrow. He does have high withers, but he’s round, too.
I’m so glad you took this guy in. He is so thin, but I’m sure he will look much better in no time! He looks like a TWH to me. More than my pony, who is grade, very short-backed and round, and might even be a cross of something. But he moves like a TWH.
Awww, poor guy – but I’m glad to hear he will be getting better care. Although I hope you certainly do not make him a body score of a 7 – that is just as unhealthy for a horse as having one at a 2 or 3.
As others have wisely said, ignore any special “walking horse” saddles/trims/bits, etc. A horse is a horse is a horse and should be kept accordingly, balanced and healthy. All the walkers I have ever known have been generous, tolerant animals and although I’m not a fan of riding them, I do love their heart and personality. Good luck with the new guy!
Fwiw, my racking horse has a nice running walk, and can also step pace/amble, flat walk, dog walk, trot, pace, single-foot, rack, canter, gallop and “wicky wack” (mixed rack/canter gait, very disconcerting until you realize that its not going to kill you or the horse). In other words, she’s got all the gaits that exist, purt near, except the foxtrot. (Dang it.) Now if she would just pick one or two and do them consistently, as opposed to offering a weird blend of them depending on her mood, the weather, sunspots, I dont know what. (My farrier once said, “I thought a racking horse was just a walker that wouldnt walk…”)
The walker, on the other hand, is way trotty. We have really had to work on his running walk. Its nice when he hits it. He’s got a correct, flat canter as well as the rocking horse canter. But that’s it. Every once in a while I get a fait whiff of something that isnt really a runwalk and isnt a trot either, but not a hint of a rack.
The semantics get confusing. There are breed registries, and then there are different gaits, and one has to learn to separate the two. A “Tennessee Walking Horse” does not always perform a “running walk”, and a registered “Racking horse” does not always perform a rack…and a Missouri Foxtrotter does not always foxtrot. In fact, in all cases, there are more horses in each registry that do NOT do the signature gait, than do…or at least it’s seems that way. But, it is likely that they will at least perform ONE of the smoother gaits, which are (in order from the most square to the most lateral): foxtrot, running walk, rack, step pace. At either end of that spectrum is trot (square) - pace(lateral) both of which are rarely smooth.
For TWH’s, the big problem is people who breed for the Big Lick (aka “performance”) horses. These horses must PACE in order that when pads are applied, they will do something resembling a lame horse gimp that is called a running walk, but isn’t. If you watch a “performance” class, the horses aren’t even doing a proper running walk. They are actually step pacing, with the riders gouging the mouths - and/or sored - to create an artificial exaggerated head bob. These same horses, when removed from the big shoes, have a difficult or impossible time doing a true running walk. Some will still have a smooth stepping pace or rack, but I’ve never seen one come off pads and do a real runwalk. Therefore, many TWHs, particularly from performance show lines, tend to be pacey. It’s actually quite a challenge to find one that isn’t, and you often have to go outside the show lines.
On the other hand, the Racking horse registry registers just about anything that looks like it might do something other than a trot. This is the “grade” horse registry that folks in the south have been using to sell their crossbred gaited horses for years - most folks don’t realize that you can literally register anything through them, so long as you have a friendly inspector. Lately, the KMSH registry has been said to be headed that direction as well, although I originally was impressed by their inspection standards, I’ve seen a lot of really awful horses get in the last two years or so. Another recent registry that is similar to the KMSH and Racking Horse is KNGHA. Same deal, anything gets through if you’ve got a friend. If you don’t have friends, you can always register anything with the Pleasure Saddle Horse registry, which I actually suspect is a self-created website/registry by a particular seller of gaited horses. With any of these “self-reporting” registries, there is zero age or parentage verification when registered via inspection, which is what most are, and buyers of 7 year old horses are often surprised when they appear quite old at 15 - the reason is that they are often 15 when purchased as 7.
So the point to all this is that you should never assume that the breed alone is indicative of what gaits the horse will do - let alone how those gaits will feel. Watching a horse move in the field is also not a good indicator of gait quality. My smoothest horse will do nothing but trot in the field - AND my roughest horse will do nothing but trot in the field. Both gait under saddle properly and both are good horses, but one has a smoother gait than the other - their bloodlines and conformation are so different that it would be difficult for the average person to believe they are even from the same breed (one is show bred, one not…show bred is the rougher one). You MUST ride the horse yourself, and if it is not ridable, ride the parents. That, ultimately, is the only way you’ll know for sure. Gait is genetic to a reasonable degree - if both parents are great, smooth gaiting horses, the chances of their offspring being so - with proper care and training - are pretty high, but not foolproof. Looking at bloodlines can be helpful - if you know what you’re looking at and have seen or ridden similarly bred horses enough to know what certain lines tend to contribute.
