Tennessee Walking Horse Question

[Horsecare101]

Hey Everyone! I have an old horse that my family got years ago from a neighbor. He is unregistered and we were told he was a quarter horse. He’s not built like a quarter horse AT ALL and every vet says he looks just like a Tennessee Walker, but he doesn’t do all the gaits. He does however have the fastest and smoothest walk I’ve ever ridden which now that I’ve been watching videos, I think is the equivalent of a flat walk. Is it possible for a TWH to have one of the gaits and not others since he’s never been ridden by someone who knows how to get the gaits going? He also does trot, but it’s a long flowing prance like movement.

Thanks!

[Equus2000]

canter - walk - jog - trot - walk. no gaiting.

[MsM]

The only TWHs I knew that didnt really have the running walk had an ugly pace instead. They didnt really trot. Still, there were only 3 of them so YMMV. The gait itself should be natural to the horse, so they start off with some sort of running walk and are then training, shoeing (and unfortunately sometimes abuse) are used to enhance.
I guess yours could be a TWH who didnt gait, or perhaps a cross including TWH.

[candyappy]

Don’t they have a lot of head action too when gaiting? He is probably just a grade horse, but if you like him it really doesn’t matter what he might/ might not be.

[walkinthewalk]

Can’t tell anything from the video:)

however, it is entirely possible you have a Tennessee Walker (or part Walker) that trots because nobody in his past knew what they doing, or someone taught him to trot. Teaching a Walking Horse to trot seems to be a popular thing with some folks; it is a HUGE burr under my saddle and I’ll stop there.

as “candy apply” commented, if you like him, it doesn’t matter:).

that all said -------- I’ve had a Walking Horses for nearly 30 years. My curious side would like to see a video of him (minus that pretty dog:) at a dog walk, extended walk and at a trot or at his intermediate gait. No canter:). And turn the cell phone on its side:)

[4LeafCloverFarm]

It’s very difficult to tell with all the trees and brush in your video. But very cute doggie! Do you have a round pen or area where you could get a clear video of him? Also some still/conformation shots. Could also be full/part saddlebred if he’s gaited (instead of TWH). I’ve ridden both SB and TWH, and honestly I’m not sure I could articulate the differences in the way they feel when you’re actually sitting on them. However, your location may be more telling in whether its more likely it could be SB or TWH.

But, since you say he’s old, it may just be arthritic changes that are causing an “off” gait. How old is he?

[farmpony84]

It was really hard to tell from the video because the trees were in the way and you can only catch glimpses. I wonder if the horse could be a cross. My TWH walks, racks, does a couple “gears” in her running walk, trots and canters. I don’t like her to trot but I had a rider that liked to ride her english so she taught her to trot. When it’s a true trot it’s a nice one - but the problem with her is that she will bounce back and forth from the trot to the gait if the rider doesn’t hold it right.

Can you post a photo of the horse? I was trying to look at head nad tail carriage but it was hard to see. At canter it did look like it could be some sort of gaited horse or cross…

[freshman]

See if you can get a better video for us. I am not a gaited horse person, let that be known, but what I can see at the end posted video is something different than a true walk or trot gait. The footfalls are much faster than in normal walk and there is much less extension/suspension, if you will, than even a non-gaited horse with with a “big” walk. And it is also not a true diagonal trot, either. From what little I can see on video now, his head set/carriage suggests walking horse to me. And walking horse vs. saddlebred, just from the low action and look of him in this tiny video, but others might disagree.

Looks like a fun horse! Post more video if you can and good luck with him!

[Scribbler]

Just to complicate things, there are also videos up on YouTube of racking Quarter horses.

[ParadoxFarm]

Either way, cute horse and CUTE dog.

[Horsecare101]

@4LeafCloverFarm

It’s very difficult to tell with all the trees and brush in your video. But very cute doggie! Do you have a round pen or area where you could get a clear video of him? Also some still/conformation shots. Could also be full/part saddlebred if he’s gaited (instead of TWH). I’ve ridden both SB and TWH, and honestly I’m not sure I could articulate the differences in the way they feel when you’re actually sitting on them. However, your location may be more telling in whether its more likely it could be SB or TWH.

But, since you say he’s old, it may just be arthritic changes that are causing an “off” gait. How old is he?

