A TWH, with protective leg and hoof equipment, competing in a Three Day Event close to Calgary.
“Erica and Panda” one of many Canadian bred TWH competing in a western competition in Switzerland.
The Tennessee Walking Horse is one of those breeds you either love, or don’t know about. Many owners of Tennessee Walkers have their serendipitous tales to tell of discovering, and falling in love with the smooth ride of this gaited breed.
“I was 39 years old when I decided to pursue a lifelong desire to enjoy horses,” explains Dianne Little, who bought her first horse — a Tennessee Walker — six months after starting riding lessons at Westridge Farms, owned then by Helen and Ron Williamson. Helen and Ron were Tennessee Walking Horse breeders, and Helen was a founding member of both the Alberta Walking Horse Association and the Canadian Registry of the Tennessee Walking Horse.
It was a matter of falling.
“I just fell into it,” Nancy says, of how her first horsey experience led to a lifelong devotion to the breed, “And I just absolutely fell in love with the Tennessee Walkers.”
Tennessee Walkers, a gaited breed, is renowned for having a gait without suspension: the rider experiences little to no up and down movement on the horse’s back, regardless of speed. The running walk, an even four-beat gait, is as fast or faster than a trot and sometimes a canter in other breeds.
Ed Hamel, from Lacombe, AB, recalls enjoying a trail ride in Waterton National Park some years ago with a group of Tennessee Walker enthusiasts. At the time, he rode “the most beautiful grulla Quarter Horse in the whole southern Alberta area.
“As we progressed down the spectacular trails of Waterton Park, I found myself riding from a trot to an extended trot on my grulla... while everyone else seemed to be floating along on their mount.”
Ed was invited to trade horses for a spell that afternoon and says, “I could not believe the ride! We went faster and faster and no bounce was experienced. It was very similar to riding my motorcycle, faster and faster... the feeling of power between your legs... the rush was fantastic!”
In very short order, Ed was the proud owner of two Tennessee Walkers, and has been an advocate and enthusiast of the breed ever since.
Dianne, who is director of judges, conducting training seminars and judging clinics internationally for Friends of Sound Horses says, “To a great extent it’s true that many people who buy gaited horses are like I was when I first discovered the Tennessee Walker, they’ve never ridden before. And we do market gaited horses as
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