Different Types of Tennessee Walking Horses 

Different Types of Tennessee Walking Horses -WGC vs Heritage Breeding
By Gaye DeRusso
Tennessee Walking Horses have changed so much over the years and not exactly for the better in my opinion. What use to be a smooth, athletic, strong, intelligent, willing, and gentle horse has now been bred to some extremes for the padded show ring. They are still great horses, but now you will see some variations within the breed, depending on what they are bred for.
Years ago, they were bred for a smooth natural gait, good temperament and to be a good work horse. They called this breeding - Heritage bred. They could work in a harness and plow the fields and take you down the trail or into town. They needed to do it all. When they were no longer used to work on the farms and provide transportation, they began to show them more. As showing became more popular, the breeding began to change. The TWH in the 1930's and 40's was not the same horse that it became in the 50's. And what was a naturally gaited, surefooted, strong horse became something different when it was bred for the padded show ring. The previous bloodlines were all but lost except for the few breeders who did not join the movement.
The bloodlines then became more dominated by the horses bred for the show ring that were pacey, had a very large over stride and not so naturally gaited. Many call them WGC - World Grand Champion bloodlines.
The ones that are bred to be shown with packages on their feet, are usually on the pacey side. That way when they add that weight or action devices to their foot, they look like they are doing the correct gait of the running walk, but most are step pacing in reality. If you added the action devices to one that just gaits or is on the trotty side, then they usually will not hold the gait and will fox trot or trot. These WGC horses are more lanky, flexible and can have more wringing in their hocks in some of the breeding lines. They tend to have very large over strides, not just a foot but many over stride a couple of feet or more.
If you are trying to make one of these horses into a trail horse, it’s helpful to know that you really need to ride them. You need to ride them with collection to hold them together and get the best out of them. Because they are more lanky, have a large stride and pacey, if you do not collect them, many will get trippy because they are covering so much ground. Without the weighted package many keep their feet low to the ground, so they catch on more obstacles. They also are used to arena footing and not trail footing so it can take a year or more for them to figure out how to use their feet and get over obstacles. Their stifles are so loose so they can get that over stride but due to that, their stifles can give out more often if you do not keep the muscles strong around them.
Those horses if you’re going to ride steep terrain, can have a difficult time going down the steep hills. That large stride makes it very difficult to get under themselves and shorten their stride to get down easier, so many will go down steep hills side ways to make it easier for them. They also tend to slide their feet more which can cause them to slip more often on mud, roads, and granite. So, they are not as surefooted since they were bred for the show ring and not for trail. They reach out so far with their front legs and therefore they cover so much ground with one step that they need to clear more obstacles. This makes it more difficult for the horse when there are tree roots, rocks etc. on the trail. A horse with a shorter stride is usually more surefooted.
When riding these types of horses, you have to stay alert to the footing you are riding on. Keep the horse paying attention to where it is putting its feet. Keep more contact so you can ride with semi collection and help the horse to shorten its stride to get down the trail safely. Think of riding the horse with more engagement and getting it to drive with its backend and lighten its front end. This will help it to stay more surefooted on the trail.
Some of these horses are very calm so you need to keep giving them little jobs, so they pay attention. Because they are lanky and flexible, if you do not hold them together, they can feel wobbly especially if they are pacey. So, the more you help them to stay straight and stiffer with their body, the more comfortable the ride. If you ride them with little contact, they tend to wobble down the trail and you get a lot of motion in the saddle. These are the horses that tend to have that camel walk when they are going slow and that is not a very comfortable walk.
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