He’s 25 or 26. He has been “my horse” at the family ranch for 16 years and he’s always felt the same to me. I know he has some slight arthritis in his left front, but his movement hasn’t changed much over the years besides favoring that leg before we started him on meds.

[4LeafCloverFarm]

Well, he’s cute and he obviously has a caring home. To me, he looks more saddlebred than walker just based on the pics you just posted. But sometimes these things remain a mystery. I have one like that - no clue what he is breed wise, except that at some part of his family tree, an appaloosa crossed his path.

[walkinthewalk]

Ok:). I completely understand your wanting to know something if your horse’s ancestry. He is a handsome fella — I happen to have a just turned 25 registered Tennessee Walker that is built very similar to your fella. While I agree with the poster who said possibly some Saddlebred in there, one thing I know is that is not the chest of a Quarter Horse – not even a “running” Quarter Horse as we used to call the old Poco Line:)

Also, your fella’s neck is set too straight to be a Quarter Horse type:)

when hen you say a “–big head swing–”. Does that mean side-to-side or up/down. side-to-side movement means the horse could do a rack, stepping pace or the shake-the-crowns-off-your-teeth hard lateral pace. Your fella did not look like an off-balance washing machine in your video so I suspect hard lateral pace can be ruled out:)

Up/down head nod is synonymous with the running walk, which he didn’t seem to naturally gravitate to but again, a video of him walking no doing an intermediate gait would be great:)

Here are a couple of pics of my registered Walker that I took this year, around his 25th birthday. He has been with me since he was 2-1/2. They are taken at a similar angle to your 4th pic that doesn’t have a rider. Notice the similarities in the hip bone structure back they the rump. Your horse is a,so naturally high headed which my Rusty is, and that comes from his blood line:)

He is of the Prides Generator bloodline on his top side and his bottom side grand (or great grand, I forget) is Ebony’s Masterpiece. The absolute best compilation of Walking Horse history in the Net is Walkers West, if you care to look either if these stallions up:)

http://www.walkerswest.com

If my pics won’t load in this post, I’ll put them in another post:). Don’t get excited, I may be way off base but I see similarities between the two horses. Plus it’s possible your handsome fella has a couple of breed DNA’s in him:).

I offer this because I have always had an interest in who my horses are. BUT when I was first able to afford a registered horse. I NEVER looked at the papers until after I decided I wanted the horse. I am a lifetime trail rider so my horses were always bought on their heart and work ethic, not what was on the papers. The papers were just a means to better understand the horse and to feed the curiousity of my research-inclined mind:)

[Horsecare101]

@walkinthewalk

hopefully these pics will give you something positive to study and think about:)

best at wishes and smoochies on the snoot to your handsome fella. Thank you for his great care all these years, whomever he is:)

Wow they look SO similar! Rusty is a handsome boy ❤️ The headset and hips/tail look almost identical. My boy (Red) is also an incredible trail horse. He can be a bit of a nervous nelly, but he’ll go anywhere I ask with his head way up in the air lol. He bushwhacks like no horse I’ve seen. He’s the same as Rusty with water! He goes right into lakes and ponds without hesitation! He’ll sit there and dunk his head, splashing all over, but he’ll launch over a little stream.

if he isn’t full TWH he must be a cross. It’s great to learn more about him ❤️ My husband and I took over his care last year after a death in the family and it has been the most rewarding experience. He is truly my heart horse and I love putting pieces of his story together. Thank you for your help!

Ill hopefully get get a video in the arena this week!

[walkinthewalk]

@Horsecare101

Wow they look SO similar! Rusty is a handsome boy ❤️ The headset and hips/tail look almost identical. My boy (Red) is also an incredible trail horse. He can be a bit of a nervous nelly, but he’ll go anywhere I ask with his head way up in the air lol. He bushwhacks like no horse I’ve seen. He’s the same as Rusty with water! He goes right into lakes and ponds without hesitation! He’ll sit there and dunk his head, splashing all over, but he’ll launch over a little stream.

if he isn’t full TWH he must be a cross. It’s great to learn more about him ❤️ My husband and I took over his care last year after a death in the family and it has been the most rewarding experience. He is truly my heart horse and I love putting pieces of his story together. Thank you for your help!

Ill hopefully get get a video in the arena this week!

