Tennessee’s claims to fame include country music, good barbecue and Southern hospitality, but it’s also known as home to the Tennessee Walking Horse. This breed of horse is smooth-gaited, meaning they travel with a natural, consistent gait, unlike a choppy trot performed by non-gaited breeds. This four-beat gait is the result of almost 100 years of selective breeding, but the original purpose was to work and offer a comfortable ride across the rolling hills of Middle Tennessee.
“In the 1800s, when horses were a mode of transportation, people wanted a gentle, strong, smart workhorse that could also be an efficient and comfortable ride to town,” says Mark Farrar, chief executive officer of the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders and Exhibitors Association (TWHBEA). “The walking horse is an all-in-one.”
Since its establishment in 1935, TWHBEA has registered almost 600,000 horses, of which more than 220,000 are alive today and registered across 24 countries.
The breed is considered a top choice for trail riding because of their intelligence, sure-footedness, strength and gentleness. The glide feeling while riding is created by the horse’s natural overstride, which is due to the hind feet reaching far under the belly of the horse and basically stepping over the same footsteps as the front feet. Their primary gaits are the flat foot walk, running walk and canter…