Sorry for the long spiel, it’s another rainy day ;)[/QUOTE]
I’m glad it was rainy - you gave an excellent summary of gaited horses! I tell friends who are interested in buying one that they HAVE to ride the horse in the ring and on the trails to try it out. Just having someone say that it’s a “smooth ride” doesn’t mean anything. Even with my horse he feels differently if we are headed away from the barn vs heading home. I hope the OP takes the time to let her horse gain some weight and find someone to mentor her and ride with them on the trails to give her some pointers. Good Luck with your special guy - I’m sure he’ll repay you greatly!
I have to agree, that was an excellent description of the current gaited world. I thought I was the only one who noticed that the big-lick horses were step-pacing. Here’s an interesting video (don’t know if I’ve posted it before) of TWH champions over the years, you can see how drasticly the gait has changed.
I hate to say it, because I know how exciting getting a new horse is, but I strongly doubt that Ernie will gait, he’s probably going to pace. Or worse, he’s going to change gaits every few strides; it’s really annoying to ride. Be careful of training advice, there’s a lot of misinformation out there (i.e. long shanks, hold the head up, lean way back, go fast, etc.). Just use common sense if you look for a trainer. But you have plenty of time to learn while Ernie gets back into shape. As other people has said, read and watch videos, you’ll be fine.
[QUOTE=painted spirit;5050751]
I’m glad it was rainy - you gave an excellent summary of gaited horses! I tell friends who are interested in buying one that they HAVE to ride the horse in the ring and on the trails to try it out. Just having someone say that it’s a “smooth ride” doesn’t mean anything. Even with my horse he feels differently if we are headed away from the barn vs heading home. I hope the OP takes the time to let her horse gain some weight and find someone to mentor her and ride with them on the trails to give her some pointers. Good Luck with your special guy - I’m sure he’ll repay you greatly![/QUOTE]
A little update, Ernie has been promoted to overnight turnout on grass!
Malda, why is it bad if he paces instead of gaits? Because pacing is less proper than gaiting? I thought I read somewhere here that pacing is also smooth? I seriously doubt we’ll get a trainer. All we want from Ernie is a nice quiet trail horse, and suposedly he is that already. Easy smooth movement would be wonderful, but quietness is more important (IMO) for what we want. If, for some reason, nothing works out at all with riding, the owner is prepared for him to just be a pasture ornament with her other retirees…there is plenty of pasture to support one more muncher here!
And holy smokes that’s a drastic change in movement of champions from the late 30’s to the 70’s!! The earliest 2 (I think) had such nice canters too!
In the middle to late '60s boxcar loads of pacing Standardbreds were imported into middle TN and included in Walker breeding programs. A pacer builds up on stacks better than a true Walker. So a Walker stallion would be crossed on a pacing SB mare, the get registered to an existing Walker mare, and that production crossed back with a registered Walker, giving you 3/4 Walker and 1/4 SB. No bloodtyping in those days, so no way to know what might or might not have happened.
The true pace can be a very difficult gait to ride. A stepping pace can be quite comfortable. A rack can be quite comfortable (but can be more difficult if excessivly animated).
If you’ve got a lot of pacing blood, you can train in a much more centered gait using a snaffle bit and some time (about 3-6 months). The result will be an “artificial” gait (in that it was trained in, not bred in) but will also be beneficial to the horse as the more centered gaits are easier on the horse and require less energy and don’t require the horse to travel ventroflexed.
As Earnie gets more fit and conditioned you will be in a better position to assess his gait and temperment (the latter item being crucial in a good trail horse).
If his walk is very lateral (think camel type walk) you may get seasick up there. No kidding. Pacing is rough and very hard to sit. Step pacing can be comfy. My performance bred TWH is learning how to do less pacing, more walking. Leg yielding, shoulder in, haunches in, half pass…all do wonders for what he thinks is a walk. Now his walk itself is NOT lateral, it’s actually quite nice- but his chosen gait to cover ground? A hard pace.
There’s pacing and then there’s pacing. When Sadie does what I can only call an icelandic-like flying pace, its purty smooth-terrifying, but smooth. The step pace is a bit vertigo-inducing. The single-foot (the step pace speeded up, I think, more of a show-rack than what I think of as a saddle rack) isnt so much, since its happening faster and is sort of tighter, less rolling from side to side. Since she is a Horse of Many Gaits I shrug my shoulders, roll my eyes, and cue her to do something at least different. Her conformation, disposition, and genetic liabilites (a grade horse labeled as a racker if ever I saw one) predispose her to flip through the gears a lot. She gets ridden in the actual rack much less than in any of her other grab bag of gaits. She’s actually got a better running walk than the walker and I encourage it. When she trots under saddle I’ll post a few strides (its a sittable trot, really none of her gaits are rough) and that usually brings a stop to that, for some reason. I would love it if she WOULD trot for prolonged intervals undersaddle, since its less wearing on her and sure does cover some ground.
If I want to just sit back and enjoy the ride Sadie is not the horse, since she tends to need constant tinkering with her gait. Hawk is getting so I can lift the hands a little bit, rock my pelvis, and he’ll walk out smartly and stay in gait pretty well. It takes time. Gaited horses are fascinating.
The vet said he was a body score of 2. Gradually introducing hay and chopped alfalfa forage. The vet said no grain yet.