Thank you:)

I am so sorry for the loss of your family member. I hope all of you are managing better by now:)

I had to smile at your comment that Red can be nervous:). Rusty is also a nervous horse. He has a difficult time focusing in the wide open spaces unless he has a strong alpha horse with him. Once I get him truly in “off-roading” terrain, he bears down and I could put a ten year old on him:)

rusty’s registered name is “Ultra’s Sky Gazer” – no doubt because that head was born looking up at the sky:)

FWIW, I discovered Rusty is soy and grain intolerant. He calmed down a lot when I took him off anything that uses soy as the protein source and doesn’t have grain in it.

Magnesium Malate also helped him a lot but I have been able to take him off it, after a few years.

I haven’t been able to ride for quite a few years, so Rusty has become very buddy sour,meven though the other other horse is in a separate pasture, due to health issues.

[farmpony84]

From those pictures I am going with a TWH. Maybe a cross but he looks like a walker to me. (Head and the way he stands)

[Scribbler]

@Horsecare101

Thank you all so much for your input! He does have a TON of head movement at the fast walk - I’m talking huge swinging motion. Not sure if that makes a difference. I’ll work on getting a better video, but here are a few photos to show his headset - they aren’t great, but hopefully help. One is from when we first took over his care and he wasn’t healthy - we’ve worked hard to fix this. Also - I LOVE this horse to death so it doesn’t matter what breed he is, but it’s fun to learn more about him. He’s always been a mystery to me.

The things here that say not QH to me are:

1. Relatively high set tail, and level croup. QH tend to lower set tails and rounded sloping croups.
2. The slight sag to his back. I’ve recently met a saddlebred that has congenital lordosis at a fairly young age, and while he’s nothing like that, the sag makes me think of a horse that stiffens and drops his back to gait.
3. His neck is held high, and looks like it could fold into a “swan neck” which is not very QH in nature
4. His head doesn’t look very QH

Now I am saying all this having seen enough QH and stock horses generally in my life, but very very few gaited horses of any kind. So I am confident in saying “not QH” and from what I’ve seen online, the TWH has perhaps more variation in type than the Saddlebred.

[Crashing_Boar]

He may well be a cross or someone who was never properly trained to gait. Bottom line: If you take him out on the road, point him for home and find the trees are going by 9 miles an hour and you’re still walking; if the footfalls sound like castanets; if he head-nods but isn’t lame; and especially if you feel like his entire topline is alive and elastic in a way you’ve never felt on a QH, chances are really good he’s the genuine article. I had a rescue horse a number of years ago whom I rehabilitated and I thought based on conformation was some half-assed cross of an Arab and Trakehner. Long nose, clean legs, topline like an Arab, great feet. Had never seen a TWH in the flesh and hadn’t a clue until the day the trees started sailing by in what was probably a stepping-pace. That ol’ boy taught me all I needed to know to go out and buy 2 more of them! Honest, true, and sound to a fault, they are kind and forgiving, especially to the older rider with some back or hip issues. “Dressaging” them on the trail is a delight–like a Kenworth with 20 speeds! Noodle and experiment, they have a loose topline which is very different than that of other horses; finding the right balance between tension and relaxation is subtle but when you hit it you’ll know; the true gaits just blossom like a flower! If you get a hard pace, just quietly half-halt and ask him to make another choice; it isn’t hard, but you’ll find it’s practically a meditation exercise! By comparison, 3-gaited “normal” horses are boring–with a Walker, the possibilities are almost endless! Plus, they’re the sweetest, most pet-like horses you’ll ever meet short of a Thelwell pony, and smart, too!

Enjoy!

[PintoPony]

I grew up riding at a farm that had Walking horses and they had one that trotted. He could do a running walk if you sat just right on him but he preferred to trot, even at liberty.
So, his owner trained him as a hunter and he did very well.

Then there was his full brother who never trotted a day in his life and loathed launching his body into the air for any reason. But he could WALK! He’d hit his stride and be in his glory. Not only did his head nod but his ears would flap and when he was really working his teeth would click. He won many championships with his walk.

I think your boy looks at least part Walker, especially in the face.

[SinMiedo]

I could be biased (I live 20 miles from the breed headquarters and they’re pretty common), but I almost wonder if he could be a Missouri Fox Trotter. That gait at the end of the video reminds me of some their particular movement. Plus many of the ones I’ve seen aren’t built quite as typey as TWHs, so standing still they could be easily mistaken for a QH. Regardless, he looks like a gem whatever his lineage!

”‹”‹”‹https://youtu.be/XdfF7-4J4F8