The Tennessee Walking Horse is a handsome, intelligent animal that is well suited and ideal as a riding horse. Suitable for riders of all ages and abilities, the Tennessee Walking Horse is a joy to ride.
The Tennessee Walking Horse is gentle enough to carry inexperienced riders, both young and old on its back. Additionally, the Tennessee Walking Horse is used commonly in both Western and English shows, which often appeals to experienced riders.
Requiring no more care and attention than any other horse breed, the Tennessee Walking Horse makes a wonderful, gentle horse. A relatively large horse, the Tennessee Walking Horse stands anywhere from 14.3 hands to 17 hands and can weigh in from 900-1200 pounds.
Additionally, the Tennessee Walking Horse can be found in just about any color. The most important quality of the Tennessee Walking Horse is of course, the gait of the horse.
The Tennessee Walking Horse has three main gaits, which include the flat foot walk, the running walk and the canter. The flat foot walk is fairly rhythmic so each foot of the horse should hit the ground separately.
When the rear footsteps over the track of the front foot, over stride occurs. Often, the horse will nod its head in time with its feet. Both head nodding and over stride are qualities associated and unique to the Tennessee Walking Horse.
The running walk is what the Tennessee Walking horse is most famous for. For the most part, the running walk identical to the flat foot walk, except that it is much faster (the horse can travel 10-20 miles per an hour in this gait) and the overstep (over stride) is anywhere from six to eighteen inches.
The running walk is the most natural gait for the Tennessee Walking Horse and said to be very comfortable for the rider. Finally, the canter, also called a collected gallop of the Tennessee Walking Horse is very similar to that of other horse breeds with the exception of it seems to be more natural and comfortable for the Tennessee Walking Horse.
The Tennessee Walking Horse is a fairly new bred. This horse came about through the breeding of Narragansett and Candian Pacer, as well as Thoroughbred, Standardbred, Morgan and American Saddlebreds.
Eventually, the Tennessee Walking Horse came into being and was used mainly as a utility horse, but gained popularity for being a pleasurable ride. The Tennessee Walking Horse requires no more attention or special care than usual.
Of course, the horse should have adequate food, water and shelter. Consult your veterinarian to find out what feed is best for your horse and the quantity to feed to your horse. Additionally, the horse should be visited frequently and pads should be used to properly train the Tennessee Walking Horse.